Press Release

(Virginia Beach, Virginia, July 9, 2004) -With court papers that will be filed Monday in the Virginia Court of Appeals, Lambda Legal will appeal the conviction of a man who was charged with solicitation of sodomy despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last summer that clearly struck down all remaining sodomy laws in the nation.

(Cincinnati, July 12, 2004) - Lambda Legal will ask an Ohio appeals court Tuesday to follow state law and allow a lesbian couple to legally protect their relationship with the child they are raising together.

(New York, Wednesday, July 21, 2004) - Lambda Legal said today that legislation the U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on Thursday is unconstitutional, since it singles out lesbian and gay Americans to block them out of the country’s justice system.

The legislation, H.R. 3313, was voted out of the House Judiciary Committee last week and is scheduled for a vote in the full House on Thursday. It would prevent any federal court from hearing cross-state recognition challenges to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.

(Seattle, Monday, July 26, 2004) - A Washington state court will hear oral arguments tomorrow, July 27, in a historic lawsuit seeking full marriage for same-sex couples in Washington state.

“Today, we’re telling the court that this lawsuit focuses on clear questions of equality and fairness,” said Susan Sommer, Supervising Attorney at Lambda Legal, which served a motion for summary judgment in the case today. “Both sides in this case agree that a trial isn’t necessary. Couples in New York shouldn’t have to wait through a long legal process to get the protections they need - protections that only marriage can provide.”

(Atlanta, Georgia, July 29, 2004) - In court papers responding to a federal lawsuit Lambda Legal filed in May, Nodak Enterprises admitted firing Joey Saavedra, a veteran auto glass installer, because he has HIV.

“Nodak Enterprises has just admitted to firing our client because he has HIV, and we’re committed to holding them accountable,” said Greg Nevins, Senior Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office in Atlanta. “There’s nowhere for them to go; our client was fired out of fear and bigotry-not sound science-and that is against the law.”

(Seattle, August 4, 2004) - A Washington state court ruled today that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry, in a decision that Lambda Legal, co-counsel in a lawsuit on behalf of eight King County couples, called “a historic ruling for fairness and equality.”

(San Francisco – August 11, 2004) With the California Supreme Court set to issue its decision tomorrow on whether San Francisco officials had the authority to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Lambda Legal said today that a separate case is moving forward to secure marriage for lesbian and gay couples statewide – and that case will be unaffected by the ruling.

(New York, September 14, 2004) – Lambda Legal said today that it will protest against Foot Locker outside WNBA games in several cities – including a game in New York on Thursday night – because the company discriminated against a gay employee. Foot Locker is strengthening its ties with the women’s basketball league.