LGBTQ Rights
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 51Ʒ and its partners are seeking a preliminary injunction that would bar the Chancellor and the University of Florida from deactivating the UF SJP.
Status: Ongoing
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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 51Ʒ, the 51Ʒ 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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189 LGBTQ Rights Cases

U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2014
LGBTQ Rights
Schmidt and Schuh v. Alaska
Same-sex couples challenging Alaska's discriminatory tax law
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U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2014

LGBTQ Rights
Schmidt and Schuh v. Alaska
Same-sex couples challenging Alaska's discriminatory tax law

Illinois
Apr 2014
LGBTQ Rights
Lazaro and Matos v. Orr - Freedom to Marry in Illinois
On behalf of nine Illinois couples seeking recognition for their shared love and commitment, the 51Ʒ and the 51Ʒ of Illinois have filed a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of Illinois' law that denies gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry. Currently, Illinois law excludes gay and lesbian couples from the recognition and protections that come with the universally recognized relationship status of marriage, and limits them instead to a separate civil union status.
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Illinois
Apr 2014

LGBTQ Rights
Lazaro and Matos v. Orr - Freedom to Marry in Illinois
On behalf of nine Illinois couples seeking recognition for their shared love and commitment, the 51Ʒ and the 51Ʒ of Illinois have filed a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of Illinois' law that denies gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry. Currently, Illinois law excludes gay and lesbian couples from the recognition and protections that come with the universally recognized relationship status of marriage, and limits them instead to a separate civil union status.

Court Case
Nov 2013
LGBTQ Rights
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers is pervasive and harmful. It violates core American values of fairness and equality by discriminating against qualified individuals based on characteristics unrelated to the job.
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Court Case
Nov 2013

LGBTQ Rights
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers is pervasive and harmful. It violates core American values of fairness and equality by discriminating against qualified individuals based on characteristics unrelated to the job.

Missouri
Aug 2013
LGBTQ Rights
Glossip v. Missouri Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol Employees' Retirement System
Kelly Glossip and Dennis Engelhard had been committed domestic partners for 15 years when Dennis, a Missouri State Trooper, was killed while responding to an accident on Christmas Day, 2009. Missouri offers survivor benefits to spouses of state troopers who are killed in the line of duty, but excludes committed same-sex partners from receiving those benefits.
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Missouri
Aug 2013

LGBTQ Rights
Glossip v. Missouri Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol Employees' Retirement System
Kelly Glossip and Dennis Engelhard had been committed domestic partners for 15 years when Dennis, a Missouri State Trooper, was killed while responding to an accident on Christmas Day, 2009. Missouri offers survivor benefits to spouses of state troopers who are killed in the line of duty, but excludes committed same-sex partners from receiving those benefits.

Montana
Jul 2013
LGBTQ Rights
Donaldson and Guggenheim v. Montana
Six committed same-sex couples have sued the state of Montana for failing to offer legal protections to same-sex couples and their families in violation of the Montana Constitution's rights of privacy, dignity and the pursuit of life's basic necessities and its guarantees of equal protection and due process. The goal of this lawsuit is to see that same-sex couples are able to protect their families with the same kind of legal protections that the State offers to different-sex couples through marriage.
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Montana
Jul 2013

LGBTQ Rights
Donaldson and Guggenheim v. Montana
Six committed same-sex couples have sued the state of Montana for failing to offer legal protections to same-sex couples and their families in violation of the Montana Constitution's rights of privacy, dignity and the pursuit of life's basic necessities and its guarantees of equal protection and due process. The goal of this lawsuit is to see that same-sex couples are able to protect their families with the same kind of legal protections that the State offers to different-sex couples through marriage.