Press Releases

(NEW YORK, October 8, 1999) -- Ruling that the Salt Lake City Board of Education violated a federal statute and also may have violated the First Amendment, a Utah federal district judge has given the green light to gay and straight students suing the Board for trying to ban meetings of their student club and suppressing gay-positive views in existing and new student groups.

(NEW YORK, May 24, 1999) -— The United States Supreme Court ruled Monday that schools that willfully ignore sexual harassment of one student by another can be held liable for violating federal civil rights law. Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund praised the 5-4 decision, noting that abuse of lesbian and gay students often involves sexual harassment from their peers.

(CHICAGO, March 29, 1999) -- The United States Supreme Court Monday agreed to review a case that threatens to sharply curtail student activities at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and at public colleges and universities nationwide. Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund hailed the move as a sign that the Court may eventually vindicate student speech on these campuses.

(CHICAGO, March 1, 1999) -- Urging the United States Supreme Court to review a ruling that threatens to silence a gay student support group and limit speech on campuses around the country, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Monday asked for reversal in a case brought by some Christian conservative law students at the University of Wisconsin.

(NEW YORK, January 4, 1998) -- Having won the first lawsuit in the country against the Boy Scouts of America's discriminatory ban on gay members and leaders, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund is going before the New Jersey Supreme Court to defend the victory on behalf of Eagle Scout James Dale.

(NEW YORK, December 5, 1997) -- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund is continuing its battle on behalf of a New Jersey Eagle Scout, who challenged his expulsion by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) because he is gay as a violation of New Jersey's anti-discrimination law.

(NEW YORK, August 26, 1997) -- The Internal Revenue Service granted tax-exempt status to a gay youth support group that faced ominous anti-gay questions about "homosexual attitudes" when it first contacted the tax agency, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday.