Clip description: In an unprecedented move to reshape the NJ Supreme Court, Gov. Christie has refused the reappointments of two sitting justices, making him the only governor in NJ history to do so. Following the Court’s Oct. 2013 decision that was instrumental in providing the freedom for same-sex couples to marry in NJ, he roundly criticized the ruling and disagreed …
Read More »Tag Archives: Lambda Legal
GEORGIA: First Marriage Suit To Be Filed
Today Lambda Legal will file Georgia’s first marriage equality suit. Via the Georgia Voice: April 10 was not your usual Thursday at Fulton County Probate Court. Because at one point during the day, Midtown couple Shane Thomas and Michael Bishop strolled in and applied for a marriage license. “Everyone there was friendly, but they still said no,” Bishop tells GA …
Read More »ILLINOIS: Lambda Legal Sues Doctor For Refusing Medication To Trans Woman
Lambda Legal yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against an Illinois doctor for refusing to prescribe hormone replacement therapy for a transgender woman. The suit alleges that such a denial is a violation of the Affordable Care Act. Lambda writes: Kenneth Upton, Senior Counsel for Lambda Legal, said: “The provisions of the Affordable Care Act are clear: doctors receiving federal funds …
Read More »INDIANA: Federal Court Orders State To Recognize Marriage Of Ill Woman
Today a federal court ordered Indiana to recognize the Massachusetts marriage of a terminally ill lesbian and her wife. Lambda Legal cheers via press release: Lambda Legal filed suit on behalf of Amy Sandler, Niki Quasney and their two children, seeking immediate relief from Indiana’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples as Ms. Quasney battles stage four cancer. Ms. Quasney …
Read More »Lamba Legal: Marriage Lawsuits Recap
Lambda Legal has posted an exhaustive recapping of all the marriage equality lawsuits currently underway. In summary, there currently are 64 pending lawsuits (43 in federal court – 9 of which are on appeal – and 21 in state courts, 5 of which are on appeal and 11 of which raise federal claims), involving how the marriage laws of 30 …
Read More »INDIANA: Lambda Legal Asks Court To Recognize Marriage Of Terminally Ill Lesbian Married In Massachusetts
Today Lambda Legal asked a federal court to force Indiana to recognize the Massachusetts marriage of a terminally ill lesbian and her wife. Via press release: Every day that Indiana denies Amy, Niki and their two children the protections of marriage is cruel and discriminatory against a family whose time together is precious,” said Paul Castillo, Staff Attorney for Lambda …
Read More »Employment Protections Map
Lambda Legal notes: All government employees are protected by the U.S. Constitution against irrational discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In addition, some measure of protection already exists under Title VII based on gender, which has been held to include gender identity and expression. The U.s. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and several courts have interpreted Title VII …
Read More »Now Appearing On Chicago Mass Transit
Lambda Legal this week debuted its first-ever mass transit campaign on Chicago’s red line. “This is a celebration campaign,” said Jim Bennett, Regional Director for the Midwest Regional Office of Lambda Legal. “We’re very happy to have our plaintiff couples as the faces of a campaign on the CTA Red line, a great place to be seen by our community. …
Read More »VIRGINIA: Norfolk County Clerk Files Appeal Of Gay Marriage Ban Overturn, Claims Brothers Will Now Get Married
Attorneys representing Norfolk County Clerk George Schaefer yesterday filed an appeal of the decision that overturned Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage. The filing claims, among other things, that the legalization of gay marriage will lead to brothers getting married for the tax and insurance benefits. Just like brothers and sisters have done since marriage was invented by God. “Same-sex marriage …
Read More »ARIZONA: Second Marriage Suit Filed
In January, four Arizona gay couples filed a class action suit against the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Yesterday a second lawsuit was filed in federal court by Lambda Legal. The complaint was filed on behalf of seven Arizona couples, a Phoenix widower and a Tucson widow to overturn a 2008 amendment to the Arizona Constitution that defines marriage as …
Read More »INDIANA: Second Marriage Suit Filed
Last week the first marriage equality lawsuit in Indiana was filed on behalf of four same-sex couples. Today we learn that Lambda Legal has filed a suit of its own. Via press release: On Monday, in the United States District Court Southern District of Indiana, Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of three same-sex couples who seek the …
Read More »Date Set For Nevada Marriage Case
Last month Nevada Attorney General Catherine Masto withdrew her defense, declaring that Ninth Circuit Court’s application of heightened scrutiny in an unrelated case means that Nevada’s ban is now indefensible. UPDATE: Press release from Lambda Legal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today set April 9, 2014 for oral arguments in Sevcik v. Sandoval, Lambda Legal’s lawsuit …
Read More »LGBT Groups Tangle Over Which One Will Bring Marriage Fight Back To SCOTUS
Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: The fight to win marriage equality across the nation has in recent months become nearly as much a fight about which lawyers and organizations will get to be the ones making the arguments before the Supreme Court — and taking credit for a win. Now, that fight is breaking out into the open. On Wednesday, …
Read More »LGBT Groups React To Arizona Veto
Human Rights Campaign With today’s veto, Governor Brewer spared her state from institutional discrimination and economic catastrophe. Make no mistake, there is no better way to doom jobs in a state than by signing license-to-discriminate bills,” said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Chad Griffin. “The bipartisan outpouring of opposition to this bill is all the proof you need that this …
Read More »NEVADA: Ninth Circuit Grants Lambda Legal’s Request For Expedited Hearing
Two days after Nevada Attorney General Katherine Masto withdrew her defense against Lambda Legal’s marriage equality lawsuit, the Ninth Circuit Court has granted Lambda’s request for an expedited hearing. Via press release: Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Tara Borelli issued the following statement: “The fact that the government defendants no longer are defending Nevada’s exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage makes …
Read More »BREAKING: Nevada AG Catherine Masto Withdraws Defense Of Gay Marriage Ban
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Masto has filed a motion with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, withdrawing her defense of the marriage equality lawsuit against the state. Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval says he agrees with the move, saying it’s clear the state’s arguments supporting the ban are no longer defensible in court. The decision means Nevada will not argue to …
Read More »VIRGINIA: Court Grants Class Action Status To ACLU/Lambda Marriage Lawsuit
Via joint press release from Lambda Legal and the ACLU: Today, a federal district court in Virginia certified as a class action a lawsuit challenging that state’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples, extending the scope of those represented in the lawsuit to all same-sex couples in the state who cannot legally marry or whose legal marriages performed elsewhere are …
Read More »West Virginia Marriage Suit Gets OK
Lambda Legal’s marriage equality suit against West Virginia has survived motions to dismiss, but with an important stipulation regarding one aspect of the case. Via the Associated Press: A federal judge ruled this week that most of the lawsuit against the state’s ban on same-sex marriage could continue, but said the lawsuit’s claim that West Virginia should recognize gay marriages …
Read More »Lambda Legal: Heightened Scrutiny Will Be A Game-Changer For Nevada
Via press release from Lambda Legal: Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto late yesterday issued a statement declaring that her office was reconsidering the State’s arguments in Lambda Legal’s lawsuit challenging Nevada’s discriminatory marriage ban, Sevcik v. Sandoval, in light of the recent U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in GlaxoSmithKline v. Abbott Laboratories. Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Tara …
Read More »NEVADA: Dem AG Files Brief Comparing Same-Sex Marriage To Incest & Bigamy
Democratic Nevada Attorney General Catherine Masto has filed a brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in which she compares same-sex marriage to bigamy and incest. Chris Johnson writes at the Washington Blade: Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, took Masto to task for making an implicit comparison between same-sex marriage and bigamy or incest while saying she …
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