Press Release

(Oklahoma City, OK April 5, 2004) - In a letter made public today, Lambda Legal is urging the Oklahoma Health Department to issue an accurate birth certificate to a girl who was legally adopted by two gay men.

(Dallas, Texas, April 7, 2004) - Brian Chase, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's South Central Regional Office in Dallas, “When presented with the real facts on the matter, the Oklahoma Health Department, came to a reasonable, rational and lawful conclusion that children adopted by two moms or two dads outside the state of Oklahoma need an accurate birth certificate. We are pleased that this matter is resolved so Vivian and her parents can get on with their lives.” Contact: Lisa Hardaway 212-809-8585 ext.266; pager: 888-987-1971

(Atlanta, April 8, 2004) — Lambda Legal announced today that Jack Senterfitt, a widely respected litigator and former chief lawyer for the Georgia Department of Human Resources, has joined the staff of its Southern Regional Office in Atlanta as a Senior Staff Attorney.

Senterfitt will work on a variety of cases in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

(New York, April 20, 2004) - Antigay groups are asking a Manhattan court to let them intervene in a lawsuit filed last month by same-sex couples seeking the right to marry in New York, Lambda Legal said today. Lambda Legal represents the five lesbian and gay New York City couples in the first of several recent lawsuits filed in the state seeking full marriage for same-sex couples.

(Los Angeles, April 22, 2004) - Lambda Legal announced today that Cirque du Soleil will pay a record $600,000 to end an HIV discrimination complaint filed by a performer who was fired last year because he has HIV. The settlement ends a nationwide campaign and a federal disability complaint filed by Lambda Legal on behalf of its client, Matthew Cusick.

(Washington, D.C, Tuesday, April 27, 2004) - Lambda Legal today urged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to stop local VA hospitals from refusing to even evaluate patients with HIV for organ transplants, saying the current policy may cost an Iowa man his life as the VA refuses to consider him for a liver transplant because he has HIV.

(Washington, D.C, Wednesday, April 28, 2004) - Lambda Legal today said that an Iowa Veterans Affairs hospital’s decision to reverse course and consider a man with HIV for a liver transplant puts new pressure on the federal Dep’t of Veterans Affairs to require consistent transplant practices at VA hospitals nationwide.

(Washington, D.C, Thursday, April 29, 2004) - With the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs changing course and saying late last night that local VA hospitals nationwide should assess patients with HIV for organ transplants, Lambda Legal today pressed the federal agency to take immediate action and end its discriminatory policy so veterans with urgent health needs are not left in limbo.

(Trenton, New Jersey, May 6, 2004) - An appeal brief filed today in Lambda Legal’s lawsuit seeking marriage equality for same-sex couples in New Jersey puts the state at the front of the line for the ultimate answer on marriage for gay and lesbian couples.

(New York, May 7, 2004) - Lambda Legal announced today that Alphonso David, a respected litigator who clerked for a federal judge and interned with the Public Defender Office of Philadelphia, has joined the legal team in Lambda Legal’s national headquarters in New York as a Staff Attorney.