As we kick off Lambda Legal’s 40th anniversary year, we are looking forward. The coming year will be filled with important work to be done in courts, legislatures and in our communities across the country. Here we go!
Lambda Legal has marriage equality cases pending in three states—New Jersey, Nevada and Illinois. At the same time, we are helping lead the fight for the freedom to marry at the Illinois legislature, which just re-introduced bills in the House and Senate. There are many paths to justice, and same-sex couples and their families should not have to wait any longer.
This is the year we hope the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down DOMA and Prop 8, and our expert attorneys are working to draft and organize friend-of-the-court briefs to support these important cases. Arguments will be heard at the end of March, and rulings are expected by the end of June.
We continue to focus on police and government misconduct that affects LGBT people and those with HIV. We will release the findings of our online survey “Protected and Served?” and continue to litigate cases involving discriminatory sentencing, criminalization of HIV and police misconduct.
Our docket of more than 70 cases touches on almost every aspect of our lives: We are proud to defend LGBTQ students who are denied freedom of expression, and we are determined to secure justice for a lesbian denied survivor benefits after her partner was murdered. Learn more about our work here.
We enter our fifth decade of making the case for equality with a healthy mix of optimism and determination. With your help, the future is in our hands.