LGBTQ Rights
Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Florida v. Raymond Rodrigues
The University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine filed a lawsuit on November 16, 2023, challenging the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida’s order to state universities to deactivate the student group. This order threatens the students’ constitutionally-protected right to free speech and association in violation of the First Amendment. The ACLU and its partners are seeking a preliminary injunction that would bar the Chancellor and the University of Florida from deactivating the UF SJP.
Status: Ongoing
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Maryland
Nov 2023
Tamer Mahmoud v. Monifa McKnight
On October 30, 2023, the ACLU and ACLU of Maryland filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit supporting the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in its efforts to ensure that its English curriculum is LGBTQ-inclusive.
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2020
R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v EEOC & Aimee Stephens
Aimee Stephens had worked for nearly six years as a funeral director at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes when she informed the funeral home’s owner that she is a transgender woman. She was fired, the EEOC sued on her behalf, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Aimee’s employer engaged in unlawful sex discrimination when it fired her because she’s transgender. We represented Aimee Stephens in front of the U.S. Supreme Court — and won.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2019
Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda
Don Zarda loved to skydive. He worked as a skydiving instructor at Altitude Express, a company on Long Island, N.Y. He was fired for being gay.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2018
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
Whether a business open to the public has a constitutional right to discriminate.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
Obergefell, et al. v. Hodges - Freedom to Marry in Ohio
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio and Alphonse Gerhardstein of Gerhardstein & Branch have filed suit on behalf of Jim Obergefell and David Michener, two widowers, and Robert Grunn, a funeral director, in a challenge to the Ohio constitutional and statutory marriage recognition bans.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
Bourke v. Beshear & Love v. Beshear - Freedom to Marry in Kentucky
Bourke v. Beshear is a federal court challenge to Kentucky's constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples, filed by attorneys at Clay Daniel Walton & Adams and Fauver Law Office on July 26, 2013, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The plaintiffs are four same-sex couples seeking state recognition of their out-of-state marriages.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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177 LGBTQ Rights Cases
Mississippi
May 2016
Alford v. Moulder
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi today filed a lawsuit to challenge HB 1523, the anti-LGBT law that passed this spring. The lawsuit, which targets the Registrar of Vital Records, was filed on behalf of ACLU of Mississippi members and Nykolas Alford and Stephen Thomas, a gay couple who are engaged to be married and face discrimination as a result of this law.
Status: Closed
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Mississippi
LGBTQ Rights
Religious Liberty
Alford v. Moulder
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi today filed a lawsuit to challenge HB 1523, the anti-LGBT law that passed this spring. The lawsuit, which targets the Registrar of Vital Records, was filed on behalf of ACLU of Mississippi members and Nykolas Alford and Stephen Thomas, a gay couple who are engaged to be married and face discrimination as a result of this law.
May 2016
Status: Closed
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Jan 2016
Manning v. Hagel, et al.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of the Nation's Capital, the ACLU of Kansas and civilian defense counsel David E. Coombs have filed a lawsuit on behalf of Chelsea Manning in federal court in the District of Columbia against Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and other Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of the Army officials for their failure to provide necessary medical treatment for her gender dysphoria, a condition with which she was originally diagnosed by Army doctors more than four years ago.
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LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
Manning v. Hagel, et al.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of the Nation's Capital, the ACLU of Kansas and civilian defense counsel David E. Coombs have filed a lawsuit on behalf of Chelsea Manning in federal court in the District of Columbia against Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and other Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of the Army officials for their failure to provide necessary medical treatment for her gender dysphoria, a condition with which she was originally diagnosed by Army doctors more than four years ago.
Jan 2016
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Minnesota
Dec 2015
OutFront v. Johnson Piper
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Minnesota filed a lawsuit in Minnesota State Court to challenge the coverage ban on transition-related surgery for transgender people on Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare, the state’s public insurance programs for low-income residents.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Minnesota
LGBTQ Rights
OutFront v. Johnson Piper
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Minnesota filed a lawsuit in Minnesota State Court to challenge the coverage ban on transition-related surgery for transgender people on Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare, the state’s public insurance programs for low-income residents.
Dec 2015
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Nov 2015
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association
Whether public employee unions can be authorized by state law to collect a fee from non-members for the cost of negotiating and implementing a collective bargaining agreement that benefits all employees.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association
Whether public employee unions can be authorized by state law to collect a fee from non-members for the cost of negotiating and implementing a collective bargaining agreement that benefits all employees.
Nov 2015
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Utah
Oct 2015
Roe v. Patton
The ACLU of Utah and the national ACLU LGBT Project filed a lawsuit to force the State Office of Vital Records and Statistics to recognize a married same-sex couple as legal parents of their child. The lawsuit was filed in Utah federal court on behalf of Angie and Kami Roe, who seek to both be recognized as parents to their daughter, Lucy.
Under Utah’s assisted reproduction statute, the husband of a woman who conceives with donated sperm is automatically recognized as the child’s parent. But because Angie is Kami’s wife instead of her husband, the State Office of Vital Records and Statistics refuses to recognize Angie as Lucy’s parent.
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Utah
LGBTQ Rights
Roe v. Patton
The ACLU of Utah and the national ACLU LGBT Project filed a lawsuit to force the State Office of Vital Records and Statistics to recognize a married same-sex couple as legal parents of their child. The lawsuit was filed in Utah federal court on behalf of Angie and Kami Roe, who seek to both be recognized as parents to their daughter, Lucy.
Under Utah’s assisted reproduction statute, the husband of a woman who conceives with donated sperm is automatically recognized as the child’s parent. But because Angie is Kami’s wife instead of her husband, the State Office of Vital Records and Statistics refuses to recognize Angie as Lucy’s parent.
Oct 2015
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