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After Pressure From ACLU, Gay Georgia Man Allowed To Join State Insurance Plan (03/04/2008)
ATLANTA — After pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union, Georgia's Commissioner of Insurance has agreed to allow Jon Lawson, a gay man, to purchase health insurance through a state plan designed to help people who are uninsured. Although the plan only requires that an applicant is insured for 18 months before joining the plan, Commissioner John Oxendine's office rejected Lawson's application, claiming that he was ineligible because had been covered as a domestic partner through his previous insurance plan.

ACLU Challenges Dismissal of Lesbian Major From Air Force (11/05/2007)
SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the dismissal of a decorated U.S. Air Force flight nurse on the grounds that she engaged in homosexual conduct. The ACLU is representing Major Margaret Witt in her appeal of a lower court rejection of the lawsuit she filed in 2006.

House Committee Advances ENDA Legislation that Splits LGBT Community, ACLU Urges One Bill for One Community (10/18/2007)
WASHINGTON – The House Committee on Education and Labor today passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill the ACLU cannot support because it abandons the transgender community. The first iteration of ENDA this session would have made it illegal to discriminate in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity, but the bill that passed out of committee today would allow transgender workers to suffer from discrimination at work with no protection or recourse.

ACLU Cheers Free-Speech Friendly Hate Crimes Legislation (09/27/2007)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the passage of the Matthew Shepard Amendment to the Defense Department authorization bill that for the first time punishes hate crimes without infringing on free speech. The amendment, offered by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), will broaden the definition of hate crimes and give more resources to local districts unable to investigate them single-handedly.

New ACLU Report, Working in the Shadows, Explains Why Congress Should Pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (09/17/2007)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union issued a report today that shows why Congress should pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The act is expected to be voted out of committee later this month. Working in the Shadows: Ending Employment Discrimination for LGBT Americans uses the stories of workers from across the country who have experienced workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to make the case for passage of the bill.

ACLU Praises House Subcommittee Hearing on Employment Non-Discrimination Act (09/05/2007)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education & Labor Committee for its consideration of HR 2015, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Co-sponsored by Representatives Barney Frank (D – MA), Deborah Pryce (R – OH), Tammy Baldwin (D – WI), and Christopher Shays (R –CT), this bipartisan legislation is aimed at protecting individuals from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Federal Judge Reunites Gay Couple Barred from Seeing Each Other After Release from Prison (08/01/2007)
PHILADELPHIA - A federal judge issued an opinion today allowing a long-term gay couple to resume contact with each other while completing the period of supervision imposed on them as part of a drug sentence. The ACLU, which represented the couple, cheers the court’s historic decision recognizing that same-sex couples are equally protected by the Constitution and must be treated the same as other families.

Chicago Woman Challenges Blatant Discrimination: Denied Access to Homeless Shelter Because She is a Lesbian (05/21/2007)
CHICAGO – A Chicago woman denied access to a City-funded homeless shelter on a cold November evening because she is a lesbian is challenging the blatant discrimination she experienced. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois today announced the filing of complaints with the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations and the State of Illinois Department of Human Rights on behalf of Michelle Wang, a 27-year-old woman denied space at New Life Shelter after she told a staffer at that shelter she is a lesbian. Only intervention by a thoughtful, concerned Chicago city employee prevented Ms. Wang from spending another night on the streets.

ACLU of Ohio Applauds Governor for Signing Order Providing Equality for all State Employees (05/17/2007)
COLUMBUS, OH – The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today applauded Governor Ted Strickland for signing an executive order that protects Ohioans working for the state government from job discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. This executive order marks the first time gender identity discrimination has been banned by an Ohio governor and restores an earlier order by former Governor Richard Celeste banning sexual orientation discrimination.

ACLU Cheers House Passage of Hate Crimes Legislation (05/03/2007)
Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union today cheered the House of Representatives for passing H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, with strong bipartisan support. This legislation would allow federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute hate crimes offenses in cases where local law enforcement lacks the resources, or in some cases the willingness to do so.

Iowa Legislature Outlaws Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (04/26/2007)
DES MOINES – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Iowa legislature for approving a bill outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill, which was approved earlier by the Iowa Senate, passed the Iowa House of Representatives late last night by a vote of 59-37. Governor Chet Culver has already said that he would sign the bill into law.

ACLU, HRC and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Seek Workplace Discrimination Stories for Upcoming Push for ENDA (02/26/2007)
WASHINGTON -The American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force are working together to engage more gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans in the national campaign to end workplace discrimination for LGBT workers. The campaign, which urges LGBT people who have faced job discrimination to share their story, will be used to boost lobbying efforts for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a federal bill which would protect LGBT people against workplace discrimination, and for similar state proposals.

ACLU of Massachusetts Condemns Vote to Advance Marriage Discrimination; Vows to Redouble Efforts to Ensure Equal Rights (01/03/2007)
BOSTON, MA - The American Civil Liberties Union today vowed to redouble its efforts to keep discrimination off the ballot and out of the Massachusetts Constitution following a state Constitutional Convention that kept alive a proposed amendment to deny equal marriage rights to thousands of Massachusetts families. The amendment, which required only 50 votes out of 200 to move forward, will now face a second round of consideration in 2007 or 2008.

California High School Journalists Win Free Speech Victory (11/16/2006)
LOS ANGELES - A Kern County judge is expected to issue a court order today that will ensure that Bakersfield high school students are not wrongly censored and that student free speech rights in the Kern School District are preserved.

ACLU of Virginia Urges Manassas City Council Not to Discriminate Against Gay Business Owner (10/23/2006)
MANASSAS, VA -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia today urged the Manassas City Council not to deny a permit for a home-based massage therapy business simply because the owner is gay. Although the City Council has approved two other home-based massage businesses in the last two years -- and rejected none -- Howard Daniel’s request has provoked an unusual degree of opposition.

ACLU Helps Los Altos Community Reverse Gay Proclamation Ban (07/26/2006)
LOS ALTOS, CA -- The American Civil Liberties Union cheered a unanimous decision by the Los Altos city council rescinding a ban on proclamations having anything to do with sexual orientation that had passed in February.

Utah Court Rules Anti-Gay Amendment Doesn’t Bar Salt Lake City from Offering Domestic Partner Benefits (05/16/2006)
SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah court has ruled that its anti-gay relationship amendment, one of the most sweeping of its kind to pass in the 2004 elections, does not bar Salt Lake City from offering health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of city employees. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of a lesbian employee of the Salt Lake City Police Department the local branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), cheered the decision as an important victory for lesbian and gay couples in states with similar anti-gay relationship amendments.

ACLU of Washington Challenges Dismissal of Lesbian Air Force Officer (04/12/2006)
SEATTLE, WA - The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington today challenged the dismissal of a decorated Major and flight nurse in the U.S. Air Force Reserves for engaging in “homosexual conduct.” The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, seeks to forbid Major Margaret Witt’s discharge.

Federal Court Rules Transgender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Library of Congress Can Proceed (03/31/2006)
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today a federal judge found that an employment discrimination lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a transgender veteran against the Library of Congress can go forward.

ACLU Defends Blogger's Right to Parody "Ex-Gay" Group (03/22/2006)
SAN FRANCISCO – Citing First Amendment protection for parodies, the American Civil Liberties Union today came to the defense of a California man who received a cease-and-desist letter after posting a parody of a billboard advertisement for so-called “reparative therapy” on his website.