Press Release

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam late yesterday signed into law the Virginia Values Act, historic legislation that bans anti-LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing and public spaces.

Phyllis Lyon, who with her partner Del Martin made international headlines in June 2008 when they became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in California, died today in San Francisco.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced new guidelines for blood donations that change the current one-year deferral for donations from men who have sex with men (MSM) to a three-month deferral. While a step in the right direction, the new guidance falls short of what many recognize as optimal policy.

(Boise, ID, March 30, 2020) – Idaho Gov. Brad Little today signed into law legislation that bans transgender people from changing the gender marker on their birth certificates, despite a federal court ruling Lambda Legal won two years ago declaring such a policy unconstitutional.

The administration's unlawful action endangers already vulnerable populations, especially as the country confronts the coronavirus pandemic. Today’s lawsuit was filed by Democracy Forward and Lambda Legal.

The Idaho Senate today approved a bill already passed by the state House of Representatives that would ban transgender people from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates despite a federal court ruling two years ago declaring such a ban unconstitutional. Lambda Legal, which brought the lawsuit that resulted in that ruling, urged Idaho Gov. Brad Little to veto the bill when it lands on his desk.

“Today we are one step closer to justice and ensuring that North Carolina stops depriving transgender employees and family members access to essential health care services.”

CHARLESTON, SC – Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina entered a consent decree that declares South Carolina’s 1988 discriminatory anti-LGBTQ curriculum law unconstitutional and bars its enforcement. The court’s decree comes two weeks after a federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of the high school student organization Gender and Sexuality Alliance, as well as the Campaign for Southern Equality and South Carolina Equality Coalition, including their members who are public school students in South Carolina.

Today, New York State announced it is changing its policy prohibiting transgender minors from correcting the sex marker on their birth certificates, in a manner consistent with their gender identity. This announcement comes after Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit against the state last month on behalf of a transgender boy born in Ithaca, New York.

A federal district court today ruled in favor of Lambda Legal client Jennifer Fletcher and ordered that the State of Alaska’s denial of health care coverage to a legislative librarian based on its blanket exclusion of medically necessary transition-related surgical treatment from AlaskaCare, the state employee health care plan, is unlawful sex discrimination that violates federal law.