Press Releases

Today, in recognition of the National Day of Silence, Lambda Legal issued the following statement by Deputy Legal Director Hayley Gorenberg: "It's been 15 years since the first Day of Silence, but after several tragic suicides by young LGBT people last fall, the media finally began to shine a light on LGBT youth who are bullied and harassed in schools.

(Washington D.C., June 14, 2011) - After the U.S. Department of Education released a guidance letter to school districts across the country making clear that gay straight alliances must be allowed to form on an equal basis with other student groups Lambda Legal issued the following statement from Deputy Legal Director Hayley Gorenberg.

The nation's leading child welfare organizations have joined family law and constitutional scholars in support of Lambda Legal's petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of a same-sex couple seeking an accurate birth certificate for their Louisiana-born son whom they adopted in New York. The state of Louisiana has refused to issue a birth certificate listing both fathers as the boy's parents.

(Philadelphia, PA August 18, 2011) - Today Lambda Legal announced the resolution of a discrimination complaint with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR) against the City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Youth Study Center (YSC) among others. Lambda Legal filed the complaint on behalf of L.P.

(Los Angeles, September 13, 2011) - After receiving a letter from Lambda Legal and the Idaho Safe Schools Coalition, Joint School District No. 2 in Meridian, Idaho has amended a policy regarding student clubs, but the revised policy still harms lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and violates their rights.

(Washington, DC, October 11, 2011) – The U.S. Supreme Court today denied Lambda Legal’s petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of a same-sex couple seeking an accurate birth certificate for their Louisiana-born son whom they adopted in New York. The Louisiana state registrar has refused to recognize the adoption and issue a birth certificate listing both fathers as the boy’s parents.

On Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a lower court’s ruling against Jennifer Keeton, a graduate student in counseling at Augusta State University. Ms. Keeton expressed intent to engage in discriminatory and harmful professional practices when working with LGBT students as a school counselor. Keeton claimed her first amendment rights were violated when the school required her to complete a remediation program to better understand LGBT issues.

(New York, March 8, 2012)—In a friend-of-the-court brief submitted today in the New York Court of Appeals, Lambda Legal urged the state's highest court to uphold a lower court ruling that the New York Human Rights Law (NYHRL) protects public school students against discrimination and harassment. 

(New York, March 27, 2012) - Flor Bermudez, Youth in Out of Home Care Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal, has been named a recipient of the Hispanic National Bar Association's (HNBA) 2012 Top Lawyers Under Forty Award.

“Schools should be in the business of educating students about First Amendment freedoms, not trampling on their right to express themselves.”