Press Release

(SACRAMENTO, December 7, 1999) -- The League of Women Voters of California said Tuesday that it fully supports the name given by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to a controversial ballot measure that would allow the state to discriminate against legal marriages of lesbians and gay men from other states.

During a hearing on Wednesday, December 8, the League plans to submit a petition to intervene in Stutzman v. Jones and join Bill Lockyer in defending his decision to give Proposition 22 the title “Limit on Marriages” for the March 2000 election.

(NEW YORK, December 2, 1999) – A federal judge has dismissed a student lawsuit against the Salt Lake City school board because school officials have produced a definitive policy guaranteeing the right to express pro-gay opinions, attorneys for the students said Thursday.

Lead counsel Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, representing the students, were pleased by the judgment by United States Senior District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins.

(Austin, Texas, April 28, 2005) — In a letter sent to a legislative conference committee today, Lambda Legal says it opposes a proposed amendment to a foster care bill that would categorically ban gay men, lesbians and bisexuals from being foster parents in Texas.

(NEW YORK) — Texas Gov. George W. Bush flunked and Vice President Al Gore did just slightly better on the annual World AIDS Day Report Card released by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in advance of the December 1 worldwide observance.

"World AIDS Day is an opportunity to assess efforts against AIDS," said Lambda Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart, referring to the commemoration set for Wednesday. "This year, we find hope in a national resurgence of activism. But people's lives continue to be endangered by callous and compromising public officials," he said.

(Orange, CA, November 24, 1999) -- Students who have formed a Gay-Straight Alliance Club at El Modena High School in Orange County and are being denied the right to meet are filing a lawsuit Wednesday against Orange Unified School District officials. The students, who see the club as a way to promote understanding and respect, say the school district's months-long delay in approving the club has effectively denied them the right to meet this semester.

(Atlanta, Georgia, May 10, 2005) — Today Lambda Legal announces the expansion of its work in transgender law with the addition of transgender rights staff attorney Cole Thaler.

(NEW YORK, November 5, 1999) -- A New York appeals court has upheld the New York City domestic partner law, dealing a blow to the national campaign waged by Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice to overturn municipal domestic partner ordinances across the country, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Friday.

(May 12, 2005: LINCOLN, NE) In a ruling issued today, a federal court struck down Nebraska’s anti-gay-union constitutional amendment that bans any and all forms of legal recognition for same-sex relationships, including domestic partnerships and other basic protections. The state is expected to appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.

(NEW YORK, November 3, 1999) -- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund announced Wednesday that Sherry Thomas has joined the organization as its director of development.

Thomas takes over the fund-raising operations at the nation's oldest and largest gay legal organization, after successfully leading an ambitious campaign to build San Francisco's new Main Library and assisting in the expansion efforts of a leading environmental group.