Who We Are
The
ACLU
America's foremost advocate of individual rights, the American
Civil Liberties Union is a nonpartisan organization founded
in 1920. With national headquarters in New York and Washington
and 52 affiliates throughout the country, the ACLU is widely
regarded as the nation's premier public interest law firm. The
ACLU believes the only way to protect the freedoms outlined
in the Bill of Rights is to guarantee that everyone, no matter
how unpopular, has the same rights.
The
Project
Founded in 1986, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project are a combined division in the national headquarters
of the American Civil Liberties Union. The Project staff are
experts in constitutional law and civil rights, specializing
in sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV.
The
ACLU's national network of affiliates allows the Project to
broadly advocate for fairness and equality in every community
and the federal government. Today, the ACLU brings more sexual
orientation cases and advocacy initiatives than any other national
civil rights organization. As part of the broad civil liberties
mission of the ACLU, the Project brings together the LGBT and
AIDS communities with other social change movements in order
to achieve a just society for all.
What
We Do
The Project brings impact lawsuits in state and federal courts
throughout the country, cases designed to have a significant
effect on the lives of LGBT people and those with HIV/AIDS.
In coalition with other civil rights groups, we also lobby in
Congress and support grassroots advocacy from local school boards
to state legislatures. Our legal strategies are built on the
idea that fighting for civil rights means not just persuading
judges but ultimately changing society for the better. As we
litigate for change, we implement targeted media, online, and
outreach campaigns
and provide advocacy tools to help people take action in their
community.
How to Support Our Work
Donations to support the ACLU's LGBT rights and HIV/AIDS work can be made online at http://www.aclu.org/LGBTdonate. To find out more about what we do and how to make a contribution, call the Project at 212-549-2627.
Issues We Cover
HIV/AIDS
No one should be deprived of their basic constitutional protections of equality, privacy or free expression because they have HIV or AIDS. The AIDS Project fights to eliminate discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in all aspects of society, including employment, housing and public accommodations. We also work to ensure that people can make informed decisions about HIV testing and treatment, and to challenge government responses to HIV that reflect prejudice rather than scientific principles.
Discrimination
Protecting basic civil rights is at the heart of everything
we do. The Project fought for years to bring down state sodomy
laws. Our anti-discrimination activities include employment,
housing and public accommodations, criminal justice reform,
and the abolition of biased laws and regulations. We advocate
for local and federal non-discrimination laws and insist that
religious beliefs cannot be used to justify bias.
Parenting
Protecting the rights of LGBT parents and their children is
central to achieving equality for everyone. The Project challenges
policies and laws that ban LGBT people from adopting and becoming
foster parents, as well as family courts that penalize LGBT
parents in child custody and visitation arrangements. Our work
exposes how limits on LGBT parenting harms kids, debunks myths
about same-sex couples raising children, and promotes the diversity
of families.
Relationships and Marriage
Same-sex couples are harmed when their relationships are not
protected through marriage. All couples should be able to access
the benefits and responsibilities of legally-recognized relationships,
such as health insurance, unemployment compensation, immigration
status, family leave, inheritance, hospital visitation, and
much more. The
Project's goal is to obtain full legal recognition of LGBT relationships
through domestic partnerships, civil unions, and, ultimately,
marriage.
Youth and Schools
The Youth and Schools program strives to make public schools
safe and bias-free for LGBT kids and teachers. We help students
protect their right to free expression, to establish gay-straight
alliance clubs, to bring a same-sex date to the prom, and to
be taught in an environment respectful of their sexual orientation
and gender identity.
Gender Identity
The Project defends the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming
people in employment, schools, and public accommodations. Transgender
people's relationships should be recognized and legally protected,
and gender identity must not be used against transgender parents
in custody and visitation determinations. We work to include
gender identity in state and local anti-discrimination policies,
conduct outreach to transgender youth and students on their
legal rights, and develop public education campaigns to raise
awareness of transgender issues.
