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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.

Active Case

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

  • Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct
  • HIV
  • Delaware
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Employment and Rights in the Workplace
  • HIV
  • Military
  • United States
Active Case

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

  • Health Care Fairness
  • Transgender Rights
  • Florida
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Florida
Active Case

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

  • Transgender Rights
  • Youth and Schools
  • Texas
Active Case

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

  • Criminal Justice
  • Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct
  • Transgender Rights
  • California
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Transgender Rights
  • Oklahoma
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Transgender Rights
  • Youth and Schools
  • Texas
Active Case

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

  • Employment and Rights in the Workplace
  • Texas
Closed Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Transgender Rights
  • North Carolina
Active Case

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

  • Transgender Rights
  • Youth and Schools
  • Tennessee
Active Case

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

  • Transgender Rights
  • Youth and Schools
  • West Virginia
Active Case

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

  • Adoption and Parenting
  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Health Care Fairness
  • Seniors
  • Teens & Young Adults
  • Youth in Out-of-Home Care
  • United States
Active Case

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

  • Immigration
  • United States
Active Case

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

  • Health Care Fairness
  • Transgender Rights
  • Illinois
  • Washington
Active Case

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

  • Health Care Fairness
  • Transgender Rights
  • West Virginia
Active Case

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

  • Adoption and Parenting
  • Youth in Out-of-Home Care
Active Case

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

  • Health Care Fairness
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Marriage
  • Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections
  • Religious Exemptions
  • Same-Sex Relationships
  • Youth in Out-of-Home Care
  • South Carolina
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Health Care Fairness
  • Religious Exemptions
  • Reproductive Rights and Sexual Health
  • Transgender Rights
  • California
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Transgender Rights
  • Tennessee
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Health Care Fairness
  • Transgender Rights
  • North Carolina
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • HIV
  • Military
  • Virginia
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • HIV
  • Military
  • Maryland
Landmark Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections
  • Same-Sex Relationships
  • Seniors
  • Arizona
Active 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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • HIV
  • Military
  • Washington, D.C.
Active Case

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

  • Health Care Fairness
  • HIV
  • California
Active Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Marriage
  • Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections
  • Religious Exemptions
  • Oregon
Active Case

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

  • Adoption and Parenting
  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Marriage
  • Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections
  • Religious Exemptions
  • Youth in Out-of-Home Care
  • Texas
  • Washington, D.C.
Active Case

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

  • Teens & Young Adults
  • Transgender Rights
  • Youth and Schools
  • Florida
Landmark Case

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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Employment and Rights in the Workplace
  • New York
Landmark Case

Obergefell v. Hodges / Henry v. Hodges

The landmark case that helped bring equal marriage nationwide.

Court:

Decision: Landmark Case

  • Adoption and Parenting
  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Marriage
  • Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections
  • Same-Sex Relationships
  • Ohio
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

  • Teens & Young Adults
  • Youth and Schools
  • California
Closed 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

  • Employment and Rights in the Workplace
  • Transgender Rights
  • Georgia
Landmark Case

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

  • Teens & Young Adults
  • Youth and Schools
  • Wisconsin
Landmark Case

Taylor v. Rice

Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia

Decision: Landmark Case

  • Employment and Rights in the Workplace
  • HIV
  • Washington, D.C.
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

  • Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Criminal Justice
  • Texas