Lambda Legal, the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) and the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) applauded the announcement today by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of new rules governing the treatment that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) patients and their families should receive in federally funded hospitals across the nation.

"When we get counted, we count. Our visibility can yield power. Lambda Legal and our sister civil rights organizations are supporting efforts to get lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people counted in the United States Census. (In earlier population counts, if a same-sex couple checked the box that said "married," the federal government actually assumed they'd mismarked their form, changed one partner's gender identity, and "straightened" them for the count.) We therefore have painfully little in terms of governmental statistics on what's needed to serve the LGBT community.

(New York, November 10, 2010) — Today Lambda Legal launched the "Thank you Iowa Judges" pledge. Antigay groups spent nearly one million dollars on a campaign successfully ousting three Iowa Supreme Court Justices for their role in striking down as unconstitutional Iowa’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples.

11/09/2010

"Lambda Legal has also been working on fighting DOMA and on Monday filed a brief in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in the case of Golinski v. United States Office of Personnel Management.

(San Francisco, November 9, 2010)—Lambda Legal yesterday filed a brief in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in a lawsuit that could result in the next major court decision regarding the constitutionality of the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act," also known as DOMA.

11/4/2010

"In response to a series of gay teen suicides across the nation, the Dallas Independent School District is moving forward with a policy that provides specific protections against bullying for LGBT students.

"...Roger Poindexter, director of Lambda Legal’s South Central Region, warned that gay students who’ve been bullied have won large monetary settlements from districts in other parts of the nation.

"Poindexter said while a general policy might give adults 'a warm fuzzy feeling,' it wouldn’t accomplish its goal.

11/3/2010

"Opponents of an April 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that made Iowa the first state in the Midwest to sanction same-sex marriage celebrated on Wednesday after the ouster of three Iowa Supreme Court justices involved in the ruling.

"...Kevin Cathcart, executive director of gay rights group Lambda Legal, which backed the six couples in the case, called the campaign 'a wake-up call to future voters who must resist attempts to politicize the courts.'

11/3/2010

"Perhaps most sobering for gay activists was the removal of the three Iowa judges after a campaign intended to punish them for joining a unanimous ruling last year that the state's ban on same-sex marriage violated Iowa's constitution.

"That ruling, making Iowa one of five states to legalize gay marriage, still stands. But gay marriage foes said they plan to press Iowa Republicans who took over the governor's office and the state House to work toward a new ban.

The loss of the three well-respected Iowa Supreme Court Justices voted off the bench this week after a vicious campaign by antigay groups who targeted them because of the unanimous decision the Iowa Supreme Court issued in Lambda Legal’s marriage equality lawsuit should sound the alarm for all of us.

Everyone should use the restroom that matches their gender identity, regardless of whether they are making a gender transition or appear gender-nonconforming. In a perfect world, that would be simple, but the realities of anti-transgender malice and a widespread lack of understanding about transgender people's lives can complicate things.