Following a recent agreement between Michigan’s Attorney General and the American Civil Liberties Union, adoption agencies in the state of Michigan that receive state funding are no longer able to deny adoptions to LGBT couples on the basis that doing so violates the agency’s religious beliefs. The decision is the result of a legal action Read More

An independent Catholic school in South Euclid, Ohio and the non-profit legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom recently initiated a lawsuit against the city of South Euclid on the basis that certain regulations created by a city ordinance in 2018 infringe on the school’s First Amendment and religious liberty rights. Even though it is still uncertain Read More

At the end of January, 2019, the North Dakota senate defeated legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The senator, who was the primary sponsor of the bill, also known as Senate Bill 2303, has said that the measure was created to decrease the rate at which discrimination against LGBTQ individuals occurs in Read More

A man in Tucson recently announced legal action against the Social Security Administration for failure to pay spousal survivor benefits after the death of his same sex partner. The man claimed that he would have married his deceased partner in the early 1970s if it had been legal to do so. Instead, the two men Read More

California’s Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a new bill into law that supports the inclusion of LGBTQ seniors in state-provided programs. This measure marks a significant advancement in the rights of LGBTQ senior citizens in the state. The Number of California Senior Citizens Affected Equality California reports that 10.9 million Californians will be over the Read More

Schools in New Jersey are about to become subject to a variety of protection laws designed to protect the rights of transgender students after the New Jersey Department of Education sent guidelines to schools explaining how to best follow a 2017 law that reinforces protections for its students. The state’s Department of Education is currently Read More

A Michigan appeals court recently issued a decision involving LGBTQ rights and Planet Fitness, and sent the case back to trial court. The case involves a woman who initiated legal action against Planet Fitness after the company revoked the woman’s membership because the woman issued a complaint that she saw a transgender woman in the Read More

  An LGBTQ teacher recently initiated a wrongful termination lawsuit against the Mansfield Independent School District on the basis that the school discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation. The teacher was placed on leave after she showed students a photo of her wife. While the teacher’s contract with the district has been renewed, Read More

A Michigan state commission recently determined that protections against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation are included in Michigan’s current ban on sex discrimination. This recent decision came after a 5-0 vote by the Michigan Civil Rights Commission approving this interpretation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. As a result of this decision, Read More

  Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee recently signed into law SB 7522, which protects LGBTQ individuals from conversion therapy. The bill is the result of efforts by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Equal Rights Washington. These groups have long advocated for the prohibition of conversion therapy throughout the country. In response to this decision, Read More