GLAD Briefs and Annual Report Fall 2023

Plaintiffs in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health

In This Issue

Celebrating Goodridge

Defending Our Common Humanity

Protecting LGBTQ+ Students

Texas Ruling Could Lead to New HIV Cases

Legal Update

GLAD Answers Update

Meet Interim Executive Director Richard Burns

Staff Retreat Reflections

Annual Report

The Dignity and Equality of All Individuals

Celebrating 20 Years Since Goodridge v. DPH Brought the Freedom to Marry to Massachusetts, and Eventually the Nation 

An excerpt of this article appears in the November/December 2023 issue of Boston Spirit.  

Twenty years ago, on November 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court broke the historic barrier on LGBTQ+ people marrying in its landmark Goodridge v. Department of Public Health decision – making Massachusetts the first state to rule that the freedom to marry, or not, must be equally applicable to LGBTQ+ people. This ruling required opening the door to legal marriages in six months’ time.  

In the words of Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall’s majority opinion, “The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all Individuals. It forbids the creation of second-class citizens.” This celebration of the commitment, intimacy, family, and mutuality in marriage continues to be quoted in wedding celebrations in Massachusetts and worldwide. 

GLAD filed Goodridge in April 2001 on behalf of 7 couples seeking something both simple and profound: constitutional respect for their personal commitment by ending the exclusion on joining in legal marriage and marriage’s protections, rights, and responsibilities.  

With tremendous gratitude and in recognition of their momentous impact on our community, state, and nation, we are thrilled to celebrate the Goodridge plaintiffs as this year’s Spirit of Justice Award Honorees at GLAD’s Spirit of Justice dinner on November 9 in Boston. 

We honor Gloria Bailey-Davies, Linda Bailey-Davies, Edward Balmelli, Maureen Brodoff, Gary Chalmers, Rob Compton, Hillary Goodridge, Julie Goodridge, Michael Horgan, Richard Linnell, Gina Nortonsmith, Heidi Nortonsmith, Ellen Wade, and David Wilson.  

Each of them authentically gave of themselves and created connections and bridges of understanding with the wider community even while in a crucible of media and political attention and conflict. They advanced equal rights for all of us in Massachusetts and that beacon of hope spread far and wide. With other marriage plaintiffs, including in challenges in Hawaii and Vermont before Goodridge, and cases across the country after, the Goodridge plaintiffs’ full and complete victory paved the way for more. 

The reality of people’s marriages in Massachusetts set the stage for dismantling the federal Defense of Marriage Act – first in GLAD’s 2009 challenge in federal court and 2012 unanimous victory at the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and then carried through by other plaintiffs at the Supreme Court in 2013. Community members and organizations, including GLAD, worked together in legislatures and courts across the U.S. In 2013, GLAD was asked to join the team representing plaintiffs in Michigan, in the case that would lead to the Supreme Court Obergefell ruling for marriage equality nationwide in 2015. 

Looking back now, it can be tempting to think this was all inevitable. But that is far from true. 

It took relentless hard work, commitment, and courage from the 14 plaintiffs, attorneys, amici and their attorneys, and so many others. The Goodridge plaintiffs withstood a trial court loss – expected but still disappointing – and redoubled their efforts to connect with people about why marriage was important to them. 

Victory was sweet. The Supreme Judicial Court’s (SJC) beautiful and momentous ruling on November 18, 2003, was a triumph. Even so, it wasn’t the end. The reactions were swift – both the eruption of joy and celebration and also the backlash. 

At the same time, the legislature, meeting in a constitutional convention, debated whether to constitutionally ban marriage for same-sex couples or to defend the court’s ruling.

“I stand with the SJC” stickers were everywhere, along with throngs of supporters and opponents inside and outside the State House.

Amidst all of this, couples acted on the simple desire to protect their, in some cases, decades-long love and commitment, and planned wedding celebrations.  

This article continues. Read more.

From Departing Executive Director Janson Wu

It is never easy to leave an organization you love. 

In my 17 years with GLAD – the last nine as Executive Director – it has been an incredible honor to work alongside a phenomenal team and a devoted community of supporters to advance liberty and equality for LGBTQ+ people.

In my first year as ED, I had the privilege of sitting in the U.S. Supreme Court to watch GLAD attorney Mary Bonauto argue for the freedom to marry nationwide.

Three months later, I listened to Justice Kennedy read his majority decision in Obergefell v. Hodges from the bench.

It began: “The Constitution’s promise of liberty extends to all within its reach.”  

With those words, thousands of LGBTQ+ couples were granted access not only to a cherished social institution, but a fundamental Constitutional right and marker of equal citizenship.

Many commentators at the time myopically claimed that our victory was always inevitable – a result of generational change.

But we know better.

We understand that while the promise of liberty is embedded in our Constitution, its reach has never been guaranteed. Millions have fought decade after decade to extend that reach so that all Americans, including LGBTQ+ Americans, could take one step closer to full belonging.

And we have many more steps to take.

Nothing is inevitable, as we know too painfully well from the scores of anti-LGBTQ+ attacks we are fighting today.

As we look back at GLAD’s historic victory 20 years ago in Goodridge v. Dept of Public Health, which made Massachusetts the first state in the country to allow same-sex couples to marry and paved the way for Obergefell, we know that our progress has never been guaranteed.

It has been earned through hard work and perseverance.

We can never stop working to extend the reach of liberty – not until we reach some final endpoint of justice, but rather in service of justice.

While I prepare to begin a new chapter with the Trevor Project, I am thrilled to join you in serving justice as a GLAD supporter.

Our community and our country are facing difficult fights ahead, and I cannot imagine an organization more prepared to lead those fights than GLAD. 

With the interim stewardship of veteran LGBTQ+ leader and founding board chair Richard Burns, I know that GLAD is on strong footing to continue its critical work. And I know that the incredible GLAD community of staff, board, and supporters will find the right next leader to shepherd and grow GLAD’s capacity to expand the reach of liberty throughout the country and advance an anti-racist and intergenerational justice movement for decades to come.

I cannot wait to follow all of GLAD’s victories going forward, as a current donor, former ED, and forever member of the GLAD community.

It is through community that we will survive, thrive, and advance the reach of liberty and justice for all.

And what a fabulous and diverse community it is – it has been an honor to serve you all.

Thank you for being with me on this incredible journey. 

Until the next GLAD event,

Janson Wu

Janson Wu, Executive Director

Defending Our Common Humanity

Far-right attacks are putting transgender youth and their families directly in harm’s way and putting all of us at risk. We are fighting back.

We all deserve to live and love freely and be supported and celebrated for who we are. The current onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is taking aim at those fundamental ideals, with devastating consequences for children, families, and all of us.

Since 2021, 22 states have passed transgender healthcare bans and 23 states have barred transgender kids as young as elementary school from playing school sports. Multiple states have passed some version of a “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law censoring teachers, schools, and students. Others have made it impossible for transgender and gender diverse students to use the restroom at school.

A handful of states now require schools to out students to parents, a policy far-right groups are pushing for in the courts and local communities as well. Such policies interfere with teachers’ ability to support their students and to help ensure parents have the resources they need to support their LGBTQ+ children.

In Alabama, we are challenging the criminal ban on medical care for transgender adolescents.

Last year, we presented two days of testimony in federal court from medical and scientific experts, transgender adolescents, and their parents. The Court concluded, as every other district court judge across the country to hear the facts since has, that there is no justifiable reason for the state to categorically ban access to safe, established, and necessary medical care simply because someone is transgender.

A panel of the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed the district court’s ruling. We are asking the full 11^th Circuit to reconsider the panel opinion and preserve the injunction barring the law from being enforced.

In Florida, where another district court also preliminarily blocked a law banning care for transgender adolescents, we are preparing for a full trial this December. We are also challenging restrictions put on transgender adults’ ability to obtain gender transition-related health care.

These laws target transgender people and put parents in the excruciating position of not being able to provide their adolescent children with the care they know they need to thrive.

As Jennifer Levi, Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights and GLAD’s lead attorney in Alabama and Florida put it: “We will support these parents and their kids in pushing back against that dangerous reality on every level.”   

In New Hampshire, we are challenging a school censorship law that chills teachers’ ability to talk to students honestly about race, disability, and LGBTQ+ identities.

Throughout New England we have worked overtime the past three sessions to stop the same harmful anti-LGBTQ+ bills we are seeing across the country.

That includes successfully defeating a bill last year that would have reversed New Hampshire’s ban on the debunked and dangerous practice of so-called conversion therapy. An attempt to challenge another state’s conversion therapy ban is pending consideration at the U.S. Supreme Court.

It can sometimes feel like these attacks came out of nowhere. But we know better. Our community has made tremendous progress over the past 20 years and the right is trying hard to reverse that.

Two decades ago, we began to see states passing express protections against discrimination for transgender people. Today, nearly half the states have such laws on the books.

In 2020, the Supreme Court affirmed that discrimination on the basis of transgender status and sexual orientation is unlawful under federal law. And earlier this year, the Supreme Court declined to review a landmark ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming that the Americans with Disabilities Act protects transgender people from disability discrimination.

Increased visibility and understanding of our lives and increased legal protections have all made it more possible for transgender and LGBQ+ people to fully participate in civic life – to live and love freely, to be embraced by families and integrated fully into our communities.

Now, a deliberate effort by influential politically motivated actors seeks to replace our shared humanity with fear and disinformation.

Our power lies in collective action—advocating in courts and in legislatures, and engaging at the ballot box, in grassroots activism, and in everyday conversations.

And the good news is – even now – when we fight, we can win.

Over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced across the country this year – and the vast, vast majority of those were defeated. When federal courts have had the chance to hear our full arguments and truly understand the impact of these laws on people’s lives, we’ve won. Far too many hostile bills have passed, to be sure. But we also can’t lose sight of how many we have defeated.

And while it sometimes seems like we are exclusively playing defense, we are also still advancing laws to protect our community.

This year, Michigan became the 23^rd state, along with DC and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to provide comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people.

15 states have adopted “provider shield laws” that protect access to medical care for transgender people – GLAD worked with state partners to pass such laws in Massachusetts and Vermont, with more to come.

In Maine this year we helped pass a law that creates a pathway for 16- and 17-year-old transgender adolescents to get medical care in the extraordinary circumstances where a parent objects to care even though denying it results in harm.

Those who want to move us backward and put our community in harm’s way have a lot of power and resources, it’s true. We have our work cut out for us, and we know we won’t win every fight. But we are fighting for our freedom, for our right to be ourselves, to live and love fully, and to celebrate our shared humanity.

That’s a fight we can’t afford to lose.

Texas Ruling Could Lead to New HIV Cases

A case currently before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals could lead to tens of thousands of new and preventable HIV cases.

HIV PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is an extraordinary medical breakthrough that reduces the risk of HIV transmission by close to one hundred percent. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), insurers are required to cover PrEP and other critical preventive care services without charging copays or deductibles, referred to as cost sharing. Last spring, however, a federal district judge in Texas issued a ruling in Braidwood v. Becerra blocking that requirement.

GLAD, with law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, P.C., filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the appeal of the Braidwood ruling at the Fifth Circuit on behalf of HIV Medicine Association (HMA) and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD).

HMA and NASTAD represent thousands of healthcare providers, public officials responsible for stopping the epidemic from every state, and policy experts with expertise in the treatment and prevention of HIV and the demographics and dynamics of the epidemic.

In their brief the organizations issue a dire warning:  reinstating cost sharing for PrEP will significantly decrease utilization of PrEP, cause tens of thousands of new and preventable HIV cases, with billions of dollars in associated healthcare costs, and reverse the progress our nation has made towards curbing, and ultimately ending, the HIV epidemic.

“As an organization representing thousands of physicians and other health care professionals working on the frontlines of the HIV epidemic in communities across the country, we are deeply concerned about the harmful and far-reaching impacts this decision will have if allowed to stand,” said Michelle Cespedes, MD, MS, Chair, HIVMA. 

The brief analyzes the consequences of a recent epidemiological analysis conducted by experts at Harvard and Yale predicting, under the most cautious and conservative estimates, that blocking the ACA’s no cost sharing provision for PrEP will result in an additional 2,057 HIV infections in the first year alone.

Playing out the study’s straightforward assessment of additional first-year HIV diagnoses,  an additional predicted 1,892 secondary infections bring that number to 3,949 people with HIV in just the first year, which will cost the healthcare system a staggering $1.66 billion.

Extending that conservative model just five years into the future predicts approximately an additional 20,000 people with HIV and costs to the United States healthcare system of over $8 billion as a result of the reimposition of barriers to accessing PrEP.

The brief also provides the Court of Appeals with important historical and current-day information about the tremendous toll the HIV epidemic has had on millions of lives, as well as the role discrimination and stigma have played in preventing Americans from accessing highly effective prevention and treatment. While the ruling from the Texas court broadly enjoined the cost-sharing mandate for all recommended preventive services, the case began as a challenge specifically to the requirement to cover PrEP without copays or deductibles.

“The Braidwood decision is rooted in stigma and bigotry towards the LGBTQ+ community and people vulnerable to HIV,” said Dr. Stephen Lee, NASTAD Executive Director. “It will cause incalculable harm to our efforts to end the HIV epidemic.” 

Urging the Court of Appeals to understand the devastating consequences for HIV prevention if the District Court’s decision stands, the brief also describes the sobering and unacceptable racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in both the epidemic’s impact and access to PrEP. The most recent CDC estimates from 2021 are that only 11% of Black people and 20% of Hispanic/Latino people who could benefit from PrEP were prescribed it, as opposed to 78% of White people.

“Copays and deductibles deter people from accessing healthcare,” said Ben Klein, Senior Director of Litigation and HIV Law at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. “PrEP is nearly 100% effective at preventing transmission of HIV, but it is already underutilized, particularly among Black and Latino communities. Allowing the lower court’s ruling in Braidwood v. Becerra to stand will exacerbate racial health disparities, needlessly increase HIV diagnoses, and cost American lives.”

As we await a ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, GLAD is advocating for other approaches to protect and expand access to PrEP. State legislatures have the power to not only codify the ACA’s no cost-sharing requirement under state law, but to go further by ensuring all forms of PrEP, including long-acting injectables, are available to all who can benefit from them. Barriers like co-pays, deductibles, and insurance pre-authorization requirements mean delays in access to PrEP that can lead to avoidable HIV infections with serious health consequences and even death.  

PrEP offers us a powerful path to finally end the HIV epidemic. We only need the will, and good health policy, to embrace it.

We Can’t Leave Anyone Behind

Meet Interim Executive Director Richard Burns

Lifelong LGBTQ+ Activist and GLAD Interim Executive Director Richard Burns Cites the Need for Vigilance in the Battle for Full LGBTQ+ Equality and Liberation 

As GLAD prepares to begin a robust national search for the leader who will steer the organization’s next chapter, the board is pleased to bring on lifelong LGBTQ+ activist Richard Burns as Interim Executive Director. Richard began his tenure on October 10. 

“Leadership transitions are important milestones in any organization at any time,” says GLAD Board President Shane Dunn. “When the rights of LGBTQ+ people, and especially transgender people, are so virulently under attack across the country, and threats to our democracy are creating new barriers to our mission of realizing LGBTQ+, racial, HIV, and gender justice, we recognize an even greater responsibility to be thorough and thoughtful in this process.”  

In recent years, he has effectively steered several social and racial justice-focused organizations through transition periods as an interim ED, including the Drug Policy Alliance, the North Star Fund, the Funding Exchange, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, the Stonewall Community Foundation, Lambda Legal, and, most recently the Johnson Family Foundation.  

But “Boston formed me,” Richard says, speaking of his roots in the LGBTQ+ legal advocacy movement and, specifically, with GLAD.

In addition to co-founding the Massachusetts LGBTQ+ Bar Association and the Boston Lesbian & Gay Policy Alliance in 1982, he was president of GLAD’s founding board from 1978-1986 and has maintained his commitment to the organization for 45 years.  

He talks of GLAD’s radical founding by John Ward at a time when movements for LGBTQ+, racial, and gender justice were converging, and new organizations began to spring up together to advance liberation for all people. On his first day of law school at Northeastern in 1980, Richard met the late Urvashi Vaid – long-time LGBTQ+ activist and a former GLAD Spirit of Justice honoree – who would become a lifelong friend, a GLAD colleague as an early legal intern, and an inspiration in conceptualizing revolutionary, inclusive queer liberation. Richard is chair of the founding Board of the American LGBTQ+ Museum, an in-development project co-founded by Urvashi, among others, to preserve, research, and share LGBTQ+ history and culture. 

In the late 1970s, Richard was managing editor of the Boston-based national feminist, progressive LGBTQ+ newsweekly Gay Community News (GCN), which both chronicled and shaped intersectional queer activism at the time. GCN had an active early prison pen pal program, and Richard was a plaintiff in a successful lawsuit when the U.S. Bureau of Prisons declared GCN and another publication, the Task Force’s It’s Time, obscene and tried to block distribution to incarcerated individuals.  

Richard also has the rare distinction of involvement with all three of our major LGBTQ+ legal organizations. In addition to his founding role with GLAD, Richard clerked at the National Center for Lesbian Rights while in law school and served on the board of Lambda Legal beginning in 1980.

In preparing to take on the Interim Director role at GLAD at this pivotal moment, Richard is clear that we must take lessons both from the early days of LGBTQ+ and AIDS activism and draw on the wisdom of today’s justice fighters – working with, and learning from, all movements for liberation.   

“We all bring all of our identities with us everywhere. In order to build a just society, we’ve got to take into account all of our collective identities. We can’t leave anyone behind,” Richard says.  

Recognizing that the far right has all of us in its sights–our movements for reproductive justice, racial equity, LGBTQ+ liberation, and beyond – he adds:

“We must have a commitment to vigilance, always. The battle for LGBTQ+ equality and liberation will go on for generations. We have to have heart. We have to have grit. We have to have resilience and hope.” 

Opportunities to Meet GLAD’s Interim Executive Director: 

Wednesday, October 25: Defining Gay Community News 

Richard Burns will moderate a panel celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Gay Community News on Wednesday, October 25, 6 p.m., at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Visit the History Project for details. 

Thursday, November 9: Spirit of Justice 

Richard will speak at our annual Spirit of Justice Award Dinner. Visit www.GLAD.org/SOJ to join us. 

Legal Update

Protecting LGBTQ+ Students

Creating Safe and Inclusive Schools Together 

All students deserve to feel safe and included at school and have an educational environment that welcomes and affirms their full identities.

Research demonstrates that such positive school climates are necessary for all youth to learn and thrive. For many LGBTQ+ students, this journey includes sharing their identity with their friends or a trusted teacher before they’re ready to do so at home. While most youth want to and do come out to their family in their own time, some are losing that choice. Far-right legal groups are challenging these positive school policies, and some states are enacting laws that would force faculty to contact students’ homes before the students are ready, under the guise of “parents’ rights.”  

The past few years of intense political scrutiny and legislative attacks have taken a toll on young people’s mental health and led to trans and LGBQ youth experiencing increased harassment. And so-called “parents’ rights” bills have made it less safe for young people who can’t be their authentic selves with their families. Teachers care about their students and know that generally, kids do better when they can talk to their parents. But sadly, that’s not an option for some youth, leading them to feel isolated both at home and school. But we are fighting to protect all youth, whether they cannot come out at home or need support to discuss their identities with their parents when they are ready. 

These “forced outing” bills directly contradict schools’ responsibility to create a supportive educational environment. Federal constitutional protections and many state-based laws are in place to safeguard the rights of LGBTQ+ students. Nevertheless, even in states with explicit obligations to protect LGBTQ+ youth, a vocal minority is attempting to deny young people the autonomy to choose when and how to share their identities with their families.

In September, The First Circuit Court of Appeals heard Foote v. Town of Ludlow, which centers on this issue. We submitted a friend-of-the-court brief with the Massachusetts Superintendent’s Association, sharing research that shows positive school climates and trusted relationships with adults are critical to academic success for all students.

“When teachers and other educators acknowledge and respect students, including their requested names and pronouns, that creates the safety that allows brain development and learning to flourish while also meeting the requirement of equal educational opportunity,” said Mary Bonauto, Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies, at the filing.  

GLAD is committed to protecting students and ensuring schools can create positive, inclusive learning environments. But parents and allies can make an impact too.

In addition to supporting GLAD in this crucial work, you can advocate for the LGBTQ+ youth in your life by checking out our website’s school resources page. You’ll find information on LGBTQ+ student rights, bullying protections, and guidance for schools in every New England state and across the country. We’ve also included resources from our partners on inclusion for transgender students in school sports and all areas of academic life, how to advocate for positive school climates, resources for educators, and more. 

Familiarizing yourself with these resources can help you advocate for youth and encourage schools to meet their responsibility to ensure equal education and safety for all students. Public schools and many private schools are legally obligated to act when students face bullying and other kinds of mistreatment or harassment so that all students can learn and thrive.

If you need further support, GLAD Answers can provide free and confidential legal information and assistance.   

Expanding GLAD Answers’ Reach

Expanding GLAD Answers’ Reach Where We’re Needed Most

GLAD Answers, GLAD’s legal information line, is busy. This year so far, we have a monthly average of 169 intakes, up from 130 per month in 2022. GLAD Answers staff can answer questions and support a high number of callers with the help of 20 GLAD Answers volunteers.

Intakes per month so far this calendar year:

January

170

February

135

March

197

April

144

May

181

June

205

July

168

August

155

September

123

From January to September, callers have needed support in the following areas:

Issue areas	# intakes
ID Project	271
Treatment In Prison	193
Violence/Harassment	122
Medical Care/Access	86
Employment	67
Housing	57
Immigration/Asylum	53

The team, GLAD Answers Coordinator Kayden Hall and Public Information Manager Gabrielle Hamel, holds a volunteer training every six months. We just held our latest training in September with six new volunteers joining fourteen dedicated others who have stayed with us from the previous year. These committed folks who donate their time respond to emails, phone calls, and online intakes, and provide resources and information to those in need.

Our next volunteer training will take place in the spring. You can sign up now to be contacted if you’d like to volunteer next year.

GLAD Answers

With so many wonderful volunteers, we are working to expand our reach to ensure everyone who GLAD Answers can help is aware of this free resource, particularly low-income and Black and Brown communities, as well as regions outside greater Boston. We invite you to share information about GLAD Answers with those in your community who may have questions about their legal rights or need information about addressing anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.

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How do You Use Social Media?

Social media is an indispensable part of how GLAD connects with our community. From breaking news on our work, sharing resources, announcing upcoming events, and much more, we are regularly on social networks to share and connect with you.  

But as you are likely aware, there are many concerns with social media and the corporations that run them. In particular, Twitter – now called “X” – has gone through profound changes since Elon Musk acquired it in 2022. The company removed content moderation tools and fired many of the staff who enforced community guidelines. These changes to X/Twitter have led to a surge of antisemitic, racist, and anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech in their feeds.  

Many people in our community are leaving the platform, but we want to make informed decisions about where we share our content based on where GLAD supporters like you spend your time online.

Please take a minute to fill out this short poll: 

Social Media Survey

Where are you active online? (select all that apply)

Twitter/X

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

Other

I am not on social media

Please specify

Where do you get news from GLAD? (select all that apply)

Email updates

GLAD.org

Social media

Friends/colleagues

Other

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Your email (optional)

Goodridge and Beyond: From the First Weddings to the Supreme Court

The Dignity and Equality of All Individuals

(Read the first part of this article)

Finally, May 17, 2004, dawned with early morning talk shows and LGBTQ+ people and allies supporting couples seeking to marry in cities and towns across the Commonwealth.

Finally, the legislature conclusively rejected the last proposed constitutional amendment in June 2007 with over ¾ of the vote of the House and Senate. The Commonwealth had taken a cue from the Goodridge plaintiffs in finding common ground and our common humanity. 

It was official – marriage equality was now here to stay in Massachusetts. 

The legal victory and the incredible defense mounted by everyday people in Massachusetts to protect it created momentum for equality, but national progress was still infuriatingly slow.

Politicians seeking to create fear and win power seized on our community’s fight for basic dignity and human rights – something we are seeing again today. State laws were changed to ban marriage and cut off any legal protections for a couple’s relationship. Hostile politicians drove a wave of constitutional amendments across the country.

It wasn’t until 2008 that GLAD secured the next lasting court victory, at the Connecticut Supreme Court in Kerrigan and Mock v. Dept. of Public Health. We will be celebrating 15 years of marriage in Connecticut on November 12, just before the 20^th anniversary of Goodridge. 

After Connecticut, we began to see more state court, legislative, and ballot victories for the freedom to marry. 

Crucial legislative victories for marriage equality in the New England States of Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire proved that we could make change in the democratic process and not only the courts. We had to go back to the ballot in Maine in 2012, which then became the first state to win marriage by popular vote of the people. And in early 2013, our campaign in New England concluded with Rhode Island’s marriage enactment.  

Slowly but increasingly perceptibly, more and more of the public were coming to engage the possibility of, and then embracing, the dignity and equality of LGBTQ+ individuals and our relationships.  

The journey from a state constitutional law case in Massachusetts to the national marriage victory in Obergefell v. Hodges at the Supreme Court in 2015 results from the changed minds, hard work, courage, resilience, and persistence of so many across society and law. As queer historian George Chauncey has put it though, there would be no Obergefell without Goodridge, and we happily celebrate the 14 trailblazing plaintiffs who led the way.   

Cementing Dignity and Equality in Federal Law  

We are alert to efforts to chip away at civil marriage equality and the equal status of LGBTQ+ people more broadly. This includes creating speech and religious objections to the basic rules of equal treatment, as in this summer’s narrow but alarming Supreme Court 303 Creative ruling and others. We also see it in the widespread state legislative threats to LGBTQ+ people’s making any claims to basic human or legal respect, whether in schools, healthcare settings, the public marketplace, and other areas of daily life. Our community is working overtime to defend and protect one another and affirm what we know is true and right in these extremely challenging times.    

While this fight is hard, we know we can fight through losses and gaps in public understanding, as we have with marriage, with laws criminalizing intimacy, with our community’s response to the HIV epidemic, and with two decades of advances in the rights of transgender people, who are now facing devastating backlash. It is never easy or immediate, but when we work together from a place of love and commitment for the long term, we win.   

“It takes the efforts of many to bend the arc of history toward justice,” Goodridge plaintiff Heidi Nortonsmith said at the White House signing ceremony for the Respect for Marriage Act. “Even now there are so many places where people in our community are under attack. The work will continue, but look how far we’ve come. The law that President Biden signs today will make people safer, more secure, and less alone. From our family to all of you, thank you for fighting for our equal humanity and dignity. For our right to love and be loved. And for our marriage.”  

Unfinished Business: Ensuring Protections for Our Families

Today Massachusetts is proud of its leadership on marriage equality, and rightly so. But twenty years after the landmark Goodridge ruling, the state has unfinished business to ensure LGBTQ+ families – including our children – are fully protected by connecting them legally with their parents. Massachusetts’ statutes on establishing parentage – the legal relationship between a child and their parents – remain decades out of date. As a result, children born to LGBTQ+ families and other children born with the aid of assisted reproduction are left vulnerable, without the security of the law recognizing their relationship to their parents. We need the legislature to act this year to pass the Massachusetts Parentage Act to provide a statutory roadmap that equally protects all families. 

The Justice For All Campaign 

Expanding GLAD’s Capacity in A Critical Time

Since 1978, GLAD has won landmark victories to promote justice and secure essential rights. The Justice For All Campaign was launched in the fall of 2022 as an instrument to jumpstart significant growth in GLAD’s litigation ability at a time when many of our hard-won rights are under threat.  

The campaign embraces GLAD’s power as a cutting-edge legal organization and our commitment to pursuing an American dream that applies to all of us. Funds from the campaign will be used to: 

1. expand our national impact and defend our community wherever we are needed most, 

2. grow our legal team to protect LBGTQ people and those living with HIV, 

3. build the bench of legal leadership for the future, and 

4. invest in our people and technology allowing GLAD to flourish in a hybrid work environment. 

GLAD seeks individuals and corporations interested in driving impact for LGBTQ+ rights nationally and protecting the rights of our community with tax-deductible campaign support. We are proud to announce that to date, we have raised $1.38M towards the campaign goal of $1.85M. 

We thank the following early and generous supporters for their investments in striving toward new milestones in the pursuit of justice for all and invite you to join them: 

Putting Your Support To Work!

GLAD is pleased to be adding a number of roles to our team this year. We will soon launch searches for new attorney positions, and the search for an Assistant Director of Planned & Individual Giving is already underway. Please reach out to our recruitment partner, Positively Partners, to learn more about either of these roles via search@positivelypartners.org and keep an eye out for the formal launch of the attorney roles in late October.

Staff Retreat in Boston

Connecting to GLAD’s Mission and Each Other

Like everyone, the COVID pandemic dramatically changed the way GLAD’s staff does our work. As we figure out how to collaborate and spend quality time across departments in a hybrid workplace, we are also facing the challenges of escalating anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and other attacks, which can take a personal toll even as they demand even more of all of us.

In early September, members of GLAD’s staff took the opportunity to get together for a full day of big-picture brainstorming and reinvesting in our connections across the organization, in order to re-energize ourselves and support each other in our ongoing fight for justice.

The passion, resilience and commitment of GLAD staff, the board and our supporters are my main motivator. I wake up each day recalling that four decades ago, those that held the same vision and values that the current staff hold created GLAD because they understood the importance of our work. It was important then, it is more important today. So, I continue to hold that torch, despite the challenging times, keeping at heart that we don’t rest until justice for all is achieved

–Qwin

I’m inspired to keep going during challenging times by remembering how GLAD’s work has impacted my life. My mom was able to marry her wife thanks to GLAD. I also think about the incredible things we’ve accomplished together, like winning the “Yes on 3” campaign to protect trans rights at the ballot box in Massachusetts.

–Beth

We spent the day sharing how we as individuals connect to GLAD‘s mission, as well as filling in the rest of our stories to each other. We talked about what inspires us to keep fighting for our communities during these challenging times, forged relationships with newer staff, and refreshed connections with colleagues we don’t often get to see in our hybrid office.

We ended our day with renewed enthusiasm for our work, appreciation for each other, and a commitment to making room in our hectic schedules for vital connection time. The quotes on this page share a few reflections from that day.

We are grateful to the coordination of GLAD Senior Manager of Organizational Culture and Community Partnerships Qwin Mbabazi and for the generous donation of a workspace by Holland Knight LLC, which made it possible for us to have room to socially distance and share this valuable time.

What we do every day can be emotionally challenging, but deeply rewarding. The fact is, our work impacts real people who are being harmed in our community. Knowing that inspires me, and working alongside people who consistently rise to the occasion with compassion and enthusiasm makes a huge difference.

–Ivory

It was really wonderful to have intergenerational and interdepartmental conversations and connections. We often stick to our own roles and don’t have time to interact with staff outside of our department or sphere, so spending time with people I don’t often get to connect with was awesome.

–Gabrielle

The activities we did and the conversations we had during this retreat really called attention to all the different roles, perspectives, and approaches needed to achieve GLAD’s mission. In this way, I felt the retreat was extremely effective in laying the groundwork for more effective and impactful cross-departmental collaboration 

–Jess

What is GLAD’s Legacy Society?

What is GLAD’s Legacy Society?

There are as many ways to help the pursuit of equality as there are personalities in our community. Some are big and flashy; others are small and understated; while others are hard to describe. How you engage with GLAD is unique to you, and we appreciate that.

Among the ways you express your support for our work, a planned gift could enhance your financial well-being and be personally meaningful. In the past year, GLAD has received a variety of gifts that have done just that for the caring individuals who included GLAD in their planning through bequests, property donations, life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and securities. Collectively we refer to this group as our Legacy Society and here is a sampling of the kinds of gifts these thoughtful partners have made:

Cash Bequest

David, Gloria, and Van used cash bequests to support GLAD’s mission. They each added language to their will naming GLAD as a donation recipient. In one case it was for a specific amount; the other two were a percentage split with family and other nonprofits (also called a residual bequest).

Real Estate

Your home, vacation spot, or rental property can be donated to the organization. It will be sold or used as determined by our Board of Directors. Tim left several properties to GLAD in memory of his late partner. Proceeds from those sales will provide critical mission support for years to come.

Life Insurance

Paula had never made a gift to GLAD before, and learned about us when a family member came out as transgender. She had a life insurance policy from a former employer and made GLAD the beneficiary of the policy. Her husband said her intent was to make life easier for everyone who wants to live their authentic life.

Retirement Account

Qualified Charitable Distributions are the amount that those 70½ and older can donate to a nonprofit directly from a taxable individual retirement account instead of taking their required minimum distribution, which would have to be reported as income. Many GLAD donors take advantage of this tax savings, and after years of making these donations directly, Gary also named GLAD as the beneficiary of his retirement account.

Securities

Gifts of stock, mutual funds, and bonds may be made at any time, allowing the donor to give 20% more than selling the assets and then making a cash donation. If you have had the asset for more than a year, you will not have to pay capital gains tax when you donate it directly to a nonprofit. Karen, a long-time Equal Justice Council member, made gifts of securities during her lifetime and also left those assets to GLAD in her estate plan.

“I support GLAD because I know that GLAD’s efforts to defend human rights and preserve marriage equality will require substantial financial resources every year. Marriage equality made a real difference in my life and in the lives of so many in the LGBTQ+ community. The current legal threats from the radical right are very obvious, and GLAD provides our best defense. I am grateful for GLAD’s efforts, and I am proud to support your work.”

–Karen

If you would like to let us know about or need more information on supporting GLAD with any of these types of gifts, please contact Director of Development Carole Allen-Scannell at 617-778-6964 or callenscannell@glad.org. 

Interested in joining our team and directly building growth in the LGBTQ+ and HIV justice movement? Consider applying for the position of Assistant Director of Planned & Individual Giving, and manage strategies to facilitate and grow GLAD’s individual and planned giving programs. Apply here today.

A Message from the Chief Financial Officer

GLAD’s financial health is strong.  

We have 9.53 months of unrestricted reserves (i.e., net assets) as of March 31, 2023, including board designated net assets (BDNA). There is sufficient cash and investments to meet our obligations. During FY23 and in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards, our lease assets and obligations are now reflected in the Statement of Financial Position. Our financial health is both intentional and important as we make strategic investments in staff, programs, and infrastructure and face an uncertain economy and climate in FY24 and beyond. 

FY23 ended with an overall decrease in net assets of $252k. For a non-profit, it is important to look at the components (see table below) and some highlights:  

• The unrestricted fund (without donor restrictions) is up $126k. That increase is comprised of two factors: an operating surplus of $275k and board approved spending of $149k from reserves. The ending balance of $3.6m represents 9.53 months of operating expenses.  
• The donor restricted fund consists of cash gifts and pledges restricted by the donor for a specific purpose or timeframe. This fund decreased by $252k, which means ‘releases’ exceeded new restricted gifts in FY23. In other words, we are ‘spending down’ our funded backlog. A reduction or increase in any year tracks the flow of funds available.   

During FY23, GLAD received donated legal services of $4.2m. With this additional and significant support, we continued our litigation challenging the state bans on gender affirming care and school curriculum bans.  

In FY22, GLAD received a forgivable loan from the Paycheck Protection Program in the amount of $521,565. This loan was forgiven in FY23.  

We remain committed to excellence and will carefully monitor our financial results with an eye to the future.  

Thank you for investing in GLAD. 

Eva N. Boyce, Chief Financial Officer

October 2023

Statement of Activities*

For the 12 month period ended March 31, 2023

Support & Revenue	FY23
Contributions & Grants	3,308,271
Special Events Revenue, net	594,047
Fees & Program Revenue	195,480
Donated Services (In-Kind Legal Fees)	4,293,702
Total Support & Revenue	$8,391,500

Expenses	FY22
Litigation and Public Policy	7,214,139
Public Affairs & Education	890,901
Development & Fundraising	484,297
General & Administrative	431,422
Total Expenses	9,020,759
Change in Net Assets from Operations	(629,259)

Other Revenue (Expenses)	FY23
Investment Income, gains & losses	(144,958)
Forgiveness of loan payable (PPP)	521,565
	376,607
Total Change in Net Assets	(252,652)**

Net Assets, beginning of year	$4,645,005
Net Assets, end of year	$4,392,353

Statement of Financial Position*

March 31, 2023

*Summarized from GLAD’s audit report; available on our website. See message from the CFO for more information
**See “Change in Net Assets” chart

Thank You