Web Feature

Since 2003, the antigay Alliance Defense Fund has been trying to eliminate benefits for same-sex partners of city employees in New Orleans. They've yet to succeed, and Lambda Legal has been fighting them every step of the way.

Lambda Legal recently went back to court to argue that same-sex couples deserve access to benefits without extremist groups such as the ADF standing in their way.

This case is another instance of a politically motivated lawsuit by organizations motivated by bias. Lambda Legal is taking a stand against antigay forces around the country, defending ground we've already gained in the fight for equality.

Background:

In 1997, the city of New Orleans extended insurance benefits to same-sex partners of city employees. In 1999, the City Council created a domestic partner registry that allows couples to make public commitment to care for and support each other. Both policies came under attack in a lawsuit brought by the Alliance Defense Fund. At the city's request, Lambda Legal joined the lawsuit to uphold these policies.

The city of New Orleans took it upon itself to do the right thing for its gay and lesbian employees and their families by giving them access to the same health insurance plans that its heterosexual employees and their families receive. The city is well within its rights to do so.

History

• August 2003 Lambda Legal joins city of New Orleans in defending domestic partnership benefits for same-sex partners of city employees.
• January 2005 Louisiana appeals court hears oral arguments in the case.
• December 2005 Louisiana appeals court holds that taxpayers did not have standing to challenge the New Orleans domestic partnership benefits and upholds ruling safeguarding health insurance benefits for same-sex partners of city employees.
• May 2006 Louisiana Supreme Court reverses the decision of the Louisiana Appeals Court, holding that taxpayers could challenge the New Orleans domestic partnership benefits. The case was returned to the trial court for further proceedings.
• September 2007 Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on the merits denied.
• November 2007 Defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment heard. The court took the matter under advisement.

In letters sent to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, and Rep. John Boehner, House Republican Leader, Lambda Legal urged the House of Representatives to pass H.R. 3195, a bill that would clarify the definition of what qualifies as a disability.

"This bill makes it clear that people with HIV are protected from being discriminated against because they have HIV, consistent with the purposes of the ADA," says Bebe Anderson, HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal.

According to Anderson, "the Supreme Court and lower courts have narrowed the definition of disability," and in doing so "have limited the protections that the ADA provides." So this bill is welcome news for people with HIV and others with disabilities.

On June 18, 2008, the bill was approved unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee and by a 43 to 1 vote by the House Committee on Education and Labor. A floor vote in the House is expected soon.

Liberty Awards attendees
enjoyed a delightful evening.

On Monday May 7, Lambda Legal supporters from around the country celebrated the 21st annual Liberty Awards National Dinner in New York City. The event raised more than $1 million and brought together two of the oldest organizations fighting for the rights of LGBT people and those with HIV — Lambda Legal and Gay Men's Health Crisis. Marjorie Hill, Chief Executive Officer of GMHC, accepted a Liberty Award on behalf of GMHC for its 25 years of service to our communities.

"It's very moving to be here tonight, especially when the honoree is GMHC," said Kenneth Ohashi and Joseph Rosolanko, who became members of the Liberty Circle at the dinner. "We lost a lot of friends to the epidemic, and a night like this with two great organizations really helps us see how far we have come."

The night was also an opportunity to honor Kevin Cathcart who is celebrating his 15th anniversary as the Executive Director of Lambda Legal this year. During his speech, Cathcart applauded the hard work and dedication of the members, volunteers and staff of Lambda Legal and reminded the audience that none of Lambda Legal's work would be possible without the courage of our plaintiffs.

"Evenings like this reinvigorate us. It's thrilling to be here and inspiring to see all these people together," said Mary Jo-Kennedy and Joanne Shain, plaintiffs in Lambda Legal's New York marriage case.

See all the excitement of the 2007 Liberty Awards – and find your picture - at our exclusive online Photo Gallery courtesy of LoveandPride.com at www.loveandpride.com/llphoto.  Love and Pride is one of many corporate sponsors who helped to make this year's Liberty Awards a huge success. Please take a moment to look at all of our 2007 National Liberty Awards event sponsors.  

Ric Weiland

When Ric Weiland joined forces with his high school friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen, he had no idea that Microsoft would grow to be a giant company or that he would become a philanthropist who would one day make a historic donation to Lambda Legal and other LGBT and HIV civil rights organizations.

Weiland was a visionary in life and in death. He passed away at the age of 53 and left an extraordinary gift: He created a $46 million fund for 10 LGBT and HIV organizations. The funds will be distributed over eight years. Lambda Legal will receive approximately $1.4 million each year for a total of more than $11 million. Lambda Legal’s share of the fund represents the high regard Weiland had for the organization.

“Every time I spoke with Ric, he was thoroughly up to date on our legal and educational work, and we talked about his commitment to the LGBT community,” says Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart.

Lambda Legal will use the approximately $1.4 million it will receive each year over the next eight years to implement the “Weiland Initiative” to strengthen and expand its legal and educational work, winning more battles for the LGBT community and people with HIV, and moving our community closer to equality. In 2008/2009, it will equal approximately one-tenth of Lambda Legal’s overall budget.

“Ric’s death was a terrible loss,” Cathcart says. “But it is no surprise that his generosity will live on. At Lambda Legal, we are honored by the great respect he had for our work, reflected in this tremendous bequest. He set a new standard for vision and philanthropy for our movement, but I knew him well enough to know that nothing would make him happier than to see his gift matched or exceeded by the gifts of others.”

For one year Phi Ngo and Joseph O'Leary lived together in family housing while Joseph worked toward a degree in history at the University of Hawaii (Manoa). But when the couple reapplied for family housing the following year, the university said no.

The school says its decision was based on a state law that restricts the term "marriage" to different-sex couples. It's a no-win situation: by denying family housing to unmarried same-sex couples in a state where they cannot legally marry, the university is discriminating against them. Lambda Legal is filing a lawsuit against the University of Hawaii on the couple's behalf.

Lambda Legal is no stranger to the fight for marriage equality in Hawaii. In 1993, we contributed to the first-ever ruling that said excluding same-sex couples from marriage was discrimination. But voters passed a constitutional amendment, allowing the Hawaii legislature to restrict the term "marriage" to different-sex couples. The state later passed the "Reciprocal Beneficiaries" law that gave same-sex couples some protections.

Phi and Joseph were forced to lease a more expensive apartment off campus. Joseph continues to be burdened with heavy commuting expenses and has lost his eligibility for a student meal plan, costing the couple an additional several thousand dollars per year.

Every year in March the university celebrates Diversity Week, an initiative designed to celebrate the importance of diversity and identity in higher education, the workplace and in the community.

University of Hawaii (Manoa) Facts

• Founded in 1907
• Total UHM student enrollment is 20,357
• UHM has over 200 student organizations
• UH is one of Hawaii's largest employers
• According to the university website, its law school was recognized by Princeton Review as "third in the nation for the Best Environment for Minority Students and fifth for the Most Diverse Faculty."

The New York Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit against Governor David A. Paterson that challenged his directive that state agencies respect out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

The court granted Lambda Legal's motion to intervene in the case on behalf of Peri Rainbow and Tamela Sloan, longtime public employees who are raising a special needs child adopted from foster care. The couple, like others in the state, depends on the protections that come from respect for their marriage.

In May, Governor Paterson instructed all state agencies to revise policies and regulations to recognize marriages of same-sex couples performed in other countries or in states like Massachusetts and California. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and a few taxpayers challenged the directive, arguing that the policy change was unconstitutional and an illegal expenditure of State funds. Attorney General Cuomo responded on the Governor's behalf with a motion to dismiss the case.

According to Justice Lucy Billings' opinion, "…the Governor's Directive is another permissible, if not mandated, step toward the objective of equality for a group for whom legal as well as practical barriers to equality persist."

At a Board of Education meeting on October 23, 2007, the Ithaca City School District unanimously voted to rescind its challenge to New York State’s Human Rights Law. In calling off this challenge, the Ithaca City School District cleared the way for a hearing on claims made by Amelia Kearny that her daughter was subjected to relentless, racially motivated harassment by a group of white students while riding a public school bus to DeWitt Middle School. The school district initially denied the validity of the allegations, and further argued that the Human Rights Law does not apply to public schools. When a state trial court ruled that the law does in fact apply to public schools, the school district launched an appeal contesting the use of the law.

In advance of the school board vote, Lambda Legal sent a letter to every member of the Board of Education pointing out flaws in the school district’s legal arguments and identifying the potential harm in attacking the Human Rights Law. Numerous community members and representatives of organizations attended the hearing to ask the board to revoke its challenge so students’ protection under the human rights law would not be jeopardized.

Board of Education member Seth Peacock had asked fellow members to reconsider their stance on this issue at aboard meeting in early October, spurring further dialogue, which eventually led to the new vote on the issue. At the hearing, Peacock extended thanks to Lambda Legal in particular: “I want to thank Lambda Legal for their involvement in this case. Their letter, I think, allowed many of us to look at this issue differently.”

Read Lambda Legal’s letter to Board of Ed members

The Supreme Court of New York for Westchester County held that County Executive Spano can recognize out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples living in Westchester County.

“Today’s decision follows a long history of settled law in New York, namely that our state respects marriages that are validly entered into in other jurisdictions,” said Alphonso David, Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal and lead attorney on this case. “Our clients can now have some peace of mind that their marriage is secure in Westchester County.”

On June 6, 2006, Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano issued Executive Order No. 3, which provides that “every department, board, agency, and commission of the County of Westchester under my jurisdiction (shall) recognize same sex marriages lawfully entered into outside the State of New York in the same manner as they currently recognize opposite sex marriages” with regard to extending benefits and rights to those couples.

The New York Appellate Division has vacated a lower court decision denying recognition of Canadian marriages for same-sex couples.

This ruling wipes out a trial court decision in Lambda Legal's case on behalf of Duke Funderburke, a retired schoolteacher who was denied retirement benefits for Bradley Davis, his partner of 45 years, by the Uniondale School District. Funderburke and Davis had married in Canada in 2004.

While the case was on appeal, the New York State Department of Civil Service agreed to extend benefits to same-sex spouses of public employees covered under the New York State Health Insurance Program. The DCS policy covered Funderburke and Davis.

Now there is a consistent message across New York: out-of-state marriages for same-sex couples must be respected. This brings us one step closer to marriage equality in the Empire State.

Decisions issued to resolve two administrative complaints filed by lawyers who work within the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit conclude that these employees are entitled to health insurance for their same-sex spouses. The decisions resolve internal complaints and do not establish legal precedent.

The first administrative order was authored by Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Kozinski in response to a grievance filed by judicial attorney Karen Golinski. It concludes that the court’s internal nondiscrimination policy forbidding sexual orientation discrimination against court employees requires equal health insurance for employees with a same-sex spouse. Judge Kozinski concludes that the federal “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA) raises troubling constitutional questions that need not be resolved because the federal law does not prevent equal health benefits in this instance. Judge Reinhardt issued the second administrative order in the grievance filed by federal public defender Brad Levenson, concluding that DOMA does block application of the court’s nondiscrimination rules but may not be constitutionally applied in this context.

Since taking office, President Obama has renewed his position that gay people should receive equal rights and privileges and has called on Congress to repeal the section of DOMA that denies federal benefits to same-sex couples in legally recognized unions.

Print/view the PDF of Golinski EDR Amended Order J. Kozinski

Print/view the PDF of Levenson EDR Order J. Reinhardt