Home : Lesbian & Gay Rights

ACLU Asks Federal Court to Force White County, Georgia School District to Stop Illegally Blocking Gay-Straight Alliance Club (06/12/2006)
ATLANTA, GA – Trial was held today in an American Civil Liberties Union federal lawsuit asking for a permanent injunction requiring officials at White County High School in Cleveland, Georgia to recognize a gay-straight alliance club (GSA). Administrators at White County High School in Cleveland, Georgia have been blocking the GSA from meeting since the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year while allowing other clubs to meet, a clear violation of the Federal Equal Access Act.

ACLU Reacts to Missouri Attorney General’s Statement Signaling End of Statewide Anti-Gay Foster Care Ban (06/08/2006)
KANSAS CITY, MO – Opening the possibility of loving families for the nearly 2,000 children in Missouri who desperately need foster care, the Missouri Attorney General has indicated that the state’s anti-gay foster care ban must be dropped. The move was applauded today by the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been battling the ban since 2004.

ACLU Applauds Senate for Rejecting Discriminatory Constitutional Amendment, Says House Must Also Reject President’s Anti-Gay Agenda (06/07/2006)
WASHINGTON – As the Senate failed to limit debate on the Federal Marriage Amendment today, the American Civil Liberties Union applauded the legislators for effectively rejecting the discriminatory proposal, and called on the House of Representative to do the same. By a vote 49 to 48, the Senate failed, once again, to garner the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture, a procedural move that would limit floor discussion and bring the measure to a vote.

ACLU Rebukes President Bush’s Support for Federal Marriage Amendment, Says Proposal Would Write Discrimination Into the Constitution (06/05/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today strongly condemned President Bush for publicly supporting a proposal to amend the Constitution to deny marriage protections to gay and lesbian couples and their children. Both houses of Congress overwhelmingly rejected a similar Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004, and the Senate is expected to consider the proposal on Wednesday.

ACLU Urges New York High Court to Strike Down Law Banning Same-Sex Couples from Marriage (05/31/2006)
ALBANY – The American Civil Liberties Union appeared before New York’s highest court today to urge the court to strike down a state law that bars same-sex couples from marriage and the hundreds of family protections provided to married couples.

Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Discriminatory Constitutional Amendment, ACLU Denounces Amending the Constitution Behind Closed Doors (05/18/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed its disappointment as the Senate Judiciary Committee, meeting in a tiny room behind the Senate floor, approved a measure to amend the Constitution to deny marriage protections to gay and lesbian couples and their children. Both houses of Congress overwhelmingly rejected an identical proposal in 2004.

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.

Religious and Civil Rights Groups Urge New York’s High Court to Strike Down Laws Barring Same-Sex Couples from Marriage (04/24/2006)
ALBANY, NY -- In 14 friend-of-the-court briefs filed with the New York Court of Appeals, national and statewide religious and civil rights leaders and organizations urge the court to put an end to state laws that deny same-sex couples the protections of marriage. The court is hearing oral arguments in lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and others on behalf of same-sex couples on May 31, 2006.

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.

The ACLU Freedom Files On Court TV Shows Why Lesbian and Gay Couples Shouldn’t Be Denied Protections for Their Families (04/07/2006)
NEW YORK – The ACLU Freedom Files, a revolutionary new 10-part series, tells the stories of everyday Americans whose civil liberties have been threatened, and how they fought back. On April 15, the show illustrates the tragic consequences for lesbian and gay families when they are denied protections. The series debuted on Court TV in February and has already addressed religious freedom and voting rights.