All Press Releases
Transgender and Disability Inclusion Under CT Hate Crimes Law
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, a New England-wide legal organization, today hailed the passage of a law in Connecticut that amends the State’s existing hate crimes statute to cover people who are targeted for violence because they are transgender or disabled. The measure, House Bill 5657, was …
Septmeber 11th Fund Awards Compensation To Surviving Partner
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (The Federal Fund) recently issued an award compensating Nancy Walsh, the surviving lesbian partner of Carol Flyzik, for losses she incurred as a result of the September 11th tragedy. Questions had been raised after its adoption as to whether The Federal …
Court Upholds Portland’s Domestic Partnership Ordinance
(Portland, ME) Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Thomas Humphrey recently ruled in favor of The City of Portland, represented by Mittel Asen, a Portland-based law firm, and Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), a New England legal rights organization, in a lawsuit challenging the …
Vermont Attorney General Issues Landmark Ruling
After a precedent-setting ruling by the Vermont Attorney General that Vermont law prohibits discrimination against transgender people in employment, public accommodations, housing, and other areas, the Town of Hardwick yesterday settled a discrimination claim brought by former police officer …
Statement on Governor Romney’s Press Conference
“You don’t change the rules just because you lost - twice,” said Mary Bonauto, attorney with Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the group that successfully represented the 7 plaintiff couples in the Goodridge marriage case. The laws making the Attorney General the gatekeeper for legal …
Maine High Court Upholds Lesbian Parent’s Legal Rights
(MAINE) In a case of first impression, Maine’s highest court (the Law Court) ruled unanimously that a woman who jointly planned for and raised a son with her former female partner, but who has no biological or adoptive relationship with him, is as a parent for the purposes of determining who has …
Supreme Court Upholds Exclusion of Boy Scouts
(Connecticut) The U.S. Supreme Court turned down the Boy Scouts of America’s appeal of a ruling that the State of Connecticut may exclude the Boy Scouts from the State Employee Charitable Campaign because of their anti-gay policy. Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), having intervened in the …
Bush Endorses the Federal Marriage Amendment
(BOSTON, MA) Today, President Bush endorsed a constitutional amendment that would forever deny the basic rights and protections of marriage to American gay and lesbian couples and their children. During a press conference, Bush announced that this move would amend the constitution to simply “define …
Marriage Ban Would Reconstitute Discrimination
Calling it “a matter of both principle and practicality,” Mary L. Bonauto, of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) today praised the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) for its Opinion of the Justices that a bill proposing a marriage ban along with civil unions would still violate the …
Glad Files Brief in Response to Senate Question
(Boston, January 12, 2003) Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), lawyers for the seven same-sex couples who won an historic court victory on Nov. 18, 2003, today filed a brief in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) arguing that while a civil unions remedy would be an advancement, …