MAKING THE CASE FOR EQUALITY LAMBDA LEGAL ANNUAL REPORT 2009 L ambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The victory in Iowa illustrates how • An online adoption company learned Lambda Legal chooses its cases—for it couldn’t do business in New York if impact—and how freedom is won: by it barred gay couples from registering. digging in, doing the work and never • The rights of lesbian and gay parents giving up. in Ohio, Virginia, Florida and We depend on our members and Louisiana were protected. supporters to keep Lambda Legal • Providers of health care and other Persistence and impact—two strong. Here’s some of what we achieved services in Wisconsin and Arkansas words that describe the work we together in 2009: found out they can’t discriminate do at Lambda Legal. And two more • Georgia State Assembly officials against people with HIV without a words: victory and progress. learned they can’t fire an employee just fight. In 2009, we won incredible victories and for her gender transition or failure to As the pages that follow show, we made enormous progress. The victories conform to gender stereotypes—and if achieved all this and a great deal more in were the result of persistent, strategic they do, Lambda Legal will fight back. 2009. But many challenges lie ahead— work over many years. As we advanced • LGBT people now know that and persistence means that we won’t give equality, the impact was felt by LGBT California’s civil rights law prohibits up. Your investment, commitment and people and people living with HIV— doctors’ offices from using religious passion sustain us as we make the case and by the whole country. beliefs as an excuse for discrimination, for equality. Our victory for marriage equality in and breaking this rule can be costly. Iowa stands out in 2009. It took more • Students at a New York high school KEVIN CATHCART than five years to make the case for can get the support and safe space of a Executive Director equality, working in the courts and in gay-straight alliance. the community with LGBT Iowans, • Couples who married in California their families, and allies. In April, the can rest assured that the state respects Iowa Supreme Court issued the first-ever their marital bonds. unanimous decision in favor of marriage equality and the first-ever victory for • Married New York public employees marriage equality in the heartland of our can rely on spousal health insurance. nation. That’s progress. FROM THE BOARD CO-CHAIRS to pass. Lambda Legal continues to $11 million that began last year and will champion important bills introduced continue to be paid out over the next in 2009, including the Employment seven years. But most importantly, we Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which continue to be sustained and strengthened would bar workplace discrimination on by contributions, large and small, from the basis of sexual orientation and gender donors and members around the country. identity, and the Respect for Marriage We look forward to working with you to Act, which would repeal the so-called reinforce Lambda Legal’s work to fight We are thrilled to serve as co- “Defense of Marriage Act.” Lambda for equality and safeguard our freedom, chairs at Lambda Legal. Last Legal also continues to fight for an end to dignity and well-being, as well as those of year, we won marriage equality in Iowa “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” and triumphed in cases defending and our families and loved ones. We could not expanding our rights from coast to coast. In an extremely challenging economy, do it without the support of our donors. many nonprofits experienced declines We were also gratified to see the impact Thank you so much. in giving. We are happy to report that of Lambda Legal’s advocacy. For years, Lambda Legal made hard but strategic Lambda Legal has lent expertise and choices and enters 2010 on solid fiscal BE VERLEE SILVA AND PAUL SMITH support to the efforts to pass a federal ground. We continue to benefit from Co-chairs, Lambda Legal Board hate crimes act and to lift the HIV travel Ric Weiland’s generous bequest of over of Directors ban. Happily, we finally saw both come www.lambdalegal.org 1 KANSAS IOWA VICTORIES FROM V ICTORY V ICTORY In the first case of its kind In Lambda Legal’s historic in Kansas of which we are lawsuit Varnum v. Brien, the Iowa COAST TO COAST aware, Lambda Legal and Supreme Court unanimously its cooperating attorney upheld a 2007 ruling that successfully convinced a Kansas barring same-sex couples from LAMBDA LEGAL’s major 2009 family court to grant generous marrying was unconstitutional, visitation to a non-biological making Iowa the first state in the ACHIEVEMENTS AT A GLANCE mother based on equitable Midwest to approve marriage parenting principles. equality (see “Victory in the Heartland,” page 5). WASHINGTON V ICTORY In July, Lambda Legal sent a letter to a school that suspended a student after he wrote, “I am here and I am queer” in a friend’s yearbook. After Lambda Legal explained the student’s rights to free speech and equal treatment, the school removed the suspen- sion from the student’s file and pledged to protect the student’s legal rights. C ALIFORNIA V ICTORY In a case challenging the denial of insemination services to a lesbian patient, Lambda Legal reached a settlement, includ- ing a very satisfying monetary award, for our client Guadalupe Benitez. In 2008, the California Supreme Court had ruled unani- mously in this case that doctors’ offices must comply with the state’s antidiscrimination law, regardless of the doctors’ reli- gious beliefs. ARIZONA C ASE LAUNCHED ST E BACK & VICTORY On November 17, Lambda In a case led by the National Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of Center for Lesbian Rights, ten public workers to block the Lambda Legal and the ACLU, state’s plan to eliminate domes- California’s Supreme Court tic partner benefits for gay and disappointingly upheld lesbian state employees. Proposition 8, barring marriages of same-sex couples after its TEXAS passage; at the same time, they C ASE LAUNCHED upheld the validity of 18,000 Lambda Legal assumed the couples’ marriages that already appeal in a case arising from had taken place. a custody dispute between A RKANSAS LOUISIANA V ICTORY & former same-sex partners. This CASE LAUNCHED V ICTORY case will determine whether an Lambda Legal filed suit against Lambda Legal successfully CASE LAUNCHED out-of-state judgment may be Parkstone Living Center, Inc., defended domestic partner Lambda Legal secured a series registered under the Uniform owner of Fox Ridge, an assisted benefits for public employees of favorable rulings for federal Child Custody Jurisdiction and living facility, which ejected and a domestic partner registry court employee Karen Golinski, Enforcement Act, which would retired university provost and in New Orleans. The court made whose access to spousal benefits simplify its enforcement. minister Dr. Robert Franke, 75, clear that cities like New Orleans for her wife has been blocked when they learned he has HIV. have the authority to provide for by the U.S. Office of Personnel their employees’ families on a fair Management (OPM). When OPM and equal basis, as well as show continued to block Golinski’s ac- respect for couples who cannot cess to spousal benefits, Lambda or do not marry. Legal filed a federal action against OPM on her behalf in 2 earlyLAMBDA 2010. LEGAL ANNUAL REPORT 2009 WISCONSIN ILLINOIS NEW YORK LAMBDA LEGAL CASE LAUNCHED V ICTORY VICTORY In February, Lambda Legal filed Lambda Legal successfully Lambda Legal filed a complaint on suit on behalf of Melody Rose, advocated for a change behalf of a gay couple barred from who was refused gallbladder to insurance regulations posting their adoptive-parent pro- removal surgery by a Fond du governing coverage for file on a site for potential adoptive Lac medical facility because she parents. Following an investiga- 2009 infertility, eliminating an has HIV. A different medical unfair policy that people tion, Attorney General Andrew facility eventually performed were only eligible for Cuomo announced that Arizona- the procedure. based Adoption Profiles, LLC and BY THE coverage after multiple unsuccessful attempts Adoption Media, LLC would stop at conception through doing business in New York. NUMBERS heterosexual intercourse. V ICTORY Lambda Legal successfully defended the recognition by New York’s state government of number of cases in which Lambda marriages of same-sex couples Legal is currently performed out of state for the active as counsel purpose of offering spousal or amicus* benefits to gay public employees. 70 Antigay legal group the Alliance Defense Fund had repeatedly attacked the policy in court. CASE LAUNCHED 6,020 In April, Lambda Legal filed inquiries received by Lambda suit on behalf of Charlie Pratt, Legal’s Help Desk who was threatened, pushed into lockers and had objects number of Prides in thrown at him at Indian River which Lambda Legal participated OHIO High School, and his sister, 33 V ICTORY Ashley Petranchuk, whom school media citations The Ohio Supreme officials refused to allow to form of Lambda Legal Court allowed a custody a gay-straight alliance. 4,304 decision to stand for Therese Leach, rejecting the arguments P ENNSYLVANIA of her former partner, Denise CASE LAUNCHED 286,030 Fairchild, that Ohio’s amendment On October 27, Lambda Legal limiting marriage to a man and a number of unique site visitors filed a complaint against the City woman invalidated the custody of Philadelphia’s Department of agreement she had with Leach.