7/7/2010

"In a controversial last-minute decision, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle Tuesday vetoed legislation that would have allowed same-sex civil unions in her state. The move was a setback for gay rights groups, and once again thrust Hawaii onto the frontlines of the national battle over gay marriage.

"Moments after the veto, gay rights groups resolved to continue fighting to legalize same-sex unions there.

"Gay rights advocacy group Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii released a joint statement saying they had readied a lawsuit.

7/1/2010

"The last time the state of Arizona seemed even remotely forward-thinking was in the fall of 2008, when then-Gov. Janet Napolitano approved benefits for all domestic partners of state employees.

7/6/2010

"A federal judge ruled late Friday that the Georgia General Assembly illegally discriminated against Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman, by firing her from her job as a legislative editor when she announced her plan to transition from male to female.

"...Beth Littrell of Atlanta, staff attorney for Lambda Legal which is representing Glenn in the lawsuit, said she was 'thrilled and relieved but not surprised' with the judge's ruling because it was clear those working for the General Assembly who fired Glenn broke federal law.

From July, 2010 eNews Vol. 7 No. 7

This week, Elena Kagan answered questions before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her fitness for the bench of the nation's highest court.

For our movement, the hearings coincided with an anniversary of enormous significance. Last Saturday marked seven years since the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Lawrence v. Texas. Lambda Legal's landmark victory resulted in the repeal of all remaining state sodomy laws and a sweeping change in the legal landscape for LGBT people.

From July, 2010 eNews Vol. 7 No. 7

Q: Last year, I asked my boss for medical leave to care for my eight-year-old son, who had been diagnosed with leukemia. We’ve raised him together since the day he was born, but I was denied leave because I’m not his biological mother and second-parent adoptions are unavailable in my state. Would the new interpretation of the Family and Medical Leave Act that President Obama announced in June have helped?

(Phoenix, Arizona, June 28, 2010) — Lambda Legal today presented oral arguments in U.S. District Court in Phoenix to block a law stripping domestic partner benefits from gay and lesbian state employees. Arizona lawmakers included a provision eliminating domestic partner health benefits for gay state employees as part of a last-minute budget deal signed by Governor Jan Brewer last September, while retaining spousal health benefits for heterosexual workers.

Lambda Legal welcomed today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upholds a policy at a California law school that groups receiving campus funding must accept “all comers;” that is, not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or other status or belief.

6/26/2010

"On this date in 2003, the Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, repealed Texas' 'Homosexual Conduct' law, in a 6-3 decision, declaring laws against sodomy unconstitutional.

"The court's ruling forced thirteen additional states to repeal laws that criminalized only same-sex conduct. The high court's decision also repealed laws that criminalized oral and anal sex of both gay and straight actors.

6/25/2010

"If Ms. Kagan is confirmed after US Senate hearings scheduled to start June 28, then the court will have certain demographics represented in numbers that 50 years ago would have seemed unimaginable: three women, three Jews, six Roman Catholics. Kagan's confirmation also would mean that, for the first time, the court would be left without any white Protestant males, who until 1993, commanded a majority of the court.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn will sign into law SB 3266, the Prevent School Violence Act, a bill that covers bullying specifically targeted at students because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, among other categories. In response, Lambda Legal released the following statement from Christopher Clark, Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Midwest Regional Office in Chicago.