Lawsuit challenges Texas directive to investigate families of trans youth
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Texas and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) from enforcing a directive to investigate families of transgender youth and the medical professionals who treat them. Last week Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed state health agencies [...]
Civil rights groups file lawsuit against Tennessee transgender sports ban
Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of a transgender boy prevented by Tennessee law from joining the boys’ golf team at his high school. The suit challenges S.B. 228, which requires that a middle or high school student’s gender, for purposes of interscholastic athletics, be determined by the student’s assigned sex at [...]
US State Department to add gender marker for nonbinary and intersex persons
The State Department on Wednesday issued a statement that it is working to add a gender marker for nonbinary, intersex and gender non-conforming individuals to U.S. passports. The statement by Secretary Antony Blinken affirmed the department’s commitment “to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people.” Starting immediately, passport applicants will be able to [...]
Two bills restricting the rights of transgender people in Idaho were sent to Governor Brad Little for signature this week. HB 509 prevents transgender people from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates. HB 500 bans transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams. Idaho’s government has been warned that both bills will [...]
North Carolina sued over transgender discrimination in state employee health care
Lambda Legal and the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf of current and former North Carolina state employees, alleging discrimination against transgender persons enrolled in health care coverage. The plaintiffs argue that because treatment of gender dysphoria is categorically excluded from the health care coverage, the defendants “deny [...]
Kansas sued over policy preventing gender change on birth certificate
Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit Monday challenging a Kansas birth certificate policy that prevents transgender individuals from changing the gender designation on their birth certificates. Lambda filed the suit on behalf of four transgender Kansas residents. While no specific law prohibits changing the gender designation on birth certificates, the plaintiffs allege that Kansas enforces a policy [...]
LGBTQ rights group sues Social Security Administration over denial of benefits
Lambda Legal filed a complaint in US District Court on Tuesday against the Social Security Administration in response to the agency’s denial of benefits to the surviving partner of a lesbian couple. The plaintiff in the case, Helen Thornton, applied for survivor benefits in 2015. Despite extensive documentation of the 27-year relationship between Thornton and [...]
Federal judge finds Missouri transgender prison policy violates Eighth Amendment
A judge for US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri held Tuesday that a prison’s policy of refusing hormone therapy treatments to its transgender inmates was an unconstitutional violation of the Eighth Amendment. The lawsuit was filed by Jessica Hicklin, a transgender woman in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC), [...]
Here's the domestic legal news we covered this week: Hawaii Governor David Ige signed HB 2739 on Thursday, also known as the Our Choice, Our Care Act. The Attorneys General from 14states, led by...
Puerto Rico to allow birth certificates to reflect gender identity
Lambda Legal announced on Wednesday that Puerto Rico will modify current policies to allow transgender people to change their gender on identification cards following a federal court order . In the order, the court stated that "the...
