No matter the season, Lambda Legal remains steadfast in protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and everyone living with HIV. And our unwavering commitment to our community has not gone unnoticed.
In fact, in just the last few weeks alone, our legal experts and staff have been featured in more than 100 published articles, and in media outlets like The Advocate, Reuters, The Tennessean, and Education Week.
Much of the coverage focused on our continued push for LGBTQ+ visibility in public schools and equality for trans youth in public school sports activities. Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings also published an op-ed about celebrating Pride in his hometown.
These media hits help amplify Lambda Legal’s vital work and mission. More importantly, they highlight the humanity and courage of our clients and the oft-forgotten communities they represent.
Scroll on below for a handpicked list of media hits:
Case: Iowa Safe Schools v. Reynolds
Article: “Iowa’s Book Ban Is Reinstated by Appeals Court But Case Against It Will Continue” (Education Week)
In November of 2023, Lambda Legal, as well as the ACLU of Iowa, and the law firm Jenner & Block LLP filed a lawsuit in federal court to block a law that silenced and erased the recognition of LGBTQ+ people in public schools. Although an Iowa District Court granted in part Lambda Legal’s request for an injunction in January 2024, blocking key parts of the law, the controversial SF 496 was reinstated at the beginning of August 2024, right before the beginning of the school year, due to a change in the relevant legal standards following a recently issued Supreme Court opinion.
Lambda Legal said it was unfortunate the appeals court was reinstating the law right before the start of a new school year. However, the group was encouraged that the panel agreed with some of the plaintiffs’ arguments and rejected the State defendants’ primary defenses of the law.
“Iowa families, and especially LGBTQ+ students who will again face bullying, intimidation, and censorship as they return for a new school year, are deeply frustrated and disappointed by this delay,” Lambda Legal said in a statement to Education Week. “The appeals court acknowledged that our student clients have been harmed by the law and have the right to bring suit. The court also rejected the state’s claim that banning books in libraries is a form of protected government speech. We will ask the district court to block the law again at the earliest opportunity.”
For more coverage of this case, check out Associated Press, New York Times, LGBTQ Nation, Des Moines Register, Iowa Capital Dispatch, KGAN-TV, and Little Village Magazine.
Case: Gore v Lee
Article: “Federal appeals court upholds Tennessee’s transgender birth certificate policy” (The Tennessean)
In April of 2019, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of transgender Tennesseans who wished to correct their gender marker on official Tennessee documentation. In July of 2024, a divided federal court of appeals panel affirmed the dismissal of the case stating that the state’s policy did not unlawfully discriminate against transgender people. Lambda Legal wholeheartedly disagrees and we have asked the full court for reconsideration.
In a statement to The Tennessean, Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Lambda Legal senior counsel and health care strategist, said, “The discrimination that is being suffered by transgender people in present-day America is something that, frankly, is reprehensible and shameful,” He added, “I hope that this decision doesn’t give fodder to that, but rather allows us to galvanize to ensure that we can have a more inclusive and protective set of laws and policies.”
For more coverage of this case, check out Reuters, Courthouse News, and WKRN-TV (ABC Nashville).
Case: West Virginia v. BPJ
Article: “West Virginia, Idaho asking Supreme Court to review rulings allowing transgender athletes to compete” (The Advocate)
In 2020, Idaho became one of the first states to enact a law that prevents trans athletes from taking part in school sports. Since then, 25 additional states, including West Virginia, have enacted similar laws.
Becky Pepper-Jackson, with the help of Lambda Legal, filed a case in the Southern District of West Virginia in 2021 seeking equal access to athletic opportunities at her school. Lambda Legal co-counseled with the ACLU and Cooley LLP to secure a preliminary injunction that allowed Pepper-Jackson to pursue her passion for participating in track events.
This past April, a Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that the state’s ban violated Pepper-Jackson’s rights under Title IX. Now, West Virginia is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review this decision.
“As the Fourth Circuit made abundantly clear, our client deserves the opportunity to participate in sports teams without discrimination,” Pepper-Jackson’s legal team said in a statement. We will make our position clear to the Court and continue to defend the right of all students to play as who they are.”
For more coverage of this case, check out Wheeling News-Register, West Virginia Watch, and the West Virginia Record.
Op-Ed: “Kevin Jennings: You Can Go Home Again: Pride in Winston-Salem Proved That to Me” (Winston-Salem Journal)
Within the confines of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings grew up face to face with homophobia and anti-trans rhetoric in his everyday life. Never imagining returning to his childhood home again after coming out, Jennings spoke of his visit to his hometown’s 2024 pride parade and the hard work that made the parade possible.
“What made the march so remarkable was how unremarkable it was. It was like any other Pride parade I’ve been to in the past 38 years. All the local dignitaries marched, as did employee groups from local corporations and contingents from several churches,” said Jennings. “… I saw people living their lives freely and joyously — in the town that almost killed me nearly 50 years ago.”