Lambda Legal Applauds West Virginia Court Order Restoring Custody of Foster Child to Lesbian Mothers

‘The West Virginia high court has ruled in the best interests of this child. We applaud them for rejecting the prejudice that would have removed her from the only home she ever knew.’

(Charleston, WV, June 8, 2009) – The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia ruled Friday that a foster child should be returned to her lesbian foster parents, Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess, reversing an antigay lower court ruling that sought to remove the child on the basis that her placement was not with a “traditional family.” Lambda Legal filed a friend-of-the-court brief representing several foster care groups.
“The West Virginia high court has done the right thing in ruling in the best interests of this child. We applaud them for rejecting the prejudice that would have removed her from the only home she ever knew,” said Greg Nevins, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office in Atlanta. “Children in West Virginia need parents to love and care for them and that’s what the state should want, too.”

Lambda Legal filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the court on February 19, 2009, on behalf of Foster Children Alumni Association, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of the Eastern Panhandle, COLAGE (Children of Lesbian and Gays Everywhere), and Fairness West Virginia to urge the reversal of a trial court order removing the then year-old girl from the home of Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess. The removal was ordered after the couple indicated that they wished to adopt the child. The trial judge accepted the view of the guardian ad litem that the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) should only pursue an adoption placement for the child in a “traditional family,” consisting of both a mother and a father. The GAL also sought a statewide injunction barring foster children from being placed in gay homes. Friday’s ruling reverses this lower court finding, allows the child to remain with her foster parents, and permits the possibility that this home where the child has thrived eventually will be the adoption placement for the child.

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CA Supreme Court Upholds Student Civil Rights Act

(Sacramento, June 1, 2009) –Today, a Sacramento Superior Court dismissed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate SB 777, the California Student Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of race, religion, disability, gender, and sexual orientation. The lawsuit was brought by a right-wing group that specifically objected to protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. The court held that the plaintiffs had failed to show any way in which the statute was even allegedly unlawful.

“We are pleased the court rejected this attack on the Student Civil Rights Act,” said Carolyn Laub, Gay-Straight Alliance Network Executive Director. “School should be safe place for all children, including those who are—or are perceived to be—lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.”

The lawsuit was filed on November 5, 2008. State Superintendent Jack O’Connell, represented by California Attorney General Jerry Brown, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on January 8, 2009. On March 19, 2009, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, the Transgender Law Center, Equality California, and Gay-Straight Alliance Network filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the motion to dismiss.

Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB 777 into law on October 12, 2007. SB 777 reinforced existing anti-discrimination protections in publicly-funded schools and updated the Education Code so that teachers and administrators do not have to cross-reference other parts of state law to understand their obligations to protect students from harassment and discrimination in all school activities. The bill was sponsored by Equality California, the state’s LGBT legislative organization, and authored by former Senator Sheila Kuehl.

According to the 2001 California Healthy Kids Survey, nearly 30 percent of California youth in grades 7 to 11 report experiencing harassment or bullying based on their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, or sexual orientation.

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. In the past decade, EQCA has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil-rights protections in the nation. EQCA has passed over 50 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org

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Bush v. Gore Lawyers Joining Forces To Fight Proposition 8

A coalition of gay rights groups said Wednesday that a federal same-sex marriage lawsuit brought by two high-profile lawyers is premature and they’d rather work through state legislatures and voters to win wedding rights.
A day after the California Supreme Court upheld a voter-approved ban on gay marriage, the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and other national organizations issued a statement saying they think the U.S. Supreme Court is not ready to rule in their favor on the issue. See Bush v. Gore Lawyers Joining Forces To Fight Proposition 8 * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

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Lambda Legal Files Federal Lawsuit Against Assisted Living Facility Following Eviction of HIV-Positive Retired Minister

‘They shunned and rejected him, making him feel like a complete outcast.’

(Little Rock, Ark.) — Lambda Legal announced today that it has filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas against Fox Ridge of North Little Rock, an assisted living facility.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 75-year-old Reverend Dr. Robert Franke, a retired university provost and Unitarian-Universalist minister, and his daughter, Sara Franke Bowling.

Dr. Franke, who relocated to Little Rock to be closer to his daughter, moved in to Fox Ridge after fulfilling all of its residency requirements — including submission of medical evaluation forms from a local physician. The next day, however — after realizing Dr. Franke is HIV-positive —Fox Ridge officials abruptly ejected Dr. Franke from the facility. A Fox Ridge staffer told Bowling her father’s personal belongings could remain, but that the “body” had to be out by the end of the day.

“I was stunned that my dad was thrown out of his new home,” said Bowling. “The people at Fox Ridge were supposed to make sure that he was comfortable and cared for, and instead they shunned and rejected him, making him feel like a complete outcast.”

Dr. Franke requires no special medical attention beyond daily medication and regular check-ups with a physician, and Fox Ridge is licensed by the state to provide Dr. Franke with the kind of care he and his daughter were seeking for him.

“Federal and state laws exist to protect people from just this sort of unjust treatment,” said Scott Schoettes, HIV Project staff attorney for Lambda Legal. “Unfortunately, this is something we are seeing far too frequently, all across the country. Those tasked with caring for our elderly loved ones need to know that it is illegal to discriminate against someone with HIV based on outdated and misguided beliefs about its transmission.”

Franke and Bowling are seeking damages under the Fair Housing Act, the Arkansas Civil Rights Act and the Arkansas Fair Housing Act, as well as an injunction, under those laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act, preventing Fox Ridge from continuing to engage in this kind of conduct.

“This is about doing the right thing,” said Franke. “I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else — because no one should ever be made to feel the way I did.”

Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Staff Attorney, and Kenneth Upton, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney, are handling the case for Lambda Legal. They are joined by co-counsel Gary L. Sullivan of the Tripcony Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas. The case is Robert G. Franke and Sara Franke Bowling v. Parkstone Living Center, Inc., dba Fox Ridge at North Little Rock.

* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

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Lambda Legal Marks First Anniversary of Historic California Marriage Victory

‘…denying marriage to loving and committed same-sex couples is morally wrong…’
(Los Angeles, May 15, 2009) — On the first anniversary of the California Supreme Court’s historic ruling in In re Marriages, Lambda Legal Marriage Project Director Jennifer C. Pizer issued the following statement:
“One year ago today many thousands of lesbian and gay Californians became full citizens for the first time when the state supreme court ruled that we all are equal under law and everyone – gay and straight alike – must have the same right to marry the person they love. For some of us who’d worked on the case for years, the court’s clarion clear decision gave real meaning to the California Constitution’s promise of equality. And then, as more than 18,000 same-sex couples jubilantly exercised that right all over the state, family and friends shared their joy, cried during their vows, and were changed for the better.

The court’s historic decision also paved the way for the high courts of Connecticut and Iowa, which in turn gave great boosts to the legislatures in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia. Awareness now is dawning for great numbers of Americans that denying marriage to loving and committed same-sex couples is morally wrong and inflicts real harms—government should not be in the business of discrimination. Public opinion is shifting fast toward fairness. But no minority should have to depend on the generosity of the majority to enjoy basic rights. Proposition 8′s theft of our right to marry has advanced a broadly pernicious recasting of “equal protection” that, if upheld, puts every California minority at risk. It was a sad, knee-jerk response to the sight of couples in love celebrating their happiness.

Paper is the traditional first anniversary gift and there are two obvious examples — our constitution, torn asunder by Prop 8′s antigay exception, and the high court’s imminent decision that we hope will mend that tear. Today’s anniversary reminds us that we win in court and in life when we publicly celebrate our truth, love and joy in equal measures.”

Jennifer C. Pizer is Director of Lambda Legal’s Marriage Project and co-counsel in the cases that established same-sex couples’ right to marry in California and the pending challenge to Proposition 8.

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Another possible first: An OPenly LGBT Supreme Court Justice?

Among the people whose names are being floated for the Supreme Court is Stanford Law Dean Kathleen Sullivan, a top constitutional scholar who has been active in gay rights battles in the Supreme Court, and who as the blog of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund writes, would be the first openly gay person on the court.

The group Lambda Legal wrote Obama in January pressing the appointement of “‘out’ LGBT judges.”

Human Rights Campaign emails over a statement from its legal director, Lara Schwartz, that the group “looks forward to seeing more openly-LGBT people appointed to the federal courts and other positions” but that “what’s most important is a nominee must have a track record that demonstrates her or his ability to consider and decide cases fairly.”

See Another possible first

Politico -

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SSA recognizes gay family

Lambda Legal wins federal recognition of gay dad and family.

SSA recognizes gay family

Lambda Legal wins federal recognition of gay dad and family.

Gay dad, kids receive Social Security benefits

(Washington) The Social Security Administration has reversed a decision to deny benefits to the children of a disabled gay father following a three year battle waged on behalf of the family by Lambda Legal.

“This is long awaited relief for Gary Day and his children, who just want to be respected …

LGBTQ Student Rights in the Wake of Tragic Suicides

‘Every student deserves the right to a respectful and affirming experience in school hallways and classrooms. We owe it to Jaheem Herrera and Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover to make sure that school officials, teachers and fellow students take a stand against LGBT-related harassment every day.’

(New York, April 27 2009) — Lambda Legal today issued the following statement in response to the tragic suicides of Jaheem Herrera of Dekalb County, Georgia, and Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, of Springfield, Massachusetts, both 11-year-olds who faced antigay harassment and bullying.
Statement from Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda Legal:

“This has been a somber time for everyone who heard the terrible news of two young people taking their own lives after being the targets of antigay physical and emotional abuse. We extend our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of these young boys.
“The tragic deaths of Jaheem Herrera and Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover underscore the importance of safe schools where harassment and violence based on racist, sexist, antigay or other biased attitudes are not tolerated. Unfortunately, there is much work to be done. Harassment of LGBTQ students and those perceived to be LGBT remains a serious problem across the country. Lambda Legal pledges to continue to stand up for students and hold schools accountable for preserving their rights and integrity. We applaud schools that stand up for safety and respect for all students because any student can be the target of LGBT-related bullying and harassment.

“Lambda Legal has played a key role in securing equality for LGBTQ and allied youth and standing up for their rights in schools. We advocated for students’ rights to an environment of safety and respect in communities from New York and New Jersey to Oregon to California and Georgia. In 1996 we made history with the first legal challenge to antigay violence in public schools on behalf of Jamie Nabozny, in Nabozny v. Podlesny, and in our 2000 case, Colin v. Orange Unified School District, we established the obligation of schools to allow Gay Straight Alliance’s on equal terms with other student activities.

“Every student deserves the right to a respectful and affirming experience in school hallways and classrooms. We owe it to Jaheem Herrera and Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover to make sure that school officials, teachers and fellow students take a stand against LGBT-related harassment every day, and at Lambda Legal we will continue our work in schools to help prevent similar tragedies from occurring.”
Lambda Legal will join the Faith and Community Alliance and other community groups at a vigil for Jaheem Herrera on Tuesday, April 28, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., First Christian Church of Decatur ,601 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur, GA.
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Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.