As Congress considers overhauling and repairing our broken immigration system, NCLR has been committed to identifying areas where LGBTQ immigrants are especially vulnerable and working to ensure those issues are addressed. Detention facilities and standards for transgender detainees is one such area of heightened vulnerability. Immigrants in the U.S. are detained in detention facilities for a number of reasons, including non-punitive reasons like while they are seeking asylum or refugee...
Our Voices
September 30th marked the 37th anniversary of the enactment of the Hyde Amendment, the federal provision that bans Medicaid coverage for abortion-related healthcare. The Hyde Amendment has been one of the most devastating attacks on the ability for low-income families to access healthcare. Since the Amendment passed, people relying on Medicaid for health coverage have effectively been prevented from accessing crucially important abortion-related care. This tragic anniversary comes at the end...
This week, the White House hosted a historic roundtable discussion on the issues facing bisexual people. In the first-of-its-kind meeting, administration officials gathered activists and community members to explore the many policy concerns that are particularly relevant to bisexual individuals. Bisexuals—the “B” in LGBT—face unique issues that are sometimes overlooked in LGBTQ advocacy efforts. Bisexuality refers to an individual’s attraction to more than one gender. This often includes but...
Two years ago today, on September 20, 2011, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was officially repealed. The discriminatory and stigmatizing 1994 policy that barred lesbian, gay, and bisexual servicemembers from serving openly in the military has had a damaging impact on the strength of the armed forces during one of the most dangerous military times in a generation. As a result of DADT, more than 13,500 women and men were discharged from the military because of their sexual...
We have a new look! We’ve been working hard over the last few months on creating a new website—looking at it from every angle—to provide you with one of the best resources for LGBTQ legal issues. Every section was analyzed. Every page was revamped. And we thought of you, specifically making www.NCLRights.org easier for you to navigate, breaking it down into the specific sections that we know you rely on. Here’s what you’ll find: RESPONSIVE DESIGN The new website was developed using what’s...
NCLR has been on a tear the past several weeks. Each week, we’ve reported a great new success—our win for high school student Dynasty Young in Indiana, our federal court victory in Pennsylvania for surviving same-sex spouse Jennifer Tobits, our historic partnership with the Department of Justice on behalf of a transgender student in Arcadia, CA, and this week the signing of historic legislation protecting transgender students in California. Make no mistake: your support made each of these...
When I first heard Jennifer’s story, I was angry and shocked. Not shocked in the sense of “how could something like this happen?”—I’ve been doing this work too long to be that naïve—but shocked in the way we are when faced with cruelty and a lack of common decency. Jennifer Tobits and Sarah “Ellyn” Farley married in Canada in 2006. Shortly after their wedding, Ellyn was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in September 2010. Jennifer had lost Ellyn, the love of her life. But in...
Just yesterday, you heard from us about the groundbreaking settlement announced by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education in our case to win equal access and protections for young transgender people. Last night, The New York Times published an editorial celebrating this agreement, calling on every school district in America to adopt the guidelines announced in this agreement. The editorial is a clarion call, and a vindication of our important work. I am truly...
You already know that the NCLR staff is comprised of talented and wicked-smart individuals who possess an unwavering commitment to the full dignity and humanity of all LGBTQ people. But you don’t often hear directly from the key staff members who make so much of what we do possible. Today, in this message from NCLR Staff Attorney Asaf Orr, you will hear the story of a young boy who made an impact far beyond his 14 years, and whose courage and refusal to be diminished will make life...
In the same week that we celebrated the end of Proposition 8 and Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), NCLR was on the brink of settlement in a key case for one of our most inspiring clients. Dynasty Young is gay, African-American, and proudly gender non-conforming. What happened to him is appalling and shocking, and in many ways, reminds us of how much work we have left to do. Dynasty moved to Indianapolis from Arizona in the summer of 2011. From the day he enrolled at Arsenal...
