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ACLU Says Watts Charitable Choice Bill Would Give Government-Funded Religious Organizations Carte Blanche to Discriminate (04/26/2001)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today told a House subcommittee that a bill designed to implement President Bush's faith-based initiative would give federally funded religious organizations carte blanche to discriminate based on religion. 

Nebraska Bill Outlaws Anti-Gay Discrimination (04/04/2001)
LINCOLN, NE -- Refusing to rent apartments to homosexuals or to show them homes for sale is legal in Nebraska, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

Federal Court Dismisses Religious Challenge to Gay Rights Law in 'Total Victory for Fairness' (03/21/2001)
LOUISVILLE, KY - In a resounding victory for civil rights laws in general -- and gay rights laws in particular -- a federal court late today dismissed a Kentucky doctor's lawsuit that sought to strike down a local ordinance which he claimed violated his religious liberties and free speech rights. 

ACLU Urges House to Reject Watts Faith-Based Bill; Says It Represents Broad Assault on Civil Rights Protections (03/20/2001)
WASHINGTON - Calling it a broad assault on core civil rights protections, the American Civil Liberties Union today urged the House of Representatives to reject the faith-based initiative to be introduced tomorrow morning by Rep. J.C. Watts, a Republican from Oklahoma. 

Bill Would Repeal North Carolina Sodomy Law (03/14/2001)
GREENSBORO, NC -- An effort to amend North Carolina's sodomy law to decriminalize consensual oral and anal sex is under way, PlanetOut.com reported.

Puerto Rican Public and Courts Weigh Gay Rights With Unprecedented Legal Case and Political Action (02/21/2001)
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - Lesbian and gay rights are taking center stage in Puerto Rico this week, as activities around the island bring attention to Puerto Rico's anti-gay sodomy law, and the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico prepares to hear arguments challenging the law - the first gay rights case of the highest court's 101-year history.

Citing Anti-Gay Bias, ACLU Asks Governor to Spare Missouri Man Set for Execution (02/05/2001)
JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- The American Civil Liberties Union today asked Governor Bob Holden to grant clemency to Stanley Lingar, who is set to be executed here at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday morning. In a letter to Holden today and in earlier legal briefs in the case, the ACLU cited clear anti-gay bias in Lingar's trial and sentencing. 

ACLU Says Bush Initiative Represents Faith-Based Prescription for Discrimination (01/29/2001)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today said that President George Bush's new initiative to give tax dollars to religious organizations would lead to government-funded discrimination in employment and services and a dangerous loosening of licensing and standards for providers of social services. 

ACLU Says Rent-Free Leases to Boy Scouts Violate California Constitution (01/16/2001)
"Our letters ask the county and the city of Atascadero to stop subsidizing discrimination by giving rent-free leases to the Boy Scouts," said Martha Matthews, staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. "The Boy Scouts organization has abandoned the values it used to stand for -- honesty, fairness, and respect for diversity -- in favor of bias and exclusion."

NYCLU Reacts To Proposed School District Resolution Regarding Boy Scouts (09/26/2000)
NEW YORK--Community School District Two has proposed a resolution withdrawing sponsorship and special privileges from the Boy Scouts of America based on its policy of excluding gay youth and adult members.

On Eve of 'Banned Books Week,' Texas Judge Blocks Censorship of Two Gay Parenting Books in Library (09/20/2000)
WICHITA FALLS, TX --A federal judge today struck down a local law that restricted public library access to two books about gay parenting, calling the policy unconstitutional, the American Civil Liberties Union announced.

ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit to End Preferential Treatment for Boy Scouts in San Diego (08/28/2000)
SAN DIEGO, CA--The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties and the Tom Homann Law Association today filed a federal lawsuit seeking to require the City of San Diego to terminate lease agreements with the Boy Scouts for use of city park property.

ACLU Lauds Appeals Court Ruling Granting Asylum for Gay Man Persecuted for Sexual Orientation (08/25/2000)
LOS ANGELES, CA -- A unanimous federal appeals court has granted asylum for a gay Mexican man who was persecuted because of his sexual orientation, in a ruling lauded by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups.

ACLU and U.S. Dept. of Justice Ask Court to Dismiss Challenge to Anti-Gay Bias Law, Noting Broad Impact (08/15/2000)
LOUISVILLE, KY -- In what has become the national focal point of the debate over whether personal religious beliefs trump local civil rights laws, the American Civil Liberties Union today asked a state court to dismiss a challenge to Louisville's Fairness Ordinance - and for the first time in history, the U.S. Department of Justice stepped forward to lend its support to a law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In Historic First, Puerto Rico Supreme Court Considers Whether Law Denies Basic Rights to Gay People (08/11/2000)
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO -- For the first time in its 101-year history, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court today began considering whether gay men and lesbians are treated equally under the law. The case before the court hinges on Puerto Rico's long-standing commitment to individual privacy and its emphasis on courts' independence.

FL County Refuses to Protect Gay Couples from Domestic Violence; ACLU Vows to Fight 'Unconstitutional, Unconscionable' Practice (08/07/2000)
BRADENTON, FL -- It was both "unconstitutional and unconscionable" for a Florida judge to refuse to issue a restraining order to protect a gay man from domestic violence, the American Civil Liberties Union said today. The ACLU said it was investigating reports that lesbians and gay men are now considered ineligible for protection from domestic violence in parts of Florida.

Calls for Arrest of Openly-Gay GOP Convention Speaker Reveal Danger of Sodomy Laws Nationwide, ACLU Says (07/31/2000)
NEW YORK, NY -- As one of the nation's largest conservative groups called for the arrest of an openly-gay Republican Congressman who is slated to speak tomorrow night at the Republican national convention in Philadelphia, the American Civil Liberties Union's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project today said there can no longer be any doubt about the imminent danger posed by sodomy laws.

Oregon ACLU Says Supreme Court Boy Scout Decision Won't Affect Portland School District Case (06/28/2000)
PORTLAND, OR -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon said today that the Supreme Court decision upholding sexual orientation discrimination by the Boy Scouts will not affect a pending ACLU challenge of Boy Scout recruitment practices in public schools here.

ACLU Takes Aim at State Sodomy Law That 'Invites the State into Every Bedroom in Minnesota' (06/22/2000)
Under the sodomy law, oral sex and other private, noncommercial, consensual intimacy is punishable by up to a year in prison and $3,000 in fines.

ACLU Challenges Virginia's "Crimes Against Nature" Sodomy Law (05/31/2000)
RICHMOND, VA--Taking a stand for constitutionally-protected privacy rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and the National ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project today asked the Virginia Supreme Court to overturn the state's "crimes against nature" law.