Name: Carl Charles
Job Title: Senior Attorney
Pronouns: He/him
Location: Atlanta, GA
For years, the nation’s best and brightest legal minds have put their skills and passion to work for carrying forth Lambda Legal’s mission to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV. In this series, you’ll get to know the people at the heart of what we do.
In April’s edition of “Meet Our Lawyers,” we will be highlighting Carl Charles, Lambda Legal senior attorney. Since joining Lambda Legal as a staff attorney in 2019, Carl has fought hard against the onslaught of attacks against the trans community at the state and federal level. Additionally, he has been involved in efforts to educate and inform transgender, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, and intersex people of their rights, most recently as related to federal identity documents in the wake of the second Trump administration.
What brought you to work at Lambda?
I began my work at Lambda Legal in 2017 as a fellow in Transgender Rights Project. At the time, I was working with the New York City Commission on Human Rights but I wanted to join the frontlines in the fight for trans rights against the first Trump administration.
What issue or area of the law do you specialize in?
My work has been almost entirely focused on litigation, policy advocacy, and public education aimed at expanding and protecting the civil rights of transgender people in a variety of settings including employment, education, and health care access.
What has been your proudest moment or project here at Lambda Legal, and why?
I feel incredibly lucky to say that there have been many moments to feel proud of my work at Lambda Legal. However, if I had to pick, it is a tie between my work on the Kadel et al. v. Folwell et al. case and the Dekker v. Weida case. In Kadel, our plaintiffs challenged North Carolina’s state employee health care plan’s prohibition of health care coverage for trans employees or trans dependents of state employees. In Dekker, our plaintiffs challenged the state of Florida’s attempts to ban health care for transgender youth and adults from the state Medicaid program. We conducted a trial and secured a powerful ruling in federal court in the Northern District of Florida. Both of these cases provided the opportunity to undermine anti-transgender medical professionals who believe varying versions of unscientific and biased viewpoints about trans people’s identities and experiences.
How have you seen the rights for LGBTQ+ folks advance in your lifetime? What would you like to see in the future?
Legal recognition and rights for LGBTQ+ people have advanced dramatically in my lifetime, as have rights specifically for transgender people. In just the last 10 years, we’ve seen LGBTQ+ people’s legal right to marry and protect their family structure and relationships enshrined by the Supreme Court. And in the last five years, we secured an equally important milestone in our movement’s history with the Supreme Court holding that federal law protects LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in employment — something arguably more critical to survival and improved health outcomes than marriage. I suspect that this incredible leap forward in progress is why we are now experiencing a backlash that requires all of us to contribute, in any way we can, to holding the line.
Thinking about the future feels tricky at this moment, with so much hanging in the balance of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Skrmetti case coming in late June/July from the conservative majority Court. But in the future I would like to see more solidarity both within our movement and between other justice movements. I don’t think we can have too much collaboration or support of one another as our foes find new and creative ways to attack and divide us. I hope we can link arms and stand together because it’s the only way to stop the backlash currently unfolding.
What’s something fun or interesting you would like to share about yourself?
For our COVID-delayed honeymoon in 2022, my husband and I stayed on the same island in Thailand (Koi Samui) where the third season of “The White Lotus” was filmed.
What is bringing you joy right now?
Cuddling and giving treats to my two dogs and my husband helps keep me grounded in the present and reminds me to cultivate a practice of gratitude, which is an invitation to feel joy. I have also expanded my exercise routine to include dance workouts and I sincerely regret not having done this sooner in my life.