Opening Statement
by Hayley Gorenberg
Deputy Legal Director

I arrived in Charlottesville, Virginia in March to teach a seminar on public service law at University of Virginia Law School just days after the state's Attorney General, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II, issued a directive to officials at public colleges and universities stating that they did not have the authority to bar LGBT discrimination on campus. LGBT staff at the school felt stricken, outraged, scared for their livelihoods and at risk based solely upon their identities, regardless of the caliber of their work. Students shared their upset and anger.

As confusion trailed in the wake of the Attorney General's directive, Lambda Legal issued an immediate public critique. The state's top lawyer had failed to acknowledge that constitutional equal protection extends to LGBT public employees. (See Supervising Senior Staff Attorney Greg Nevins' "Intersection of Policy and Law" in this issue.) Governor Robert McDonnell issued a subsequent directive that belatedly acknowledged federal law.

As of this writing, we remain in close contact with Virginia education professionals, concerned that confusion breeds vulnerability for university and college employees as well as students. We recognize a common theme: Where LGBT people are not specifically referenced and specifically protected under law, dangerous interpretations run rampant, despite the constitution. Lambda Legal fights back with legal analysis and cases that champion LGBT rights using constitutional protections available to everyone. We explicate how laws against sex discrimination can protect against certain forms of LGBT discrimination. At the same time, we press for improved laws, like the Employment Nondiscrimination Act and the Student Nondiscrimination Act, which will extend unmistakable protections to our communities because people who leave the closet should not remain invisible in the eyes of the law.

Arizona: Collins v. Brewer

California: Golinski v. United States Office of Personnel Management

California: Hastings College of Law v. Martinez

California: SkyWest spousal benefits

Texas: Lawrence v. Texas

Virginia: AG's Rejection of Policies Banning Antigay Discrimination

Washington DC: Employment Nondiscrimination Act

Washington DC: Student Nondiscrimination Act

Vol 3, No 2

Justice at Work
by Tara Borelli
Staff Attorney

Karen Golinski is a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals employee who has been denied health benefits for her same-sex spouse—even though the coverage would not cost the federal government one additional cent in premiums.

Gilbert Caldwell is a SkyWest airlines employee who was told that spousal travel benefits were off-limits to him, despite his lawful marriage to his life partner of over 35 years.

Ten Arizona state employees have sued to block the state from eliminating partner health benefits for lesbian and gay employees. Without coverage, their partners face potentially devastating health consequences.

The stories are different but the battle is the same: equal treatment in the workplace.

By Greg Nevins
Senior Staff Attorney

Lambda Legal can't fight every battle or react to every misinterpretation of the law uttered by someone hostile to LGBT rights. So the question of what to do came up when, on March 4, newly-elected Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II wrote to officials heading Virginia's public universities, urging them to rescind their policies against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Continue »

Tennessee School Agrees To Remedy Harassment And Censorship Of Gay Student
Read more »

Presidential Memo on Healthcare: Cathcart says, "This is how change happens."
Read more »

Federal Court Says Transgender People Must Be Allowed Medical Treatment in Prison: Lambda Legal and ACLU Applaud Ruling
Read more »

Last week, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in a case with the potential to impact lesbian, gay and bisexual students at all public law schools across the country. Lambda Legal and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) have filed an amicus brief with the Court in support of the Hastings College of Law, part of the University of California system, in a case brought by the Christian Legal Society (CLS), which is challenging the school's nondiscrimination policy. In 2004, after CLS refused to comply with Hastings' nondiscrimination policy, the law school denied CLS registration as an official campus organization. Such designation would have brought public funding and other "perks" to the group. CLS alleged that it could not comply with the nondiscrimination policy because CLS membership requires that those who join its group agree not to engage in "unrepentant participation in or advocacy of a sexually immoral lifestyle" including "homosexual conduct." Our amicus brief addresses the law regarding the lack of a genuine legal distinction between "homosexual conduct" discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination. You can read more about Hastings College of Law v. Martinez on our website by clicking here.

Feeling frustrated about the lack of workplace equality across the country? Worried about how your own future employers may treat you as an LGBT person or ally? Want to help make a difference in the law? Organize a drive at your school in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Congressional leaders said the time to take up ENDA would be after health care reform passed. Let's hold them to it!

Here's what you can do to help get the Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed:

Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Callers should give the operator their zip code and ask to be connected to their Representative. Then pass out flyers asking your fellow students and law school faculty and staff to do the same.

Suggested voicemail message: My name is _______ , and I live at (your street address) in (your city). I am calling about ENDA. My message is simple and direct: we need a House vote on ENDA as soon as possible. Thank you.

Let's let our representatives know that the time to act on ENDA is now!

Lambda Legal will soon be holding our 2010 "Forum Conveniens" events for summer associates and law students in LA, Chicago and New York metropolitan areas. If you'd like to participate either as an organizer or an attendee, please write to OCOC@lambdalegal.org and include your name, law school and expected date of graduation. We look forward to seeing you!

Explore our listing of both open and closed cases, along with pleadings, briefs and press releases. Lambda Legal's docket includes cases from each of our program areas such as family law, HIV discrimination, youth and schools, relationship recognition and employment discrimination.