(New York, September 20, 2011) - Today marks the end of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (DADT) - a discriminatory policy that banned gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers from serving their country openly. DADT ruined thousands of careers, and the frequency of discharges disproportionately affected women of color.

"Like it or not, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students who attend the Meridian School District can't form an official club -- for now.

"Officials say it's not that they won't allow a gay and lesbian club to meet, it just shouldn't be school sponsored, and students would have to have parental permission to join.

"...Peter Renn, staff attorney for Lamba Legal group out of Los Angeles, told 12KTRV that the district's policies raised some major questions for his group who focus on LGBT legal cases.

"Two cases brought by Lambda Legal illustrate that discrimination continues to frustrate and humiliate gay men and women seeking equal treatment in fertility services. Guadalupe Benitez was denied infertility treatment by a clinic in California because she is a lesbian; the California Supreme Court ruled that the doctors’ actions were illegal under the state’s antidiscrimination law. In Florida, Dennis Barros and his partner planned to have a child through a surrogate mother, but the clinic they enlisted refused to provide services. It used the discriminatory F.D.A.

(Los Angeles, September 13, 2011) - After receiving a letter from Lambda Legal and the Idaho Safe Schools Coalition, Joint School District No. 2 in Meridian, Idaho has amended a policy regarding student clubs, but the revised policy still harms lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and violates their rights.

Lawyers for the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives (BLAG) informed U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White that they "prefer not" to participate in a pilot project to video-tape oral arguments at an October 21, 2011 hearing in Golinski v OPM, a federal challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

"Same-sex couples and other domestic partners are gaining more control over what happens to their mates in the hospital, under federal guidelines issued this week.

"Hospitals should not bar domestic partners from visiting their mates unless there's a medical reason, and partners should not be required to produce documents to prove their relationship, the guidelines say.

"Jacqueline 'Jackie' Gill filed suit Wednesday, Sept. 7, against a professor and a dean at Northeast Campus of Tarrant County College in Hurst, claiming that she was denied the opportunity to apply for a permanent, full- time teaching position there because of the English Department chair’s bias against what he perceived her sexual orientation to be.

"Gill is represented in the lawsuit by Lambda Legal South Central Region staff attorney Ken Upton, joined by pro bono counsel Benjamin D. Williams from the law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher.

"A college in Texas is being sued for reportedly turning away a qualified teaching candidate because college administrators perceived her to be a lesbian.

"Jacqueline Gill, a Ph.D. student and former high school English teacher, was hired as a temporary instructor at Tarrant County College in August 2009. Upon hiring for her temporary position, she was told that temporary instructors typically transition to work full-time at the college upon successful completion of a one-year contract.

The energy and talent of young leaders has been vital to our movement, and nowhere is this more evident than at Lambda Legal. Every year, we are joined by dozens of undergraduates, law students and recent graduates who are determined to make a difference for our community, whether as interns, legal fellows or full-time staff. And this weekend at the Lavender Law conference in Los Angeles, the National LGBT Bar Association will honor two of our attorneys, Tara Borelli and Dru Levasseur, among its annual recognition of the "Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40."

2011 saw advances for same-sex couples in Illinois, as well as in New York, Hawaii, Delaware and Rhode Island. Marriage equality prevailed in New York, while civil unions were signed into law in the other four states—each new law provides hundreds of rights and responsibilities for same-sex couples. For those of you who are hoping to raise children, these laws can provide important legal protections as your family grows.