LGBT Bar NY Podcast

Transgender People in Custody & Schools

Eric Lesh, Executive Director of the LGBT Bar of NY and Professor Art Leonard of New York Law School, discuss three important LGBT rights cases from February.

1. Supreme Court Agrees to Review Catholic Foster Care Agency’s Claimed Right to Discriminate against Same-Sex Couples
2. Ninth Circuit Denies En Banc Rehearing in Idaho Inmate’s Gender Confirmation Surgery Case; Circuit Split Possible; Many Judges Dissent
3. Ninth Circuit Panel Affirms Ruling Rejecting Challenge to School District’s Policy of Allowing Transgender Students to Use Facilities Consistent with their Gender Identity

• California Court Denies Release or Transfer of Transgender Woman in ICE Custody Seeking Medical Treatment and a Bond Hearing

Victory for HIV+ Servicemembers and More

Eric Lesh, Executive Director of the LGBT Bar of NY and Professor Art Leonard of New York Law School, discuss three important LGBT rights cases from January.

1. Fourth Circuit Affirms Injunction against Department of Defense Declaring Policy that Discharges HIV+ Servicemembers as Arbitrary and Capricious and Based on Outdated Science

2. Fifth Circuit Issues Hostile Opinion on Transgender Prisoner’s Name Change, Drawing “Emphatic” Dissent

3. Texas Court of Appeals Affirms Divorce Decree Requiring Lesbian Co-Parent to Pay Child Support

Special SCOTUS Pod: license to discriminate case granted

On February 24, the U.S. Supreme Court  agreed to hear Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, The Supreme Court will decide whether Philadelphia violated the First Amendment when it stopped referring  children in the foster care system to agencies that refuse to work with same-sex couples on religious grounds.

LGBT Law Notes: SCOTUS, prisons, health and more

Eric Lesh, Executive Director of the LGBT Bar of NY and Professor Art Leonard of New York Law School, discuss three important LGBT rights cases from December:

1. Supreme Court Denies Trans Inmate’s Petition in Transition Denial Case

2. New York Appellate Division Affirms Ruling Reuniting Child With Second Parent After a Significant Lapse of Time

3. Arizona District Court Treats State Health Provider’s Exclusion of Gender Reassignment Surgery as a Violation of Title VII and Leaves Open Plaintiff’s Equal Protection Claim

LGBT Rights and Reproductive Justice

January 22 marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v Wade. The holding in Roe and fight for reproductive justice are centered on the ability of all people to have freedom of self determination over their own body, health, and destiny. These are the same values at the heart of LGBT peoples fight for equal dignity.

Eric Lesh, Executive Director of the LGBT Bar of NY talks with Scott Ruskay-Kidd of the Center for Reproductive Rights about the ways in which the legal battle for reproductive justice and LGBT rights are linked.

LGBTQ Cases in the Lower Courts

On the Law Notes Episode of the LeGaL LGBT Podcast, Eric Lesh, Executive Director of the LGBT Bar of NY and Professor Art Leonard of New York Law School, discuss three important LGBT rights cases from November:

1. Illinois Federal Judge Remands Board of Immigration Appeals' Decision Involving the Denial of a Married Same-Sex Couple's I-130 Petition.

2. Christian School's Suit to Remain in Maryland's Scholarship Program Survives Motion to Dismiss

3. Art Teache's Lawsuit Against Texas Public School Survives Dismissal Motion

Transgender Day of Remembrance (“TDOR”)

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance (“TDOR”). It is a day to honor the memory of those members of our community whose lives have been lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.

On this episode, LeGaL's Executive Director, Eric Lesh, and Board President, Kristen Browde discuss TDOR 2019.

At LeGaL, we remember the primarily trans women of color lost to transphobic bigotry and violence. This year’s TDOR comes in the wake of reports that at least 22 people were lost to deadly attacks in 2019.

Ending the crisis of violence against transgender people demands action across our entire community. Of the 1.4 million transgender people living in the U.S., 9% reported being physically attacked in the past year because of their identity. And this epidemic is on the rise. Between 2017 and 2018, reported incidents of anti-trans violence rose by 34%.

LeGaL has been fighting to protect the most vulnerable members of our community from discrimination for over four decades.

Today, we rededicate ourselves to continuing the fight for the safety, dignity, and equality of all transgender and gender-nonconforming people. Trans Lives Matter.

LGBT Law Notes: All Southern Rulings

Eric Lesh, Executive Director of the LGBT Bar of NY and Professor Art Leonard of New York Law School, discuss three important LGBT rights cases from October:

1. Texas Federal Court Vacates Transgender Protection under Obamacare.

2. Mississippi Supreme Court Unanimously Affirms Award of Custody of a Child to His Gay Uncle’s Surviving Husband.

3. Kentucky Supreme Court Avoids Ruling on Clash between Free Speech and Anti-Discrimination Law in T-Shirt Case.

 

 

SCOTUS, Discriminatory Agencies, Trans Military Litgation, and More

 

Eric Lesh, Executive Director of the LGBT Bar of NY and Professor Art Leonard of New York Law School, discuss three important LGBT rights cases from September:

1. Last week the Justices heard oral argument in three cases that could completely alter the legal landscape for LGBT workers across the US. Before the justices is the question: Does Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbid discrimination in employment because of an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity?
2. We have a two rulings to discuss dealing with access to information in the ongoing challenges to Trump’s hateful trans military ban. While courts are limiting the scope of discovery they are rejecting the government's broad assertion of privilege.
3. Michigan's new democratic governor implemented a policy that required faith-based organizations that provided adoption services using state funding to serve same-sex couples. A federal judge just put blocked it for now.
4. Finally, anti-LGBT hate groups are challenging conversion therapy laws across the country. We have an update on a case out of Maryland.

Oral Argument Day for LGBT Workers

Eric Lesh, Executive Director of The LGBT Bar Association of New York, speaks with Lambda Legal Senior Attorney and LeGaL Board Member, Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, about what happened at SCOTUS during oral argument in the LGBT workplace fairness cases.