Press Release

(NEW YORK, June 28, 2000) —The United States Supreme Court, in a disappointing decision Wednesday, overturned the New Jersey Supreme Court’s unanimous decision that denied the Boy Scouts of America an exemption from that state’s anti-discrimination law in order to bar gay members.

(NEW YORK, June 28, 2000) — A divided United States Supreme Court on Monday held that the Boy Scouts of America can discriminate against a gay scoutmaster, blunting the decade-long legal challenge to the group’s anti-gay policy that Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund has waged on behalf of decorated Eagle Scout James Dale.

(LOS ANGELES, June 27, 2000) — Arguing that vital protections are at stake for lesbian and gay families, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Tuesday filed an amicus brief that urges Washington state’s highest court to review a ruling that stripped a man of the home and business he had shared with his same-sex partner of nearly 30 years.

(NEW YORK, June 22, 2000) —After nearly a decade of service, Suzanne B. Goldberg, one of the nation’s most experienced litigators in lesbian and gay civil rights, is departing the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization for lesbians, gay men and people with HIV. An attorney for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund since 1991, Goldberg has played a pivotal role in the organization’s efforts to overturn sodomy laws, enforce fair immigration rules, defend domestic partner programs, and secure workplace protections.

(San Francisco, November 6, 2003) - As Cirque du Soleil opens its “Alegria” show in San Francisco tonight, Lambda Legal and community leaders announced protests against the company for discriminating against people with HIV.

(LOS ANGELES, June 20, 2000) — Another California school district has been ordered to stop transferring students from a gay teacher’s classroom because such action is a form of employment discrimination, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday.

The California Department of Industrial Relations (CDIR) upheld an earlier administrative ruling against Hemet Unified School District for granting a parent’s request to remove a high school student from a tenth grade English class because the teacher is a lesbian.

(San Francisco, November 13, 2003) - One week after Lambda Legal and community activists launched protests against Cirque du Soleil for discriminating against people with HIV, the company has started sending a six-paragraph letter to members of the public - admitting that it fired a gymnast solely because he has HIV, but claiming that such action is not “discrimination.”

(LOS ANGELES, June 19, 2000) — The California Supreme Court Monday unanimously ruled that insurers cannot deny benefits to policyholders who develop AIDS several years after becoming insured, a practice that is widespread in the industry but which the Court said is illegal, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said.

(NEW YORK, June 12, 2000) — Citing impressive accomplishments advancing civil rights for lesbians and gay men nationwide, the National Law Journal has named Evan Wolfson one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Monday.