WASHINGTON, DC – The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) strongly supports the decision announced today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) not to finalize a rule proposed by the Trump administration that would have allowed taxpayer-funded homeless shelters to discriminate against transgender people. The rule that HUD officially rescinded today […]

Today, the United States Senate took a historic step by holding a hearing on the Equality Act for the first time. A statement from NCLR Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon on today’s hearings: “Today’s historic hearing in the United States Senate illustrates why it is so important for Congress to pass – and President Biden to […]

SUMMARY OF ISSUE The Equality Act (S. 393) would prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, credit, education, public accommodations (things like restaurants, hotels, and theaters), and jury service. It would also prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in programs receiving federal funding.  It […]

If passed in Senate and signed into law, historic legislation would bar discrimination against LGBTQ individuals, women, and people of color in education, employment, housing, credit, public accommodations, and other aspects of everyday life WASHINGTON, DC – Today, on a bipartisan vote of 224-206, the United States House of Representatives passed the Equality Act (H.R. […]

If passed, historic legislation would bar discrimination against LGBTQ individuals, women, and people of color in education, employment, housing, credit, public accommodations, and other aspects of everyday life WASHINGTON, DC – Today, NCLR lauded the reintroduction of the Equality Act (H.R. 5), a comprehensive federal civil rights bill that would create permanent protections for LGBTQ […]

Reflections on Week One of the Biden-Harris Administration President Biden has certainly been busy, hasn’t he? As of January 29, 2021, Biden has issued 22 executive orders and seven other types of executive actions, such as presidential memoranda. (By the time you read this, those numbers will surely have increased.) Of these dozens of policy […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Biden issued an executive order lifting the ban on transgender military service.  Since the outgoing administration began to enforce the ban in April 2019, dedicated transgender service members have been threatened with discharge, and qualified transgender Americans have been barred from enlisting, participating in ROTC, or attending military academies. From […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASESeptember 7, 2020 CONTACTS:Christopher Vasquez, NCLR Communications Director415.365.1337 | cvasquez@nclrights.org Initiative encourages the White House during the next presidential term to address the systemic barriers to social and economic justice for LGBTQ+ people with low incomes, as well as convene an inter-agency LGBTQ+ Anti-Poverty Task Force     WASHINGTON, DC – Today, The National […]

When I went to law school, there was that initial reaction of: ‘Oh! There are already too many lawyers in Washington!’ But guess what, there weren’t (and still aren’t) many lawyers who are gay and Black, grew up poor, and were raised by a Black lesbian mom. I think the policy-making world needs more people […]

Providing healthcare to all of our nation’s veterans is the right thing to do.  Federal law requires the Veterans Administration (“VA”) to “furnish hospital care and medical services” to veterans. For most veterans, this means that after serving in the military they receive comprehensive medical care from the VA. Right now, transgender veterans’ healthcare coverage […]

* This piece originally appeared in the Los Angeles Blade and the Washington Blade on July 12, 2018. On July 9, President Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Kennedy, who authored the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision and a number of other landmark LGBTQ rights cases, was an […]

On January 1, for the first time in history, transgender Americans will be able to openly enlist in our nation’s military. This is an incredible moment, and one we can all celebrate. We know that many transgender Americans have been planning and preparing for over a year for this day.  And many others will now […]

On May 23rd, President Trump released his first full federal budget proposal. While many knew it would be bad, nothing could have prepared us for this. If enacted, this budget would be devastating. It slashes funding for vital programs and services that help struggling individuals and families afford the basics- food, housing, heating, education, and […]

“Perseverance in almost any plan is better than fickleness and fluctuation”—Alexander Hamilton When we adopted our NCLR tag line—”The audacity to fight for justice, the perseverance to win”—it was before President Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope” and years before the cultural phenomenon that is “Hamilton” ushered in a refreshed examination of Alexander Hamilton’s writings. […]

In 2014, President Obama issued an Executive Order prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people by entities that contract with or receive grants from the federal government. This was an important milestone in expanding essential job protections for our community, and it is now under serious threat. Sweeping language in the House version of the National Defense […]

By a slim margin, this nation has elected a demagogue who trafficked in bigotry, stoked racist hatred and normalized misogyny. The election of Donald Trump as President threatens basic principles of human dignity and justice. Many of our most cherished values—inclusion, honoring difference, embracing equality, dismantling oppressive systems—are in jeopardy, but we will not be […]

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently issued a regulation that requires any homeless shelter that receives federal funding to treat transgender people equally. The rule expressly requires that shelters must house transgender individuals based on their gender identity. The rule is an important coda to the groundbreaking Equal Access Rule issued […]

We all know that LGBTQ people are everywhere, which is why NCLR launched our #RuralPride Campaign, which includes holding day-long summits in rural regions across the country to help LGBTQ folks connect with federal agencies, national organizations, and one another. For the past two years, we have worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and […]

We know that having one-on-one conversations about equality is one of the best ways to change hearts and minds. Our work around marriage showed us that when we reach out, listen, and share our stories we can create monumental change towards a more just community. Now we have an amazing new opportunity to create that […]

“…Later that night I held an atlas in my lap ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered where does it hurt? it answered everywhere everywhere everywhere” —Warsan Shire   Two days after a sniper killed five Dallas police officers, this poem, by expat Somali poet Warsan Shire, who came to world’s attention when […]