Gay and Andlesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD)

In the past year, the civil rights project (crp):-provided strategic support and filed amicus briefs in three u.s. supreme court cases seeking to establish that sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity discrimination constitute sex discrimination under title vii, the federal employment non-discrimination statute.-continued to work in coalition with our litigation and legislative partners around cases where religion and non-discrimination intersect (e.g. The masterpiece cakeshop case at the u.s. supreme court) and proposed legislation (e.g. The federal equality act and state-based non-discrimination bills).-advanced passage of the uniform parentage act (upa) in rhode island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, to ensure that all lgbtq families are recognized and protected, regardless of marital status or genetic relationship. -helped secure a decision from the Massachusetts supreme judicial court ruling that the state probate and family court clearly has jurisdiction to establish the parentage of a child born through gestational surrogacy in Massachusetts to an intended parent ...

In the past year, the public affairs and education department (pa&e) achieved the following:-provided communications expertise and leadership as part of ongoing efforts to update parentage laws in rhode island, Connecticut and massachusetts.-led a focused project to increase support for transgender military service and understanding of transgender individuals by elevating the story of a transgender man in rural Ohio who is barred from enlistment and challenging the ban in one of Glad's cases against it. This included producing a video about his story (available at httpsnotransmilitarybanorgamerica... as well as a digital ad campaign and ongoing pitching of media stories and opeds.-participated in standing coalitions including the ma transgender health coalition, the ma public safety coalition, ma immigrant and refugee advocacy coalition (mira), metrowest lgbtq youth services coalition, among others, and regularly attended events of the ma high risk youth networking breakfasts.-continued to lead rhode island-specific quarterly convenings of lgbtq and ...

In the past year, the transgender rights project (trp) has: -won the first waiver granted to a transgender service member under the transgender military ban, which went into effect in april 2019, and will continue to fight the ban in court until it is successfully overturned for good. -helped secure a ruling from the Connecticut commission on human rights and opportunities prohibiting all state governmental employers and insurers from denying coverage for transgender people's health care needs relating to gender transition.-continued our extremely successful transgender i.d. Clinic - now with two law firms - to provide Legal representation to transgender people in new england to change their names and identity documents. -successfully advocated for the removal of an outdated and discriminatory exclusion of transition-related care from Maine's medicaid regulations and the addition of vital standards of care that reflect current medical practices recognizing the healthcare needs of transgender individuals-continued the ...