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The Brief

The Brief is NCLR’s monthly newsletter featuring important case updates, information on what our team has been up to, and reminders for upcoming events.

The Brief

March 2026

NCLR BRIEFING TO HIGHLIGHT WOMEN LEADERS AND CRITICAL DATA ON QUEER WOMEN’S HEALTH IN HONOR OF WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, NCLR is proud of the strides we’ve made for equality and justice. For nearly 50 years, we’ve been dedicated to ensuring that every woman, regardless of her background or identity, can live freely and authentically.  

Since 2024, NCLR has been the home of the LGBTQ Women’s Community Survey, a project with a goal to collect and share critical data about queer women’s health, highlight the experiences of LGBTQ women in our movement and advocate for solutions to adverse health outcomes unique to queer women. 

This Women’s History Month, we invite you to join us for a virtual briefing on this critical work as we review the latest findings from the LGBTQ Women’s Community Survey! 

March 26, 2026
3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PST 
Hosted on Zoom 

Join our panelists Imani Rupert-Gordon, Women’s Community Survey Lead Researcher Jaime Grant, Deputy Director, Boston Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA2S+ Advancement Daunasia Yancey, and Queer Health Activist, and founder of Desire Mapping Lab Amelie Zurn-Galinsky, MSW for a discussion grounded in data, truth, and lived experience by exploring key findings from the largest survey ever conducted on LGBTQ+ women, trans men, gender-expansive people, and lesbians across identities.  

We’ll touch on themes like the current realities of lesbian & queer women’s health and safety, intersections of race, gender expression, class, age, and region and structural and systemic challenges impacting lesbian futures. 

Register today.

BEYOND THE COURT: ENDING CONVERSION THERAPY THROUGH LEGISLATION AND PUBLIC EDUCATION

We are currently awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar, the challenge to Colorado’s law protecting LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy. The Chiles case is about how conversion therapy can be regulated, not whether conversion therapy is safe or legal.  

A decision is expected by the end of June 2026, but regardless of how the Supreme Court rules in the case, survivors will continue to have legal options to fight back against the harms of conversion therapy, including consumer fraud claims, medical malpractice, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 

NCLR is working closely with states on bills that would expand the statute of limitations for survivors of conversion therapy so that they have more time to take legal action for the harms this practice causes. NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter recently testified twice in support of draft conversion therapy legislation in Maryland, and you can watch his testimony here. 

In addition to litigation and legislation, NCLR is using unique and innovative communications strategies to effectively reach conservative religious parents and dissuade them from seeking conversion therapy for their children. We have resisted a framing that pits religion against the LGBTQ community, and instead we are working with conservative parents whose children either survived or died by suicide following conversion therapy efforts.  

Together with conservative parents who can speak to the harm of conversion therapy on their children and families, we are working to meet parents where they are and help connect them to information, resources and support. Our campaign has already reached nearly 8 million people, and we will continue scale up these efforts to reach as many parents as possible and protect as many LGBTQ kids as we can. 

UNPRECEDENTED AND EXTREME KANSAS LAW WOULD SUPPRESS TRANSGENDER VOTERS

Transgender adults in Kansas have received letters ordering them to surrender their drivers’ licenses and obtain new identification with a marker reflecting their sex assigned at birth. Transgender Kansans who had previously legally changed their gender marker — of approximately 1,700 people — no longer have valid drivers’ licenses. This means they cannot legally drive and cannot use their invalidated licenses to vote. This could also leave some without any valid form of identification. 

This is a dangerous escalation in Kansas that has become law due to an override of the governor’s veto in the state legislature and is part of a larger attack on both voting rights and the transgender community nationwide. 

NCLR FIGHTS FEDERAL HEALTH CARE RESTRICTIONS FOR TRANSGENDER YOUTH

On February 17, 2026, NCLR joined GLAD Law and COLAGE in filing formal comments opposing a proposed federal rule that would devastate health care access for transgender young people across the country. Read more about the devastating affects this rule would have and how you can take action in our recent blog post: Why We’re Fighting a Dangerous Federal Rule That Would Cut Off Health Care for Transgender Youth 

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL INVITES NCLR PRESIDENT IMANI RUPERT-GORDON AS FEATURED SPEAKER

NCLR President Imani Rupert-Gordon will appear as a featured speaker at the 21st Annual Black Policy Conference at the Harvard Kennedy School, taking place April 10–12, 2026. 

This year’s theme, “Building Tomorrow, Today: Mobilizing for the Future We Envision,” focuses on mobilizing collective power to create systems that are equitable, sustainable, and responsive to the needs of Black communities around the world. 

Imani will join More Than a Moment: Black Women Leading Collective Change, a panel on April 11 which will explore how Black women create lasting, durable movements and institutions to achieve justice and equity.  

Each year, the Black Policy Conference convenes students, policymakers, activists, and industry leaders to exchange ideas and shape the next generation of public leadership. The conference aims to foster an inspiring and action-oriented space that bridges scholarship, lived experience, and real-world impact. 

Get Tickets.

NCLR PRESIDENT IMANI RUPERT-GORDON TO SERVE AS SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE COMMUNITY GRAND MARSHALL

SF Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford has announced Imani Rupert-Gordon will serve as a Community Grand Marshall of San Francisco’s upcoming Pride festivities, taking place June 27 and 28. The organization has selected “Resistance in Action” as its 2026 theme and Imani is thrilled to represent our spirit of pride and resistance! 

“So many in our community name San Francisco as a beacon of LGBTQ+ history, pride, and progress, I share that view wholeheartedly. There is still nowhere else in the world I would rather be.” 

-Imani Rupert-Gordon

BE A CHAMPION FOR JUSTICE MAY 16, 2026!

NCLR’s Champions for Justice Gala is not to be missed! Get your tickets today and join Courage Award Recipients Jazz Jennings and Captain Gordon Herrero! 

Jazz Jennings is one of the most recognized transgender activists of her generation. She gained national attention as one of the youngest publicly documented people to identify as transgender, beginning her advocacy in elementary school. As a child, Jazz was prohibited from playing soccer in her state and her family turned to NCLR for representation in her quest to play on the girls’ team. After two years of advocacy the United States Soccer Federation created a policy to include all transgender athletes who want to play soccer. Jazz is a Harvard University graduate, an honorary co-founder of the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation, spokesmodel, influencer and television personality. 

Captain Gordon Herrero is a proud transgender Army Officer assigned to the United States Military Academy at West Point as a mathematics instructor. Captain Herrero has served on active duty in the US Army for over a decade. He is an expert in multinational military logistics operations, having commanded and led teams to support large-scale mobility, sustainment, and planning missions around the world, including tours in Poland, South Korea, and with the United Nations Command Headquarters.   

Currently, he is on administrative leave while facing involuntary separation under the Trump administration’s ban on transgender military service. He is a named plaintiff on NCLR’s case, Talbott v. USA challenging this ban against transgender service members. 

HOST A TABLE OR GET TICKETS NOW!

HEATED RIVALRY AND CONNOR STORRIE FANS PROVE THE POWER OF PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING!

Thank you to the fans over at Connor Storrie Updates for raising $18,000 for NCLR in honor of Heated Rivalry lead Connor Storrie’s 26th birthday! The fundraiser encouraged Connor’s fans to transform their love of the actor and his portrayal of a closeted Russian hockey player into action for LGBTQ rights, and nearly 500 fans came to the cottage and made a gift to NCLR! This is the power of peer-to-peer fundraising! If this amazing turnout has you feeling inspired, you can start your own fundraiser for NCLR with JustGiving today!

Latest Issues

February 2026

Black History Month Holds the Answers to Today’s Questions

From the Desk of Senior Staff Attorney Amy Whelan

NCLR To Host LGBTQ Rights Conference For Legal Aid Advocates

The L-Fund Honors NCLR President Imani Rupert-Gordon

Champions for Justice 2026

Ways to Give

NCLR in the News

January 2026

MLK Day Message from President Imani Rupert-Gordon

Litigation/Case Updates

SAVE THE DATE! CHAMPIONS FOR JUSTICE GALA COMING MAY 2026

Say It Loud, Wear It Proud! NCLR merch for all!

NCLR in the News

Our Address has Changed

December 2025

From NCLR’s Vice President of Advancement Jennifer Bing

2025 Year in Review

Staff Highlights

In Defense of Democracy

Say It Loud, Wear It Proud! NCLR merch for all!

Supporter Shout Out

NCLR in the News

Out & About: LGBTQ Events Happening Near You!

November 2025

Courage and consistency amidst chaos
Honor our Siblings Lost
Native American Heritage Month
Litigation/Case Updates
Courage to Serve

October 2025

From the Desk of Imani
In Memorium: Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
Chiles v. Salazar Argument Recap
What’s Killing Us? New Report on the State of LGBTQ+ Women’s Health
Seven Years of Rural Pride in North Dakota
Staff Highlights
Ways to Give
NCLR In the News
Out & About: LGBTQ Events Happening Near You!
Applications Open for The Advocate’s New Future of Queer Media Fellowship

September 2025

Chiles v. Salazar: What You Need to Know
Tricare Case: Preliminary Injunction Filed
Nic Talbot Op-Ed
Staff Highlights
Ways to Give
NCLR in the News
National Suicide Prevention Month
Latinx Heritage Month
Out & About: LGBTQ Events Happening Near You
NCLR Condemns SCOTUS Decision Allowing Discriminatory Enforcement Tactics

August 2025

August is Trans History Month
Transgender service members: A Double Betrayal
Marriage Equality Update
From Legal
Congrats Shauna Madison!
Congrats Helen Caroll!
Leave Your Legacy
NCLR in the News
Community Events

July 2025

SCOTUS Debrief
Remembering Andrea Gibson
A Decade of Marriage – 10 Years Since the Obergefell Decision
NCLR Joins Call for Universal Clemency
The Time is Now for an LGBTQ+ Inclusive Economic Justice Movement
NCLR’s Cross Country Pride
Imani at Ballhalla!
NCLR in the News

June 2025

New Name. New Look. Always NCLR
Our Pride – and Joy – is Revolutionary
Obergefell V. Hodges: Celebrating 10 Years of Marriage Equality Nationwide!
Pride in the Park
Transgender Servicemembers Targeted and Purged from the Military
OUTWORDS’ Initiative Shares the Stories of LGBTQ Elders from California
June 19th is Juneteenth!
Dine at Holbrook House on June 21st to Benefit NCLR!
Threads of Pride: A New Path for Queer Resistance and Empowerment

May 2025

Updates on Transgender Military Ban Cases
Kick off Pride 2025 with NCLR at Pride in the Park!
The First 100 Days: Trump’s impact on the LGBTQ community
Lesbian Week of Visibility Instagram Live
Solidarity with Workers: International Workers’ Day
20th Annual LGBTQ Families Day
LGBTQ Family Rights Talk with NCLR Staff

April 2025

NCLR Continues to Fight Against Administration’s Anti-LGBTQ Executive Orders
National Center for LGBTQ Rights LGBTQ Sports Consultant Helen Carroll Inducted into LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame
Transgender Day of Visibility
Lesbian Week of Visibility Instagram Live
Virtual Briefing: The First 100 Days of the Trump Administration
Get Your Tickets for Pride in the Park!

March 2025

Women’s History Month
We Continue to Fight Against Administration’s Anti-LGBTQ Executive Orders
Supreme Court to Hear Colorado Conversion Therapy Case
The Importance of Medicare and Medicaid
No State Can Invalidate Your Marriage
Kick off Pride 2025 at Pride in the Park!
NCLR Leaders Panel Recording Available Now

February 2025

NCLR Leaders Panel 
A Word from Imani 
Transgender Military Ban Preliminary Injunction Hearing 
Black History Month
Annual Report 2024
Pride in the Park 2025

January 2025

A heartfelt thank you to our supporters!
Save the Date: NCLR Leaders Panel
Challenging the Florida ban on transgender healthcare
NCLR Staff Speaking Engagements

December 2024

Shannon Minter on U.S. v. Skrmetti;
Florida Rural Pride Success;
LGBTQ Family + Marriage Webinar and Resource Guide;
2024 NCLR Virtual Briefing + Year in Review;
An Evening with Transgender Rights Trailblazers;
A Gift for 100% of Us

November 2024

Building Coalition: our work post-election;
Advancing Our Freedom Beyond the 2024 Elections;
Transgender Day of Remembrance;
Imani Rupert-Gordon to Join Panel of LGBTQ Leaders;
Giving Tuesday;
Supreme Court—U.S. v. Skrmetti;
Florida Rural Pride;
End-of-Year Virtual Briefing

October 2024

Florida Families File Brief Against Ban on Healthcare for Transgender Youth;
National LGBTQ Women’s Community Survey;
NCLR President spoke at University of Chicago;
Florida Rural Pride

September 2024

Victory for Transgender Kids in Arizona;
Conversion Therapy Remains Banned in Colorado;
Shannon Minter Featured in Twelve Soldiers Project;
Florida Rural Pride;
SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Healthcare Ban Case

August 2024

NCLR Continues to Fight in Oklahoma Parental Rights Case;
Massachusetts Passes Parentage Act;
SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Healthcare Ban Case;
Victory for Transgender Youth and Adults in Florida

Archive: Out for Justice (2010 – 2020)