Lambda Legal’s Case Work
For five decades and counting, Lambda Legal has proudly served as attorneys for the LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV. Find out what’s on our docket right now—and go in depth on each of our current cases below.




John Doe v. Delaware County, et al.
On June 24, 2022, Lambda Legal, AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, and attorney Scott A. Schoettes, Esq. filed an amended...
Court: Unites States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Wilkins v. Austin
Lambda Legal filed a legal challenge to the U.S. Military policy that prevents people living with HIV from enlisting in...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Dekker, et al., v. Weida, et al.
LGBTQ+ and health advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit today challenging Florida’s anti-transgender health care rule denying coverage for transgender...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
Cousins et al. v. The School Board of Orange County et al.
Lambda Legal, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Southern Legal Counsel, and private counsel Baker McKenzie filed a federal lawsuit challenging...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
PFLAG v. Abbott
Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Texas, along with Texas-based law firm Baker Botts LLP,...
Court: District Court of Travis County, Texas
Chandler v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Southern California, the Transgender Law Center, and O’Melveny & Myers LLP filed a request to...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
Fowler et al. v. Stitt et al.
Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit seeking to allow transgender people to correct the gender marker on their Oklahoma birth...
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
Doe v. Abbott
Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, and the law firm Baker Botts LLP asked a Texas...
Court: District Court of Travis County, Texas
In re Dallas Arboretum
Lambda Legal has filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical...
Court: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Campos v. Cohen
Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit challenging the State of North Carolina’s discriminatory policy requiring transgender people to have undergone...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
Decision: Victory
L.E. v. Lee
In November 2021, Lambda Legal along with co-counsel filed a lawsuit on behalf of 14-year-old Luc Esquivel who is banned...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education
“I know how hurtful a law like this is to all kids like me who just want to play sports...
Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
Facing Foster Care in Alaska v. HHS
Plaintiffs Facing Foster Care in Alaska (FFCA), Family Equality, True Colors United, Inc., and Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders...
Court: The United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Immigration Equality v. DHS
Lambda Legal and Immigration Equality, along with co-counsel Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the...
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of California
C.P. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois
Lambda Legal and Sirianni Youtz Spoonemore Hamburger PLLC filed a federal lawsuit challenging Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois’s (“BCBSIL”)...
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma
Fain v. Crouch
Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit challenging West Virginia’s blanket exclusions of coverage for gender-confirming care in its Medicaid and...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
California Tribal Families Coalition v. Azar
Represented by Lambda Legal, Democracy Forward, and the Michigan State University College of Law’s Indian Law Clinic, two federally recognized...
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division
Family Equality v. Azar
Lambda Legal and Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit on behalf of three organizations serving vulnerable populations — Family Equality, True...
Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Rogers v. United States Department of Health and Human Services
Lambda Legal, the ACLU, ACLU of South Carolina, and South Carolina Equality Coalition are suing the U.S. Department of Health...
Court: United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Greenville Division
County of Santa Clara v. HHS
Lambda Legal, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit challenging...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Gore v. Lee
Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of four transgender Tennesseeans seeking to allow transgender individuals to correct the...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
Kadel v. Folwell
Lambda Legal and Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) filed a federal lawsuit against North Carolina officials for discrimination...
Court: United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
Roe and Voe v. Austin (formerly v. Esper and at filing v. Shanahan)
Lambda Legal, Modern Military Association of America (MMAA), with partner law firm Winston & Strawn, filed a lawsuit on behalf...
Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Deese & Doe v. Austin (formerly v. Esper)
Lambda Legal and Modern Military Association of America (MMAA) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Kevin Deese and John Doe...
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division
Ely v. Saul (formerly Ely v. Berryhill)
A lawsuit against the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) on behalf of a 65-year-old gay man seeking spousal survivor’s benefits...
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Decision: Landmark Case
Harrison v. Austin (formerly v. Esper and at filing v. Shanahan)
Lambda Legal, Modern Military Association of America (MMAA), with partner law firm Winston & Strawn, filed a lawsuit on behalf of...
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Doe v. AJ Boggs & Company
Lambda Legal filed a class-action lawsuit in California Superior Court against A.J. Boggs & Company on behalf of 93 low-income...
Court: Superior Court of the State of California County of San Francisco
Klein dba Sweetcakes by Melissa v. Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industry
Lambda Legal filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer, a lesbian couple, urging the Oregon appellate courts...
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, United States Supreme Court
Marouf v. Becerra (Formerly Marouf v. Azar)
Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Conference...
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Adams v. The School Board of St. Johns County, Florida
Lambda Legal filed a federal discrimination lawsuit in the Middle District of Florida against the St. Johns County School Board...
Court: Middle District Court of Florida
Bostock v. Clayton County, GA / Zarda v. Altitude Express / RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes Inc v. EEOC
On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision approving the analysis Lambda Legal has been advancing for...
Court: United States Supreme Court
Decision: Landmark Case
Obergefell v. Hodges / Henry v. Hodges
The landmark case that helped bring equal marriage nationwide.
Court:
Decision: Landmark Case
Colín v. Orange Unified School District
Groundbreaking case arguing for the right of students to form a gay-straight alliance and to become a recognized student club
Court: U.S. District Court
Decision: Landmark Case
Glenn v. Brumby et. al.
Federal lawsuit filed on behalf of a transgender woman fired from her job as a Legislative Editor after she stated...
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
Decision: Victory
Nabozny v. Podlesny
Groundbreaking case arguing that schools have a responsibility to protect students from antigay verbal and physical abuse
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit
Decision: Landmark Case
Taylor v. Rice
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Decision: Landmark Case
Lawrence v. Texas
Historic case that overturned all remaining state sodomy laws in the United States
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Decision: Landmark Case