“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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Republican National Convention will consider adding its support for conversion therapy—the dangerous practice of attempting to change one’s sexual orientation and gender identity—to the GOP platform when it meets July 18-21 in Cleveland. Please help us tell the #RNC2016 to #StopHate and protect LGBTQ people from the dangerous practice, which has been condemned by […]

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, as we do every year, is working hard to pass legislation to advance LGBTQ rights and protect LGBTQ individuals in California. This year we are co-sponsoring, along with Equality California, two first of their kind in the nation bills. One would prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for travel […]

A year ago, we set out with a goal—protect LGBTQ children from conversion therapy by wiping out the dangerous and discredited practice in just five years. Since then, our #BornPerfect campaign has helped protect thousands of kids across the country from practices linked to severe depression, substance abuse, and even suicide. And we couldn’t have […]

No child should ever be hurt because of who they are. That’s why we started the #BornPerfect campaign to end conversion therapy across the country over the next five years. We need your financial support to make it happen. All attempts to change their sexual orientation or gender identity through conversion therapy damage LGBTQ youth, […]

This Tuesday, I will walk into the historic Palais de Nations in Geneva, Switzerland to meet with representatives of the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State as part of the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ #BornPerfect campaign to protect LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy, the dangerous and discredited practice of attempting to change […]

Today, on National Coming Out Day, countless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people around the world will find the courage,  through one another, to tell the world who they really are. But this day is more than a just a celebration of the freedom to be ourselves.  It commemorates the 1987 National March […]

It may seem like common sense that the California Supreme Court—our state’s foremost judicial body—would ban judges from belonging to groups that discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion and sexual orientation. While this has in fact been the case since 1996, the state high court made an exception to this ban for nonprofit […]

Even as we celebrate a new breakthrough every week, we must be vigilant for threats to our community. Case in point—Arizona. This week, the Arizona legislature passed a bill which would allow businesses to refuse service, based on their religious beliefs, to LGBTQ people or anyone else. The bill is patently unconstitutional, but we cannot […]

By Ryan Kendall NCLR Guest Columnist I was at home, deep into studying for my fall-semester class load at Columbia University in New York City, when I got the news that California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1172 into law, protecting young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth from the same type of psychological […]

“Relegated to the dustbin of quackery.” When I read those words from California Governor Jerry Brown after he signed Senate Bill 1172— the bill protecting LGBTQ minors from deceitful mental health professionals who falsely claim they can change sexual orientation or gender expression—into law, I thought “FINALLY!” With that powerful and apt description, Governor Brown […]

By Liz Seaton NCLR State Policy Director Yesterday, the Virginia Board of Juvenile Justice voted 5-1 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in the juvenile correctional facilities over which it has broad oversight.  Eight percent of boys and 23 percent of girls in juvenile detention identify their sexuality as other than heterosexual, so this […]

History will be made in the State of New York tomorrow, Sunday, July 24, 2011, when it becomes the seventh and largest jurisdiction in the country in which same-sex couples can legally marry. A huge, heartfelt thank you and congratulations to all of our New York colleagues, who worked so hard to win marriage equality. […]