LGBTQ Rights
Zyst v. Miller
Following the Oregon Department of Corrections’ unconstitutional treatment of a transgender prisoner, a habeas court ordered her removal from segregated housing, an individualized gender-affirming care assessment, a psychiatric evaluation, and identification of an appropriate cellmate. However, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the psychiatric-evaluation and cellmate orders, finding them “too attenuated” to qualify as habeas relief. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the ACLU of Oregon, joined an amicus brief by the law firm Sugerman Dahab arguing that habeas courts have broad discretion to remedy violations and resulting harms. The brief explains that the Court of Appeals’ “close connection” test unduly constricts habeas relief, and which should be construed to encompass not only the need to halt ongoing constitutional violations, but also the need to mitigate various harms that may arise from those violations.
Status: Ongoing
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Florida
Nov 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Florida v. Raymond Rodrigues
The University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine filed a lawsuit on November 16, 2023, challenging the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida’s order to state universities to deactivate the student group. This order threatens the students’ constitutionally-protected right to free speech and association in violation of the First Amendment. The ACLU and its partners are seeking a preliminary injunction that would bar the Chancellor and the University of Florida from deactivating the UF SJP.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2020
LGBTQ Rights
R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v EEOC & Aimee Stephens
Aimee Stephens had worked for nearly six years as a funeral director at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes when she informed the funeral home’s owner that she is a transgender woman. She was fired, the EEOC sued on her behalf, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Aimee’s employer engaged in unlawful sex discrimination when it fired her because she’s transgender. We represented Aimee Stephens in front of the U.S. Supreme Court — and won.
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2019
LGBTQ Rights
Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda
Don Zarda loved to skydive. He worked as a skydiving instructor at Altitude Express, a company on Long Island, N.Y. He was fired for being gay.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2018
LGBTQ Rights
Religious Liberty
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
Whether a business open to the public has a constitutional right to discriminate.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
LGBTQ Rights
Obergefell, et al. v. Hodges - Freedom to Marry in Ohio
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio and Alphonse Gerhardstein of Gerhardstein & Branch have filed suit on behalf of Jim Obergefell and David Michener, two widowers, and Robert Grunn, a funeral director, in a challenge to the Ohio constitutional and statutory marriage recognition bans.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2015
LGBTQ Rights
Bourke v. Beshear & Love v. Beshear - Freedom to Marry in Kentucky
Bourke v. Beshear is a federal court challenge to Kentucky's constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples, filed by attorneys at Clay Daniel Walton & Adams and Fauver Law Office on July 26, 2013, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The plaintiffs are four same-sex couples seeking state recognition of their out-of-state marriages.
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196 LGBTQ Rights Cases
Washington, D.C.
Sep 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Withrow v. United States et al.
A civilian employee of the Illinois National Guard filed a class action lawsuit in federal court challenging a Trump-Vance administration policy prohibiting transgender and intersex federal employees from using restrooms aligned with their gender.
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Washington, D.C.
Sep 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Withrow v. United States et al.
A civilian employee of the Illinois National Guard filed a class action lawsuit in federal court challenging a Trump-Vance administration policy prohibiting transgender and intersex federal employees from using restrooms aligned with their gender.
South Carolina
Sep 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Free Speech
O.R. v. Greenville County, South Carolina
Local library patrons, with help from the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of South Carolina, are suing officials in South Carolina’s most populous county for systematically purging literature by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people from its public library collection.
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South Carolina
Sep 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Free Speech
O.R. v. Greenville County, South Carolina
Local library patrons, with help from the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of South Carolina, are suing officials in South Carolina’s most populous county for systematically purging literature by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people from its public library collection.
New York
Sep 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Coe v. Blanche
Three New York families with adolescent transgender children and two transgender New Yorkers filed a class action lawsuit to protect patient identifying and sensitive health information from being turned over to the Department of Justice in response to federal grand jury subpoenas issued as part of a widespread effort to "end” necessary health care for transgender adolescents.
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New York
Sep 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Coe v. Blanche
Three New York families with adolescent transgender children and two transgender New Yorkers filed a class action lawsuit to protect patient identifying and sensitive health information from being turned over to the Department of Justice in response to federal grand jury subpoenas issued as part of a widespread effort to "end” necessary health care for transgender adolescents.
Court Case
Sep 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Jackson-Edney v. Labrador
Six transgender residents of Idaho filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging HB 752, a 2026 state law that criminalizes their use of sex-designated public restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
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Court Case
Sep 2026
LGBTQ Rights
Jackson-Edney v. Labrador
Six transgender residents of Idaho filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging HB 752, a 2026 state law that criminalizes their use of sex-designated public restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
U.S. Supreme Court
Aug 2026
LGBTQ Rights
West Virginia v. B.P.J.
Becky is a student in West Virginia who is starting high school. Three years ago, as Becky was preparing to begin middle school, West Virginia passed a law categorically banning transgender girls from participating in all school sports. Becky loves being part of a team and wanted to be able to participate in cross-country and track and field with her friends. She sued, arguing that West Virginia's law violated the Constitution and Title IX as applied to her, especially because she has received medication from the onset of puberty and has never experienced any physiological changes associated with puberty for boys. As a result of an injunction issued by the lower courts, she has been able to participate in middle school cross-country and track and field for the past three years. Becky and her mother are represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, Lambda Legal and Cooley LLP.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Aug 2026
LGBTQ Rights
West Virginia v. B.P.J.
Becky is a student in West Virginia who is starting high school. Three years ago, as Becky was preparing to begin middle school, West Virginia passed a law categorically banning transgender girls from participating in all school sports. Becky loves being part of a team and wanted to be able to participate in cross-country and track and field with her friends. She sued, arguing that West Virginia's law violated the Constitution and Title IX as applied to her, especially because she has received medication from the onset of puberty and has never experienced any physiological changes associated with puberty for boys. As a result of an injunction issued by the lower courts, she has been able to participate in middle school cross-country and track and field for the past three years. Becky and her mother are represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, Lambda Legal and Cooley LLP.