LGBTQ Rights
Zyst v. Miller
Following the Oregon Department of Corrections鈥 unconstitutional treatment of a transgender prisoner, a habeas court ordered her removal from segregated housing, an individualized gender-affirming care assessment, a psychiatric evaluation, and identification of an appropriate cellmate. However, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the psychiatric-evaluation and cellmate orders, finding them 鈥渢oo attenuated鈥 to qualify as habeas relief. The 红杏视频鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the 红杏视频 of Oregon, joined an amicus brief by the law firm Sugerman Dahab arguing that habeas courts have broad discretion to remedy violations and resulting harms. The brief explains that the Court of Appeals鈥 鈥渃lose connection鈥 test unduly constricts habeas relief, and which should be construed to encompass not only the need to halt ongoing constitutional violations, but also the need to mitigate various harms that may arise from those violations.
Status: Ongoing
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Florida
Nov 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
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鈥檚 order to state universities to deactivate the student group. This order threatens the students鈥 constitutionally-protected right to free speech and association in violation of the First Amendment. The 红杏视频 and its partners are seeking a preliminary injunction that would bar the Chancellor and the University of Florida from deactivating the UF SJP.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2020
LGBTQ Rights
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鈥檚 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鈥檚 employer engaged in unlawful sex discrimination when it fired her because she鈥檚 transgender. We represented Aimee Stephens in front of the U.S. Supreme Court 鈥 and won.
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2019
LGBTQ Rights
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.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2018
LGBTQ Rights
Religious Liberty
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
Whether a business open to the public has a constitutional right to discriminate.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
LGBTQ Rights
Obergefell, et al. v. Hodges - Freedom to Marry in Ohio
The 红杏视频, the 红杏视频 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.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
LGBTQ Rights
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.
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196 LGBTQ Rights Cases
Nebraska Supreme Court
May 2023
LGBTQ Rights
Reproductive Freedom
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Hilgers
In May 2023, the 红杏视频 and the 红杏视频 of Nebraska filed a lawsuit on behalf of Nebraska abortion providers and their patients challenging a state law that bans physicians from providing abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy and that, as of October 2023, will restrict health care available to trans youth. The 红杏视频 has asked a state court in Nebraska to enter an emergency order blocking the law鈥檚 enforcement. The Court ruled that the two halves of L.B. 574 fall within the single subject of regulating health care, and thus the Court held that L.B. 574 does not violate the single-subject rule. Consequently, the abortion ban and gender-affirming care restrictions in L.B. 574 remain in effect. However, the Court did reject the state鈥檚 argument that the single-subject is a nonjusticiable political question.
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Nebraska Supreme Court
May 2023
LGBTQ Rights
Reproductive Freedom
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Hilgers
In May 2023, the 红杏视频 and the 红杏视频 of Nebraska filed a lawsuit on behalf of Nebraska abortion providers and their patients challenging a state law that bans physicians from providing abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy and that, as of October 2023, will restrict health care available to trans youth. The 红杏视频 has asked a state court in Nebraska to enter an emergency order blocking the law鈥檚 enforcement. The Court ruled that the two halves of L.B. 574 fall within the single subject of regulating health care, and thus the Court held that L.B. 574 does not violate the single-subject rule. Consequently, the abortion ban and gender-affirming care restrictions in L.B. 574 remain in effect. However, the Court did reject the state鈥檚 argument that the single-subject is a nonjusticiable political question.
West Virginia
May 2023
LGBTQ Rights
Hersom v. Crouch
Xavier Hersom applied for and was denied a gender marker change on his birth certificate. He said DHHR鈥檚 policy has created yet another layer of difficulty for him as a transgender person living in West Virginia. The 红杏视频, the 红杏视频 of West Virginia, and the Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic filed a federal lawsuit asking a court to declare West Virginia鈥檚 birth certificate policies relating to transgender people unconstitutional on behalf of Hersom and an another anonymous plaintiff.
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West Virginia
May 2023
LGBTQ Rights
Hersom v. Crouch
Xavier Hersom applied for and was denied a gender marker change on his birth certificate. He said DHHR鈥檚 policy has created yet another layer of difficulty for him as a transgender person living in West Virginia. The 红杏视频, the 红杏视频 of West Virginia, and the Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic filed a federal lawsuit asking a court to declare West Virginia鈥檚 birth certificate policies relating to transgender people unconstitutional on behalf of Hersom and an another anonymous plaintiff.
U.S. Supreme Court
Mar 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
303 Creative, Inc. v. Elenis
This case concerns whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel a business that chooses to serve the public to provide wedding website design services without discriminating against a same-sex couple violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Mar 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
303 Creative, Inc. v. Elenis
This case concerns whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel a business that chooses to serve the public to provide wedding website design services without discriminating against a same-sex couple violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.
Virginia
Feb 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
Vlaming v. West Point School District
In September of 2019, Peter Vlaming, a French teacher at West Point High School, refused to address a transgender boy in his class with he/him pronouns. Instead, the teacher avoided using pronouns when addressing the student, while continuing to use gendered pronouns when addressing everyone else. After several warnings, the school district told the teacher he needed to address the student with male pronouns (the same way he addressed other boys) or he would be fired. The teacher refused; the school district fired him, and Vlaming, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, filed a suit in state court arguing that the school district violated his free speech and free exercise rights under the Virginia Constitution and Virginia鈥檚 RFRA.
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Virginia
Feb 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
Vlaming v. West Point School District
In September of 2019, Peter Vlaming, a French teacher at West Point High School, refused to address a transgender boy in his class with he/him pronouns. Instead, the teacher avoided using pronouns when addressing the student, while continuing to use gendered pronouns when addressing everyone else. After several warnings, the school district told the teacher he needed to address the student with male pronouns (the same way he addressed other boys) or he would be fired. The teacher refused; the school district fired him, and Vlaming, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, filed a suit in state court arguing that the school district violated his free speech and free exercise rights under the Virginia Constitution and Virginia鈥檚 RFRA.
California
Feb 2023
LGBTQ Rights
Knight v. St. Joseph Hospital
The 红杏视频 Foundation of Northern California, the 红杏视频 Foundation of Southern California and Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP filed a lawsuit on March 21, 2019 on behalf of Oliver Knight, a 29-year-old transgender man who was denied surgery minutes before it was scheduled to take place based on the hospital鈥檚 religious beliefs, which do not recognize gender-affirming care.
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California
Feb 2023
LGBTQ Rights
Knight v. St. Joseph Hospital
The 红杏视频 Foundation of Northern California, the 红杏视频 Foundation of Southern California and Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP filed a lawsuit on March 21, 2019 on behalf of Oliver Knight, a 29-year-old transgender man who was denied surgery minutes before it was scheduled to take place based on the hospital鈥檚 religious beliefs, which do not recognize gender-affirming care.