Love Trumps Hate: Our 2017 Defense Plan

What a difference a year makes.

We began 2016 still reveling in our biggest victory yet: nationwide marriage equality, a fight Lambda Legal started in Hawaii 20 years ago.

Our achievement was not just that we won. It was that nearly the whole country celebrated with us.

As we head into 2017, the minority of Americans who didn’t celebrate – who resent our success and our love – have been chosen to lead the country. Not chosen because they hate LGBT people, but chosen nonetheless.

The year ahead will be brutal. But we are not going back.

We will continue to defend the rights of LGBT people and those living with HIV. And the majority of Americans are still with us.

Our mission is rooted in love and acceptance — of ourselves and of others. Our work sends a message that has been embraced by people across the country and has inspired countless others around the world. And because it’s based in love, it’s worth fighting for.

Our opponents are not just a cabinet filled with people who hate us. Not just a President-elect who has promised deportations, walls, religious exclusions. Not just lawmakers eager to chip away at our hard-won rights.

We are fighting against fear of change. We are fighting against disrespect for those who are different. We are fighting against hateful, bullying language and violent actions. These are our biggest opponents.

Lambda Legal will respond with a coordinated, national strategy:

• We will take the Trump Administration to court to block their actions against LGBT people and those living with HIV. Whatever laws this Congress passes that threaten us, we will sue to stop them.
• We will open an office in Washington, D.C. to increase our vigilance in the years ahead, and to work closely with our civil rights peers and partners to hold politicians accountable.
• We will continue to fight antigay and anti-trans legislation in the states – just as we are now in North Carolina and Mississippi.
• We will expand our Help Desk so that every LGBT person and anyone living with HIV can contact us for help and information. This not only serves the community, it fuels our defense.

When we win these fights, we still won't be done. Our commitment to you is to be here for LGBT and HIV-positive people throughout the entire cycle of life: as we go to school, go to work, welcome children and as we age.

We have come this far – overturning the sodomy laws, fighting hate in the states, protecting our children, recognizing our marriages – because of you. Your contributions have built this movement and changed the world.

Lambda Legal is independent – we don’t get money from the government, and we are free to sue the feds, the states, cities, unfair employers and anyone who harms our people. We pioneered using the courts to win LGBT equality and – more than ever – the courts are the branch of government open to us. Your contributions to Lambda Legal are completely tax-deductible. This is the time to stand up and be counted.

We are your lawyers and we’ll never stop fighting for you.