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Anti-Transgender Exclusion Removed from Colorado Group Health Plan

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By Lambda Legal

June 10, 2020

Niamh Anderson took all the necessary steps in preparation for their gender confirming procedure last July, including securing prior insurance authorization for a surgery doctors had said was medically necessary to treat their gender dysphoria.

See Also: Health Care Fairness, Transgender Rights, Colorado
Lambda Legal: Black and Brown LGBTQ People Particularly Vulnerable to State-sponsored Violence

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By Lambda Legal

June 9, 2020

Lambda Legal late yesterday submitted written testimony to the newly formed Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice highlighting the disproportionate levels of violence and abuse that LGBTQ people, especially LGBTQ people of color, experience in the U.S. criminal legal system.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, Washington, D.C.
Federal Court Hears Argument in Case of Child of Gay Maryland Couple Denied Citizenship Recognition

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By Lambda Legal

June 5, 2020

A federal court in Maryland heard arguments today in a case brought by Lambda Legal and Immigration Equality and pro bono counsel Morgan Lewis on behalf of a married gay couple and their daughter Kessem Kiviti, whom the Trump Administration continues to refuse to recognize as a U.S. citizen since birth, even though both of her parents are U.S. citizens.

See Also: Immigration, Marriage Relationships and Family Protections, Maryland
Lambda Legal Condemns Senate Republicans for Advancing Anti-Health Care Nominee Walker to DC Circuit in Middle of a Pandemic

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By Lambda Legal

June 4, 2020

In response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s party-line vote to advance the nomination of U.S. District Judge Justin Walker (E.D. Ky.) for a lifetime appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Sharon McGowan, Legal Director and Chief Strategy Officer at Lambda Legal released the following statement.

See Also: Fair Courts Project
The Deadly Cost of COVID-19 for LGBTQ+ Youth

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By Lambda Legal

June 4, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic reveals a reality we need to face: LGBTQ+ youth are pipelined into carceral systems at higher rates than their non-LGBTQ+ peers, placed at disproportionately high risk of contracting the virus, and too often receive substandard care. It’s time we understand LGBTQ+ youth mass incarceration as a critical public health issue.

See Also: Youth and Schools, Youth in Out-of-Home Care
Federal Court Warns Idaho Against Disobedience of Injunction Barring Anti-Transgender Discrimination

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By Lambda Legal

June 1, 2020

The Idaho Federal Court has confirmed that its injunction continues to apply, in full force and effect, and it has now expressly cautioned that HB 509 does not whatsoever absolve state officials from their obligation to comply with the federal injunction.

See Also: Anti-LGBT Laws Rulings and Amendments, Transgender Rights, Idaho
VICTORY! Same-Sex Spouses Nationwide Gain Equal Access to Social Security Survivor's Benefits

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By Lambda Legal

May 27, 2020

See Also: Anti-LGBT Laws Rulings and Amendments, Marriage Relationships and Family Protections, Seniors, Arizona
Lambda Legal Urges Supreme Court to Uphold the Affordable Care Act

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By Lambda Legal

May 13, 2020

Today, Lambda Legal and Ropes & Gray filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of 16 nonprofit organizations that advocate for people living with HIV. The brief argues in support of 19 states and DC, led by California, and the U.S. House of Representatives who are collectively defending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and appealing a ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that invalidates a key provision of the ACA and threatens the law in its entirety.

See Also: Anti-LGBT Laws Rulings and Amendments, Health Care Fairness, HIV
10th Circuit Court Orders State Department to Reconsider Decision to Deny Intersex Vet an Accurate Passport

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By Lambda Legal

May 12, 2020

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit today rejected three of the five reasons the U.S. State Department gave for denying an accurate passport to Dana Zzyym, a U.S. Navy veteran who is intersex and nonbinary, and does not identify as male or female. While the Tenth Circuit held the State Department exercised its authority in an arbitrary and capricious manner, it nonetheless overturned a U.S. District Court ruling in favor of Zzyym and ordered the State Department to reconsider Dana’s passport application anew.

See Also: Anti-LGBT Laws Rulings and Amendments, Intersex, Colorado
Lambda Legal Statement on Senate Vote Amending Puerto Rico’s Civil Code

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By Lambda Legal

May 11, 2020

Today, after the Puerto Rico Senate approved a new Civil Code for the Commonwealth affecting the rights of LGBTQ people, Lambda Legal, through Senior Attorney and Puerto Rico native, Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, released the following statement.

See Also: Anti-LGBT Laws Rulings and Amendments, Transgender Rights, Puerto Rico