Special Edition: Supreme Court Says No License to Discriminate
June 17, 2021
It鈥檚 that time of year again: Supreme Court decision season. Today, we are bringing you a breakdown of the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in the case of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case that touches on whether the city can enforce a nondiscrimination policy with its contractors.
Here, Catholic Social Services, a contractor with the city, refused to sign an agreement that would have forced them to stop excluding same-sex couples and unmarried people from being foster parents.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court held that Philadelphia's refusal to contract with the foster care agency violated the Constitution's First Amendment Free Exercise Clause.
James Esseks, the Director for the 红杏视频鈥檚 LGBTQ & HIV Project, joins to break down the decision.
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Press ReleaseAug 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Appeals Court Rejects Trump Administration鈥檚 Latest Effort To Seize Private Medical Records Of Transgender New Yorkers. Explore Press Release.Appeals Court Rejects Trump Administration鈥檚 Latest Effort to Seize Private Medical Records of Transgender New Yorkers
NEW YORK - In a victory for transgender young people and their families, a panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the Department of Justice鈥檚 attempt to stay a lower court win that protected the medical records of transgender youth from serial attempts by the Trump administration to seize them. 鈥淭his is a tremendous relief to New York families who have to navigate the fear of their private medical information being seized by a federal government hostile to their children,鈥 said Chase Strangio, Co-Director of the 红杏视频鈥檚 LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. These subpoenas are an unwarranted effort to violate the hallowed relationship between a parent and their child鈥檚 doctor in a transparent effort to end medical care for transgender young people and target transgender people for discrimination. We will continue to oppose this effort by the administration and we will always stand up for the privacy and autonomy rights of those who are targeted for discrimination by the government.鈥 鈥淭oday鈥檚 order by the court of appeals preserves the district court鈥檚 order prohibiting the government from seeking the identities and sensitive health information of transgender young people and their families who sought care in New York City. The government cannot weaponize the legal system and the use of subpoenas, whether through a grand jury or otherwise, to collect the most private medical information of transgender young people and their families, in violation of the right to privacy guaranteed by our Constitution,鈥 said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Senior Counsel and Health Care Strategist at Lambda Legal. 鈥淓very family should be able to make healthcare decisions without fear of political interference or exposure. While this fight is far from over, we are grateful for today鈥檚 decision and will continue fighting for the rights and privacy of transgender people and their families.鈥 鈥淭his is another victory for the fundamental privacy rights of every New Yorker, and an immense relief to transgender youth and their families,鈥 said Bobby Hodgson, deputy legal director at the New York Civil Liberties Union. 鈥淭he Trump administration鈥檚 attempts to weaponize and manipulate the criminal legal system to bully young people, scare their families, and intimidate healthcare providers are unconstitutional鈥攁nd we鈥檙e thankful the Second Circuit left in place the well-reasoned order blocking those tactics. Our laws recognize that everyone deserves basic privacy protections for their sensitive medical information, and we will continue to fight for the rights of transgender New Yorkers and their families.鈥 In May 2026, NYU Langone Hospitals received a subpoena purportedly under the authority of a federal grand jury in Fort Worth, Texas, which demanded that they turn over the identities and sensitive health information of any patient who had received medical treatment for gender dysphoria while they were under 18 years old from NYU Langone, from January 2020 through May 2026. Other healthcare institutions in New York City, including Mount Sinai Health System, have received similar subpoenas, though the nature of these is unclear. The grand jury subpoenas followed a year-long effort by the Department of Justice to obtain this same information from hospitals across the country through administrative subpoenas鈥攅fforts that were repeatedly blocked by at least eight federal district courts. One court dismissed the government鈥檚 reasoning as a 鈥渟mokescreen,鈥 while another concluded that DOJ 鈥渋ssued the subpoena first and searched for a justification second.鈥 In June 2026, a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by the 红杏视频, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal on behalf of three families with transgender youth and two transgender young adults who were minors when they began care. All plaintiffs have filed under pseudonyms to maintain their privacy and anonymity, and the court provisionally certified a class of similarly situated transgender patients who accessed gender-affirming medical care as a minor from any New York City-area medical institution. Soon after, the district court judge granted the families鈥 requests for a preliminary injunction, blocking DOJ from violating the patients鈥 constitutional privacy rights by obtaining the identifying and sensitive health information as part of their purported investigation into unspecified health offenses through the subpoena to NYU Langone and any other similar subpoenas to healthcare institutions in New York City, including Mt. Sinai, that provide or have provided gender-affirming medical care to transgender minors. The plaintiffs argue that the Department of Justice鈥檚 demands to access this identifying and sensitive health information violate their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights to privacy and to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The plaintiffs also sued NYU Langone to prevent its release of information protected by doctor-patient privilege under New York state law. Today鈥檚 order from the Second Circuit can be found here. Click here for more on Coe et al v. BlancheCourt Case: Coe v. BlancheAffiliate: New York -
Oregon Supreme CourtAug 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Prisoners' Rights
Zyst V. Miller. Explore Case.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 -
Press ReleaseAug 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Joint Statement From Legal Organizations In Response To Texas Supreme Court Ruling In Doe V. Abbot And Pflag V. Abbot. Explore Press Release.Joint Statement from Legal Organizations In Response to Texas Supreme Court Ruling in Doe v. Abbot and PFLAG v. Abbot
AUSTIN, Texas 鈥 The Texas Supreme Court today issued a ruling in Doe v. Abbott and PFLAG v. Abbott, challenging the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services鈥 mandate to investigate families with transgender children. Lambda Legal, the 红杏视频, the 红杏视频 of Texas, and PFLAG issued the following statement: 鈥淔or more than four years, we successfully blocked DFPS from investigating Texas families based on allegations that they were providing gender affirming medical care to their transgender adolescents. Today, the Texas Supreme Court issued a purely procedural ruling vacating those injunctions鈥攏ot because DFPS鈥檚 rule requiring these investigations is lawful but because the individual plaintiffs who brought these cases no longer need the injunctions. The Court held that their claims are moot either because DFPS has closed their investigations and has testified that they will not reopen them or because the young people involved are no longer minors and thus DFPS no longer has the authority to investigate their parents. 鈥淒FPS argued to the Court that, given that gender affirming medical care is no longer lawfully provided to minors in Texas, there is no reason for DFPS to conduct future investigations. We will hold them to that. Any family that is contacted by DFPS related to gender affirming medical care should contact the Lambda Legal Help Desk.鈥Court Case: PFLAG v. Abbott -
Court CaseSep 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Jackson-edney V. Labrador. Explore Case.Jackson-Edney v. Labrador
Six transgender residents of Idaho filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging HB 752, a 2026 state law that criminalizes their use of sex-designated public restrooms consistent with their gender identity.Status: Ongoing