Press Release

(New York, NY) May 2, 2016 – Today, the Board of Directors of Lambda Legal – the nation's oldest legal organization fighting for equality on behalf of LGBT people and those living with HIV – announced that it has voted unanimously to appoint Rachel B. Tiven as the organization's new Chief Executive Officer. 

“The U.S. State Department’s flimsy, after-the-fact explanations for denying Dana an accurate passport defy logic, perpetuate stigma and present Dana with an outrageous choice – lie on the passport application or never leave the country.”

RALEIGH – Today, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, and ACLU of North Carolina, joined by counsel from the law firm of Jenner & Block, announced they have added three new plaintiffs - a transgender student and a married lesbian couple - to the federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s sweeping anti-LGBT law, HB 2.

Richmond, Va. – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit today ruled in favor of transgender male student Gavin Grimm in his challenge to Gloucester High School’s discriminatory restroom policy that segregates transgender students from their peers by requiring them to use “alternative, private” facilities.

(New York, NY, April 18, 2016) — Tonight at the Pine-Richland School District school board meeting Lambda Legal attorney Omar Gonzalez-Pagan will stand with transgender students and their parents if recently proposed discriminatory policies are discussed.

(Dallas, TX – April 13, 2016) – Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards today issued an executive order that extends non-discrimination protections for state workers, those who work for state contractors, and those who receive state services or benefits to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

(Raleigh, April 12, 2016) — Governor Pat McCrory issued an executive order today banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for state employees.

(San Juan, PR, April 8, 2016) — Just hours after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed for the second time that Puerto Rico’s ban on marriage for LGBT people is unconstitutional and ordered the case be reassigned to a new judge, District Court Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí issued a judgment striking down that ban. Judge Gelpí applied the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which granted the freedom to marry to all people in the United States, after instruction from the First Circuit making clear that the decision applies to territories as it does to states.

(San Juan, PR, April 7, 2016) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit today once again affirmed that Puerto Rico’s marriage ban is unconstitutional and ordered the District Court of Puerto Rico to enter judgment in favor of Lambda Legal’s plaintiffs and, in light of the egregious disregard of its prior order, ordered that the case be reassigned to a different district court judge. In so doing, the First Circuit made clear that the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which struck down discriminatory state bans denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry nationwide, applies to all people in the United States, regardless of whether they live in a territory or a state.

RALEIGH – The University of North Carolina system today announced that it has chosen to follow House Bill 2, a sweeping anti-LGBT law that would prevent transgender students, employees, and visitors from using the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity.