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ACLU Joins New Orleans Gay Pride Festivities (06/26/2008)
New Orleans - This weekend, the American Civil Liberties Union will participate in New Orleans's Gay Pride festival to support the LGBT community and to call attention to the discrimination lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people face throughout Louisiana.

ACLU Hosts Weeklong Online Symposium On LGBT Pride (06/16/2008)
NEW YORK – In celebration of LGBT Pride, several of the nation's top lesbian gay bisexual transgender writers, leaders and supporters will participate in an online symposium beginning today on the ACLU Blog of Rights (http://blog.aclu.org) and on the Get Busy, Get Equal blog (www.aclu.org/getequal) featured on the ACLU's LGBT activist toolkit. Participants will be discussing a wide range of issues affecting the LGBT community ranging from the first marriages of lesbian and gay couples in California to the need for a federal law barring workplace discrimination based gender identity and sexual orientation to censorship of LGBT students in the nation's schools.

ACLU Urges LGBT People To "Get Busy, Get Equal" (05/13/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union launched a new version of its Get Busy, Get Equal online activist toolkit, www.aclu.org/getequal . Get Busy, Get Equal now incorporates new technology to make it easier for LGBT people to work for change in their communities. The website offers tools for ending gay and transgender discrimination, making schools safe, and winning recognition for LGBT relationships.

ACLU Cheers Free-Speech Friendly Hate Crimes Legislation (09/27/2007)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the passage of the Matthew Shepard Amendment to the Defense Department authorization bill that for the first time punishes hate crimes without infringing on free speech. The amendment, offered by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), will broaden the definition of hate crimes and give more resources to local districts unable to investigate them single-handedly.

ACLU Joins National Gay Rights Groups Calling on Fort Lauderdale City Commission to Condemn Mayor's Anti-Gay Remarks (08/02/2007)
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today announced it has joined forces with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in an open letter calling on the Ft. Lauderdale City Commission to promptly pass a resolution condemning Mayor Naugle's recent series of hostile remarks about the City's gay community. In recent years the City has become a prime vacation venue for gay tourists.

ACLU Cheers House Passage of Hate Crimes Legislation (05/03/2007)
Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union today cheered the House of Representatives for passing H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, with strong bipartisan support. This legislation would allow federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute hate crimes offenses in cases where local law enforcement lacks the resources, or in some cases the willingness to do so.

ACLU Praises Introduction of Employment Non-Discrimination Act (04/24/2007)
Washington - The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed strong support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) introduced today by Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Deborah Pryce (R-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Christopher Shays (R-CT). This legislation would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, and most conditions of employment.

ACLU Applauds Senate Introduction of Hate Crimes Legislation (04/12/2007)
Washington – The American Civil Liberties Union today cheered Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) for introducing the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (LLEHCPA). This legislation will expand the ability of federal law enforcement to investigate and prosecute criminal civil rights violations when state or local authorities are unwilling or unable to do so.

ACLU Appoints Gay Rights Attorney to Work in the South (04/10/2007)
NASHVILLE - The American Civil Liberties Union has appointed noted gay rights attorney Christine Sun to lead the American Civil Liberties Union’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights work in the south. Sun, who has worked on LGBT and AIDS issues for the ACLU in California since 2004, will work out of the ACLU of Tennessee’s office in the Nashville.

ACLU Applauds Representative Conyers for Introducing Hate Crimes Bill (03/21/2007)
Washington - The American Civil Liberties Union cheered Representative John Conyers (D-MI) for introducing H.R.1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. The bill would permit federal law enforcement to investigate and prosecute local crimes in which the victim was selected due to the person’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

ACLU Staff Attorney to Receive Human Rights Alliance Award (03/15/2007)
ALBUEQUERQUE – George Bach, a staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, will receive the Human Rights Alliance "Treasure Award" at the 13th Annual Human Rights Alliance Gay-la in Santa Fe on Saturday, March 17 at the Hotel Eldorado. Bach’s legal efforts have advanced the cause of civil rights in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

ACLU, HRC and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Seek Workplace Discrimination Stories for Upcoming Push for ENDA (02/26/2007)
WASHINGTON -The American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force are working together to engage more gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans in the national campaign to end workplace discrimination for LGBT workers. The campaign, which urges LGBT people who have faced job discrimination to share their story, will be used to boost lobbying efforts for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a federal bill which would protect LGBT people against workplace discrimination, and for similar state proposals.

The ACLU Freedom Files On Court TV Shows Why Lesbian and Gay Couples Shouldn’t Be Denied Protections for Their Families (04/07/2006)
NEW YORK – The ACLU Freedom Files, a revolutionary new 10-part series, tells the stories of everyday Americans whose civil liberties have been threatened, and how they fought back. On April 15, the show illustrates the tragic consequences for lesbian and gay families when they are denied protections. The series debuted on Court TV in February and has already addressed religious freedom and voting rights.

ACLU of Florida Creates John C. Graves Gay Rights Fellowship with Grant from Community Foundation of Broward (12/29/2005)
MIAMI -- Thanks in part to a $50,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Broward, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today announced that it has created the John C. Graves Fellowship to advance gay and lesbian rights, and hired attorney Robert Rosenwald Jr. to lead the group's statewide efforts to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation.

ACLU Asks Court to Uphold Kentucky School’s Training Aimed at Reducing Anti-Gay Harassment (12/20/2005)
ASHLAND, KY – The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to dismiss the parts of a lawsuit aimed at shutting down a court-ordered anti-harassment training at a Kentucky school district, but agreed with the plaintiffs that the district’s earlier policy violated student free speech rights.

Senate Panel Must Rebuff Discriminatory Amendment to Constitution, ACLU Says Measure Must be Stopped Again (11/09/2005)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today called upon a key Senate panel to reject attempts to amend the Constitution to deny marriage protections to gay and lesbian couples and their children. An identical proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by both houses of Congress last year.

ACLU Calls on Lawmakers to Reject Discriminatory Marriage Amendment Again, Says Measure Would Only Hurt American Families (10/20/2005)
WASHINGTON - Despite a resounding rejection of similar legislation last year, some lawmakers are pushing a constitutional amendment that would deny marriage protections to loving, committed, gay and lesbian families. The American Civil Liberties Union today denounced the proposal, and called upon lawmakers to reject-yet again - this assault on gay and lesbian Americans.

Citing Shocking Incidents of Harassment of Gay and Transgender Youth, ACLU Files Federal Civil Lawsuit against Hawai'i Juvenile Detention Facility (09/02/2005)
HONOLULU - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal civil rights lawsuit late yesterday on behalf of three young people who say they've been abused and harassed because of their sexual orientation and gender identity while at the state's juvenile detention facility.

Congressman Barney Frank in Orlando September 10 for Special ACLU Foundation of Florida Benefit (08/31/2005)
MIAMI - U.S. Congressman Barney Frank -- the funniest Congressman in Washington according to a 2004 survey of Capitol Hill staffers published in Washingtonian magazine -- will be in Orlando Saturday, September 10 for a special event benefiting the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida.

ACLU Urges Maryland Court to Strike Down Law Barring Same-Sex Couples from Marriage Protections (08/30/2005)
BALTIMORE - The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a Maryland circuit court to strike down a state law than bars same-sex couples from marriage and the hundreds of family protections afforded to married couples.