LGBT Rights

The ACLU has advocated on behalf of LGBT people for over 70 years and in 1986 founded the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project. The ACLU works for fairness and equality to affect change in the courts and legislatures, as well as in the court of public opinion.Today, the ACLU brings more LGBT cases and advocacy initiatives than any other national civil rights organization in order to create a society in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and people with HIV/AIDS enjoy the basic rights of equality, privacy and personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association. This means an America where people can live openly without discrimination; where there’s respect for our identities, relationships and families; and where there’s fair treatment in employment, schools, housing, public places, health care and government programs.

ACLU of WI Will Support State’s Domestic Partner Registry
Friday August 20, 2010
The ACLU of Wisconsin will continue its work to ensure that same-sex couples maintain the basic protections provided in the state’s new domestic partnership registry. “We expected a challenge to the registry in a lower court,” said Chris Ahmuty, ACLU of Wisconsin’s executive director. “We’re fully prepared to help defend the state’s registry so that same-sex couples in Wisconsin can have access to the basic, although limited, legal rights their families need. While the Wisconsin Family Action and the Alliance Defense Fund will attempt to compare the domestic partnership registry to the legal definition of marriage, same-sex couples will seek to demonstrate a factual record of how the protections offered by the registry are quite limited and in no way violate the marriage ban.” Read more…
Press Release: 8/20/2010 - ACLU of WI Will Support State’s Domestic Partner Registry: Same-sex Couples Will Show Registry is Not Marriage (PDF)

ACLU of Wisconsin settles lawsuit against City of Milwaukee Police Censorship of Gay-Themed Play
Thursday July 15, 2010
On July 14, 2010, the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center (MGAC) received a check for $20,000 from the City of Milwaukee in settlement of a federal lawsuit filed on its behalf by the ACLU of Wisconsin. The suit alleged that the City violated the First Amendment by shutting down “Naked Boys Singing,” a musical play with gay themes that has been produced around the country, after receiving complaints from a citizen who objected to its content. “Good theater sometimes challenges convention,” said Paul Masterson, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center. “The police should not shut down a play because some people find it offensive.” Read more…
Press Release: 7/15/2010 - Lawsuit Over Police Censorship of Gay-Themed Play Settled: City Pays Milwaukee Gay Arts Center and Clarifies Theater License Requirements (PDF)

Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Decision on Marriage Amendment Referendum: ACLU of Wisconsin Responds
Wednesday June 30, 2010
The ACLU maintains that the marriage amendment's second clause only prohibits 'marriage by another name' which confers all the benefits, protections, and responsibilities of civil marriages. The Court's decision means the fight for recognition of same sex domestic relationships will continue to advance, a fight in which the ACLU will continue to participate vigorously.
Press Release: 6/30/2010 – ACLU of Wisconsin Statement on McConkey Decision (PDF)

Wisconsin Federal Court Says Transgender People Must Be Allowed Medical Treatment in Prison
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Wednesday struck down a law that barred transgender people from receiving medical care while they are incarcerated. The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal challenged the law in January 2006 on behalf of transgender prisoners, some of whom had been receiving hormones in Wisconsin prisons for years prior to the passage of the law. The lawsuit charged that it is a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection as well as the guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment to bar transgender inmates from access to individualized medical care. The legal groups based their challenge on federal case law that establishes that health care providers must determine proper treatment for all prison inmates. Read more…
Press Release: 4/1/2010 - Wisconsin Federal Court Says Transgender People Must Be Allowed Medical Treatment in Prison
U.S. District Court decision: Sundstrom v. Frank

Victory! Challenge to Domestic Partner Registry Thrown Out by State Supreme Court
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union celebrated a decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to dismiss a challenge to the state’s recently-enacted domestic partnership registry. Read more...
Press release: 11/04/2009 - Wisconsin Supreme Court Dismisses Challenge to Domestic Partnership Registry: Committed Couples Can Continue to Enjoy Limited Protections Offered by Registry

For more resources and information on the ACLU’s work on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people across the nation, please visit the ACLU’s LGBT rights webpage.