Lambda Legal’s Elayne Cassidy Nicholas Memorial Counsel for Trans and Nonbinary Rights will be honored for his work for LGBTQ+ community.
Lambda Legal announced today that Carl Charles, the organization’s Elayne Cassidy Nicholas Memorial Counsel for Trans and Nonbinary Rights, has been named a 2026 Grand Marshal of Atlanta Pride. Charles will join this year’s slate of honorees leading the Atlanta Pride Parade through Midtown Atlanta on October 11. This will mark the second time Lambda Legal has been recognized by Atlanta Pride. In 2014, the organization’s Southern Regional Office was named a Grand Marshal for its work on Inniss v. Aderhold, the landmark Georgia marriage equality case.
“Carl has spent his career making sure transgender people in Georgia and across the country are seen, protected, and represented in the law,” said Michael Shutt, Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Director. “This recognition from Atlanta Pride belongs to him, and to everyone he has stood beside in courtrooms, statehouses, and living rooms across this state.”
Charles has litigated some of the country’s most consequential cases defending transgender people’s right to access to health insurance, education, and employment free from discrimination. Most recently, he is counsel in Schlacter et al. v. U.S. Department of State et al., challenging the federal government’s discriminatory passport policy and in B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education et al., challenging West Virginia’s law banning girls and women who are transgender from participating in school sports. In 2023, he was a key member of the trial team that won Dekker v. Weida, restoring Florida Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care. He was also lead drafter of an amicus brief in Hecox v. Little signed by 176 women athletes in their individual capacities, including Billie Jean King, Candace Parker, and Megan Rapinoe. Earlier in his Lambda Legal tenure, Charles served as counsel in Karnoski v. Trump, a challenge to the constitutionality of the first Trump administration’s ban on military service by transgender people, and as lead counsel in Being v. Crum, which successfully challenged the Alaska Medicaid program’s exclusion of coverage for gender-affirming care.
Prior to joining Lambda Legal, Carl was an attorney with the national non-profit, A Better Balance, and before that, he worked as an attorney with the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Carl began his legal career as a Skadden Fellow with the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project where his project focused on supporting transgender youth experiencing homelessness, living in out-of-home care, and/or involved in the juvenile criminal legal system.
Since relocating to Georgia in 2020, Charles has been a steady presence in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality at the state level, supporting the work of Georgia Unites Against Discrimination, testifying before legislative committees, and speaking at rallies at the State Capitol. He is also a frequent public educator on the legal landscape facing LGBTQ+ people, including a 2023 appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal and a 2025 “Know Your Rights: Passports” webinar that was shared widely online, including by actress and singer, Ariana Grande.
Charles has also spoken about his own path to living openly as a transgender man. Responding earlier this year to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Chiles v. Salazar, regarding so-called “conversion therapy,” Charles shared his own experience with the discredited and harmful practice. He said it did not change his sexual orientation or gender identity when he was subjected to it at age 15, but instead caused harm to his relationships and sense of self that took years to undo. He has pointed to that experience as part of what drives his advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ+ youth today.
“Being named a Grand Marshal isn’t about me,” said Charles. “It’s a recognition of everyone in Georgia who has had to fight to exist openly and safely. I’m honored to join the other Marshals this year in championing the theme of Atlanta Pride 2026 to live “Louder and Prouder,” even in the face of renewed opposition to our communities.”
Atlanta Pride, the largest free Pride festival in the United States, will hold its 2026 festival and parade the weekend of October 10–11, with the parade through Midtown Atlanta on Sunday, October 11. Lambda Legal will have a float in the parade and invites the community to march alongside Carl. To register to participate in the Atlanta Pride festival and parade with Lambda Legal, visit here.
The community is also invited to celebrate Carl at the Lambda Legal in Atlanta Benefit and Brunch, taking place August 23, 2026, at the Georgia Aquarium, where Carl will be among the featured speakers. To purchase tickets and sponsorships, visit lambdalegal.org/atlanta.