Press Release

(Augusta, GA, May 16, 2017) — Today Lambda Legal received word that its client, Rowan Feldhaus, tragically passed away after complications from surgery.

(Louisville, KY, May 16, 2017) — Today Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kentucky, Kentucky’s Fairness Campaign, and University of Louisville Law Professor Sam Marcosson filed a complaint against Judge W. Mitchell Nance for violating Kentucky’s Code of Judicial Conduct by recusing himself from any adoption proceedings involving lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.

(Austin, TX – May 10, 2017) – The Texas House of Representatives today passed HB 3859, a discriminatory bill that would allow child placement agencies in the state foster care system – including agencies receiving state and federal funding – to prioritize their religious beliefs above the needs of children in its care. The bill would prevent the state from sanctioning or revoking the licenses of child-placement agencies that discriminate against LGBT youth and families, including foster and adoptive parents.  The bill now goes to the Texas State Senate.

(Salem, OR, May 2, 2017) – Today, Lambda Legal filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Oregon Supreme Court arguing that it was unlawful for Judge Vance D. Day to devise a scheme to avoid marrying same-sex couples.

(Washington, D.C., May 2, 2017)— Today Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and Rhode Island Representative David Cicilline were joined by Democratic Leaders in the Senate and House as well as members of the bipartisan LGBT Equality Caucus to reintroduce the Equality Act, a bill to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, credit, education, and jury service.

(Picayune, MS, May 2, 2017) – Lambda Legal today announced it has joined a lawsuit against a Picayune, MS, funeral home for refusing to provide any service for Robert Huskey after his death, leaving his 82-year-old husband, Jack Zawadski, desperate to make other arrangements in the hours after his beloved spouse’s passing. 

(Chicago, April 27, 2017) House Republicans are attempting to revive the failed “American Health Care Act” (AHCA) with a new amendment that directly attacks people with pre-existing conditions, like HIV.

(New York, April 24, 2017) – A new report published today, Safe Havens: Closing the Gap Between Recommend Practice and Reality for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth in Out-of-Home Care, offers the first comprehensive analysis of the troubling lack of explicit laws and policies in most states to protect transgender, gender-expansive and gender non-conforming (TGNC) youth in the child welfare, juvenile justice, and runaway and homeless youth systems (“out-of-home care systems”).

(Atlanta, GA)  Joan Garner, the first openly gay Fulton County Commissioner and former Lambda Legal board member, passed away yesterday, after a long battle with breast cancer. 

Simone Bell, Lambda Legal Southern Regional Director, issued the following statement:

"Lambda Legal is heartbroken at the news of Joan Garner’s passing. She was a dedicated member of Lambda Legal’s board and a dear friend to many.

(Boise, ID, April 18, 2017) – Lambda Legal today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the State of Idaho’s refusal to allow transgender people to correct the gender on their birth certificates.