Press Release

(CHICAGO, September 27, 2001) — As a federal appeals court judge, Abner Mikva once struck down the military’s anti-gay policy; soon he will be the keynote speaker for the Bon Foster Memorial Civil Rights Address sponsored by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Judge Mikva will address hundreds of Lambda supporters on Friday, October 12 at the Inter-Continental Chicago. Chicago’s Mayor, the Honorable Richard M. Daley, is the event’s honorary co-chair.

(LOS ANGELES, August 24, 2001) -- More families remain eligible for health insurance and other vital employment benefits thanks to a court ruling in Olympia, Washington, the latest in a long line of decisions across the country supporting domestic partner benefits for government workers, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Friday.

Vancouver has provided domestic partner benefits for the dependents of its unmarried workers since 1998, but the program was threatened by a lawsuit brought with the help of a right-wing legal group.

(CHICAGO, August 16, 2001) -- The former White House Counsel whose earlier ruling as a federal appeals court judge struck down the military's infamous "don't ask, don't tell" policy will deliver the annual Bon Foster Memorial Civil Rights Address for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Judge Abner Mikva will address hundreds of Lambda supporters on Friday, October 12 at the Inter-Continental Chicago. Chicago's mayor, the Honorable Richard M. Daley is the event's honorary chair.

(NEW YORK, August 7, 2001) — An international coalition Thursday will announce a historic proposal asking a New York federal court to allocate some of a $1.25 billion settlement of the lawsuit against Switzerland’s two largest banks for a fund to recognize and address Nazi persecution of gay people.

Such a fund would be the first of its kind. The lawsuit prompting the court’s settlement plan is the first to force recognition that gay people were systematically persecuted by the Nazis.

(NEW YORK, July 30, 2001) — Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Monday confirmed reports that discrimination by the Boy Scouts of America is drawing unprecedented opposition, especially raising concerns that the BSA’s anti-gay policy is harmful to young people.

(NEW YORK, Thursday, July 12) — The group called the Alliance for Marriage says that it is dedicated to promoting marriage because marriage is important for families. Lambda agrees that marriage is important, and that is why we support the right of committed couples, gay or non-gay, to marry. Many families can be strengthened by the legal rights and responsibilities that civil marriage provides. For example, with marriage a spouse can:

(LOS ANGELES, July 10, 2001) — A California child visitation dispute between a mother and her child’s paternal grandparents does not involve lesbian or gay parents, but it still has important implications for their families, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday.

(NEW YORK, June 28) —Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and other community organizations issued a joint statement Thursday supporting the Bronx Lesbian and Gay Health Consortium and its attempts to promote potentially life-saving health care in the Bronx community. The statement calls for the immediate return of Consortium advertisements that were yanked this week from Bronx bus shelters.

(NEW YORK, June 21, 2001) — In the year since the United States Supreme Court allowed the Boy Scouts of America to ban gay members, America is responding with unprecedented outrage against gay discrimination, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Thursday.