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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.

Showing 15 of 334 results

Active Case

Colosimo v. Berryhill

Lambda Legal filed a motion on behalf of a 75-year-old gay man arguing that the Social Security Administration’s denial of...

Case Filed: 01/16/2019

Court: U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina

  • Anti-LGBTQ+ Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections
  • Seniors
  • North Carolina
Active Case

Lucas v. Chalk

Lambda Legal, Just Detention International (JDI), and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of...

Case Filed: 01/14/2019

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

  • Anti-LGBTQ+ Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Criminal Legal System and Police Misconduct
  • Fair Courts
  • Tennessee
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...

Case Filed: 12/19/2018

Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

  • Anti-LGBTQ+ Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • HIV
  • 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...

Case Filed: 12/12/2018

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division

  • Anti-LGBTQ+ Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • HIV
  • Maryland
Active Case

Gonzales v. Berryhill

Lambda Legal filed a motion on behalf of a 63-year-old gay man arguing that the Social Security Administration’s denial of...

Case Filed: 12/12/2018

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico

  • Anti-LGBTQ+ Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections
  • Seniors
  • New Mexico
Closed Case

Eller v. Prince George’s County Public Schools

Lambda Legal joined Arnold & Porter in a lawsuit filed against the Prince George’s County Public Schools and Board of...

Case Filed: 12/10/2018

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

  • Employment and Rights in the Workplace
  • Transgender and Nonbinary Rights
  • 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...

Case Filed: 11/20/2018

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

Decision: Landmark Case

  • Anti-LGBTQ+ Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections
  • Seniors
  • Arizona
Active Case

Southern Poverty Law Center and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. v. United States Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Prisons

Lambda Legal and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Department of...

Case Filed: 11/19/2018

Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

  • Criminal Legal System and Police Misconduct
  • Transgender and Nonbinary Rights
Active Case

Dorn v. Michigan Department of Corrections, et al.

On November 12, 2018, Lambda Legal and Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service announced the successful settlement of a 2015 lawsuit...

Case Filed: 10/31/2018

Court: Western District of Michigan

  • Criminal Legal System and Police Misconduct
  • HIV
  • Michigan
Active Case

Foster v. Andersen

Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit challenging Kansas’ refusal to correct the gender marker on birth certificates for transgender individuals....

Case Filed: 10/11/2018

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas

  • Transgender and Nonbinary Rights
  • Kansas
Closed Case

In Re the Marriage of Maria C and Luis C

The trial court issued a mutual restraining order against Appellant Maria C. without properly applying section 6305 of the California...

Case Filed: 10/10/2018

Court: Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, California

Decision: Victory

  • California
Closed Case

Fulton v. City of Philadelphia

Lambda Legal filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and again in the U.S. Supreme Court...

Case Filed: 10/05/2018

Court: Supreme Court of the United States

  • Anti-LGBTQ+ Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections
  • Religious Exemptions
  • Youth in Out-of-Home Care
  • Pennsylvania
Closed Case

Lambda Legal v. the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

On September 13, 2018, Lambda Legal and American Oversight, a non-partisan, nonprofit ethics watchdog committed to transparency and accountability in...

Case Filed: 09/13/2018

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

  • Fair Courts
  • Washington, D.C.
Active Case

Lambda Legal v. Office of Management and Budget

As the U.S. Senate started the confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Lambda...

Case Filed: 09/04/2018

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

  • Fair Courts
  • Washington, D.C.
Active Case

Rhines v. Young

Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, GLBTQ Advocates & Defenders, the...

Case Filed: 08/02/2018

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

  • Anti-LGBTQ+ Rulings, Laws and Amendments
  • Criminal Legal System and Police Misconduct
  • Fair Courts
  • South Dakota