Southern Poverty Law Center (39 Articles with 105,288 total views)

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. Founded by civil rights lawyers Morris Dees and Joseph Levin Jr. in 1971, the SPLC is internationally known for tracking and exposing the activities of hate groups. Our innovative Teaching Tolerance program produces and distributes - free of charge - documentary films, books, lesson plans and other materials that promote tolerance and respect in our nation's schools.

January, 2024

SPLC Report Exposes Network Behind Junk Science and Disinformation Campaign Against the LGBTQ+ Community

SPLC Report Exposes Network Behind Junk Science and Disinformation Campaign Against the LGBTQ+ Community
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - December 12, 2023 - Today, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a sweeping new report that details how pseudoscience has become a tool of the far right to manipulate public opinion and advance legislation and legal action targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
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Teachers Sue to Block Florida's Anti-LGBTQ+ Pronoun Ban

Teachers Sue to Block Florida's Anti-LGBTQ+ Pronoun Ban
TALLAHASSEE - December 13, 2023 - Today, three Florida educators filed a lawsuit challenging Florida Statute § 1000.071(3) (2023) ("Subsection 3"), an anti-LGBTQ+ statute that targets Florida's transgender and nonbinary teachers for being themselves at work. By barring transgender and nonbinary teachers from using titles and pronouns that express their gender identities and by threatening to decertify and fire teachers who do so, Subsection 3 clearly and unlawfully discriminates based on sex and restrains their speech, in violation of the U.S. Constitution and civil rights statutes.
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December, 2023

Groups Threaten Suit over Charlotte County Public Schools' LGBTQ+ Book Ban Policy

Groups Threaten Suit over Charlotte County Public Schools' LGBTQ+ Book Ban Policy
CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. - November 29, 2023 - The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) sent a demand letter today on behalf of All Rainbow and Allied Youth (ARAY) and PFLAG Port Charlotte urging the School Board of Charlotte County and Superintendent Mark Vianello to end the district's discriminatory ban on books with LGBTQ+ characters and content.
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September, 2023

Human Rights Organizations Condemn 11th Circuit Decision to Reinstate Alabama Transgender Health Care Ban

Human Rights Organizations Condemn 11th Circuit Decision to Reinstate Alabama Transgender Health Care Ban
ATLANTA - August 22, 2023 - Today, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision reversing a federal district court ruling blocking enforcement of Alabama's law banning medical care for transgender adolescents. The district court opinion, which was issued last spring, held that Alabama's law likely violated the federal Equal Protection Clause and parents' fundamental right to make medical decisions for their children. Thus far, every single federal district court to hear a similar challenge has ruled similarly, holding that these state bans discriminate against transgender minors and burden their parents' constitutionally protected rights. The 11th Circuit panel disagreed, holding that Alabama's law does not discriminate based on sex or transgender status and is therefore subject only to the lowest level of constitutional review.
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Women's Healthcare and Human Rights Organizations Urge 6th Circuit to Reinstate Block on Transgender Health Bans in TN, KY

Women's Healthcare and Human Rights Organizations Urge 6th Circuit to Reinstate Block on Transgender Health Bans in TN, KY
ATLANTA - August 18, 2023 - The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) joined GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), Campaign for Southern Equality (CSE), Southern Legal Counsel (SLC) and ten other women's, healthcare and LGBTQ+ organizations in filing an amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit urging reinstatement of the court orders preventing enforcement of transgender healthcare bans for adolescents in Tennessee and Kentucky while the legal challenges to those bans continue.
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May, 2022

Doctors and Families to Challenge Alabama's Criminalization of Healthcare for Transgender Children and Adolescents

Doctors and Families to Challenge Alabama's Criminalization of Healthcare for Transgender Children and Adolescents
WASHINGTON - April 8, 2022 -The Human Rights Campaign, The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), joined by co-counsel King & Spalding LLP and Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC, yesterday announced they will bring a legal challenge to Alabama SB 184, which would criminalize the provision of best-practice medical care for transgender minors, should Governor Ivey sign it into law. The bill, which was passed by the Alabama legislature earlier today, would prevent parents from making important decisions about their children's health care and would punish doctors with up to 10 years in prison for providing - or even suggesting - well-established medically necessary care.
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March, 2021

SPLC Applauds Long-Awaited Arrest and Prosecution of Indicted Child Kidnapper Lisa Milleras Isabella's Mother, Janet Jenkins, Pleads for Her Return

SPLC Applauds Long-Awaited Arrest and Prosecution of Indicted Child Kidnapper Lisa Milleras Isabella's Mother, Janet Jenkins, Pleads for Her Return
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Jenkins v. Miller is a federal case in Vermont brought by a lesbian woman, Janet Jenkins, against her former civil union partner, Lisa Miller, who "renounced" homosexuality and kidnapped their then 7-year-old daughter, Isabella, in 2009 to avoid shared visitation and custody with Jenkins.
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January, 2021

SPLC Marks Five-year Anniversary of Groundbreaking Suit Finding Gay "Conversion" Program Unconscionable and Fraudulent

SPLC Marks Five-year Anniversary of Groundbreaking Suit Finding Gay
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- December 17, 2020 - Tomorrow is the five-year anniversary of the settlement in Michael Ferguson, et al., v. JONAH, a first-of-its-kind lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and co-counsel partners on behalf of four young men and two of their mothers against Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), a New Jersey-based organization offering so-called conversion therapy to people who are gay. The lawsuit charged that JONAH, its founder and a counselor violated New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act by claiming that they could "convert" people from gay to straight.
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December, 2020

SPLC: Transgender Woman Sues Georgia Dept of Corrections After Repeated Sexual Assaults and Denials of Medical Care

SPLC: Transgender Woman Sues Georgia Dept of Corrections After Repeated Sexual Assaults and Denials of Medical Care
ATLANTA, Ga. - November 23, 2020 - Today, Ashley Diamond, a Black transgender woman represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center, sued the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) for the second time for its failure to protect her from sexual assault and provide her with adequate healthcare while incarcerated.
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November, 2020

EXCLUSIVE: SPLC Investigation Reveals White House Deputy Comms Director Julia Hahn Had Connections to White Nationalist Movement

EXCLUSIVE: SPLC Investigation Reveals White House Deputy Comms Director Julia Hahn Had Connections to White Nationalist Movement
WASHINGTON - October 21, 2020 - An investigation published today by the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) Hatewatch reveals that President Trump's Deputy Communications Director Julia Hahn had connections to the white nationalist movement around the time she joined the White House as an aide
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SPLC Action Fund Launches Exposing Extremism in Election Project

SPLC Action Fund Launches Exposing Extremism in Election Project
Montgomery, Ala. - October 20, 2020 - The SPLC Action Fund today announced the launch of Exposing Extremism in Elections, a guide to candidates who are running or ran for public office in 2020 who - according to research - sympathize with or have ties to extremist groups or ideologies. The list, which includes 162 candidates, new or incumbent, who campaigned for public office at city, county, state and federal levels, provides an easy and accessible way for the public and media professionals to research and explore 2020 candidates and their ties to such extremism.
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October, 2017

SPLC statement on nomination of Jeff Mateer to federal judgeship

SPLC statement on nomination of Jeff Mateer to federal judgeship
September 21, 2017 - The following statement is from David Dinielli, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, on President Trump's nomination of Jeff Mateer to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas: "President Trump has once again demonstrated his complete disregard for the LGBT community by nominating a person to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas who opposes LGBT rights and dignity. The nominee's past statements prove that he cannot and will not rule fairly on issues affecting the LGBT community.
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August, 2017

SPLC: Trump Administration Attempting to Roll Back Civil Rights of LGBT Community

SPLC: Trump Administration Attempting to Roll Back Civil Rights of LGBT Community
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - July 27, 2017 – The following statement, regarding a brief filed by the Department of Justice Wednesday night claiming that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect LGBT people from employment discrimination, is by David Dinielli, deputy legal director at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC): "A majority of Americans believe that LGBT people should be protected from discrimination in the workplace. But last night, President Trump's Justice Department filed a brief arguing the opposite – that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act provides no such protections, despite the growing consensus that discrimination 'on the basis of sex' encompasses discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
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March, 2017

SPLC: Hate Groups Increase for Second Consecutive Year as Trump Electrifies Radical Right

SPLC: Hate Groups Increase for Second Consecutive Year as Trump Electrifies Radical Right
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - February 15, 2017 – The number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second year in a row in 2016 as the radical right was energized by the candidacy of Donald Trump, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) annual census of hate groups and other extremist organizations, released today.
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January, 2017

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Southern Poverty Law Center Respond to Nationwide Spike in Hate-Filled

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Southern Poverty Law Center Respond to Nationwide Spike in Hate-Filled
WASHINGTON, D.C. and Montgomery, Ala., December 6, 2016 - The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers' Committee) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) issued the following statement today in response to nationwide spike in hate-filled incidents nationwide. "Hate crimes and hate-filled incidents stand as a dark cloud over our democracy," said Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law President and Executive Director Kristen Clarke. "The recent spike in hate crimes is attributable, in part, to the racially-charged rhetoric that characterized the 2016 election cycle and the rise of "alt-right" white nationalist extremism. This is a moment that calls for federal, state, and local officials to use every tool in their arsenal to fully investigate and prosecute these incidents when they occur."
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October, 2016

SPLC Statement on Suspension of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore

SPLC Statement on Suspension of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - September 30, 2016 – The Alabama Court of the Judiciary today suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore for the rest of his term in office.  The Court ruled that Moore violated the canons of judicial ethics by ordering Alabama's probate judges to defy a federal court injunction requiring them to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on a non-discriminatory basis. This is the second time in 13 years that Moore has been sanctioned as a result of ethics complaints filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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September, 2016

SPLC response to preliminary injunction ordered in Texas v U.S.

SPLC response to preliminary injunction ordered in Texas v U.S.
August 22, 2016 - In response to preliminary injunction granted today by a federal judge in Texas v. U.S., blocking the May 2016 guidance by the Obama administration interpreting Title IX to protect transgender students, the following statement is by David Dinielli, deputy legal director, Southern Poverty Law Center.  "Today's order is an attack on transgender people. This case reflects an overreaction by many states to federal guidance about transgender schoolchildren. We are disappointed that this particular court has failed to understand what it means to be transgender. But we are confident that, over time, our courts will recognize that transgender children, like all children, feel safe and thrive when they are given equal opportunity to succeed. We are committed to this fight and will not stop until all of our kids enjoy safety and dignity in their schools and communities. "
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May, 2016

SPLC: NC Gov's Executive Order Does Not Stop Discrimination Against Transgender People in the State

SPLC: NC Gov's Executive Order Does Not Stop Discrimination Against Transgender People in the State
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - April 12, 2016 – The following statement regarding North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory's signage today of an executive order changing the equal employment policy for state workers to apply to discrimination claims related to sexual orientation and gender identity is by David Dinielli, deputy legal director at the Southern Poverty Law Center:
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April, 2016

SPLC: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant’s Signage of HB 1523 Unconscionable; Same Rationale Used to Justify Slavery, Jim Crow

SPLC: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant’s Signage of HB 1523 Unconscionable; Same Rationale Used to Justify Slavery, Jim Crow
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - April 5, 2016 – The following statement regarding the passage of Mississippi bill HB 1523, the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” into law by Gov. Phil Bryant is by Jody E. Owens, managing attorney in Mississippi at the Southern Poverty Law Center:
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SPLC: Mississippi’s HB 1523 is an Outrage; Gov. Phil Bryant Should Veto Toxic Bill

SPLC: Mississippi’s HB 1523 is an Outrage; Gov. Phil Bryant Should Veto Toxic Bill
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The following statement regarding Mississippi bill HB 1523, the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act” in the Mississippi Legislature is by Jody E. Owens, managing attorney in Mississippi at the Southern Poverty Law Center:
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March, 2016

Settlement Reached in Pivotal SPLC Federal Lawsuit for Transgender Woman Denied Proper Medical Care in Georgia Prison

Settlement Reached in Pivotal SPLC Federal Lawsuit for Transgender Woman Denied Proper Medical Care in Georgia Prison
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - February 12, 2016 – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced today that a settlement agreement has been reached in a federal lawsuit filed against Georgia Department of Corrections officials on behalf of a transgender woman who was denied medically necessary treatment and sexually assaulted by other prisoners while she was held at a men's prison.
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SPLC Report: State 'Religious Liberty' Laws Pushed by National Groups that Have Long Sought to Deny LGBT Rights

SPLC Report: State 'Religious Liberty' Laws Pushed by  National Groups that Have Long Sought to Deny LGBT Rights
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - February 11, 2016 – A new Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) report profiles the top Christian Right groups on the frontlines of the campaign to enact state "religious freedom" laws, demonstrating that the movement is merely the latest strategy to deny equality to the LGBT community.
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February, 2016

SPLC Files New Information in Ethics Complaint Against Chief Justice Roy Moore

SPLC Files New Information in Ethics Complaint Against Chief Justice Roy Moore
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - January 6, 2016 – Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore should be removed from the bench for advising state probate judges to enforce Alabama's same-sex marriage ban, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said in a new supplement filed today in its ongoing ethics complaint against Moore.
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October, 2015

Alabama Nursing Home Settles Employment Discrimination Case after Firing a Woman for Being Transgender

Alabama Nursing Home Settles Employment Discrimination Case after Firing a Woman for Being Transgender
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - September 10, 2015 – Summerford Nursing Home Inc. has agreed to pay an undisclosed financial settlement and implement a workplace nondiscrimination policy prohibiting sexual orientation and gender discrimination after firing a woman for being transgender, the Southern Poverty Law Center announced today.
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September, 2015

Illinois Law Banning Conversion Therapy Against LGBT Youth First to Contain 'Consumer Fraud' Provision

Illinois Law Banning Conversion Therapy Against LGBT Youth First to Contain 'Consumer Fraud' Provision
August 21, 2015 - "Illinois did the right thing by passing a law to protect LGBT youth from the harmful and fraudulent practice of conversion therapy. What's new and progressive about Illinois' law banning this 'therapy' is that it's the first to include a provision that says advertising this practice amounts to consumer fraud.
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Transgender Inmate Ashley Diamond Released from Georgia Prison after Pressure from SPLC Lawsuit

Transgender Inmate Ashley Diamond Released from Georgia Prison after Pressure from SPLC Lawsuit
GROVETOWN, Ga. - August 31, 2015 – Ashley Diamond, the transgender inmate who sued the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) after being denied a safe environment and medically necessary gender dysphoria treatment, was released today after more than three years in prison, where she was housed with male inmates and sexually assaulted eight times.
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July, 2015

Federal Court Confirms That All Alabama Counties Must Stop Enforcing Unconstitutional Marriage Ban

Federal Court Confirms That All Alabama Counties Must Stop Enforcing Unconstitutional Marriage Ban
(MOBILE, Ala., July 1, 2015)–U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade today issued an order confirming that her injunction directing all Alabama probate judges to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples is now in effect and requires immediate compliance. A violation of Judge Granade's order could result in a county probate judge being held liable for contempt of court, attorneys' fees, financial penalties, and any other remedies the court deems proper.
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NJ Group's Gay 'Conversion' Program Violates Consumer Fraud Act and is Unconscionable

NJ Group's Gay 'Conversion' Program Violates Consumer Fraud Act and is Unconscionable
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - June 25, 2015 – After a three-week trial in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, a jury today determined that Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH) violated New Jersey consumer fraud protections and committed unconscionable business practices by telling clients and potential clients that they were disordered and by offering"conversion therapy" services it claimed could turn their gay clients straight.
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SPLC's Intelligence Report: American Muslims Under Siege

SPLC's Intelligence Report: American Muslims Under Siege
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - June 10, 2015 – Almost 14 years after the 9/11 terror attacks sparked a violent backlash against American Muslims, anti-Muslim hatred is again on the rise as activists and politicians exploit atrocities committed by the Islamic State and other jihadists, according to the latest issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report, released today.
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June, 2015

Federal Court Orders Alabama Probate Judges to Allow Marriage Equality Statewide

Federal Court Orders Alabama Probate Judges to Allow Marriage Equality Statewide
MOBILE, Ala. - May 21, 2015 – A federal district court today ordered that all Alabama probate judges must comply with the U.S. Constitution and may not refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples after four leading civil rights organizations requested the court expand a lawsuit to cover all same-sex couples and probate judges statewide. The district court's order will take effect when the United States Supreme Court issues its decision in several pending cases seeking the freedom to marry in four states.  The Supreme Court marriage cases were argued in April, and a ruling is expected by the end of June.
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May, 2015

Civil Rights Groups Sue National Finance Company for Illegally Firing Transgender Employee

Civil Rights Groups Sue National Finance Company for Illegally Firing Transgender Employee
(New Orleans, LA, April 13, 2015)—A national Mississippi-based finance company fired a transgender man after he refused to agree to dress and be treated as female, according to a federal employment discrimination lawsuit filed today by civil rights advocates.
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Southern Poverty Law Center Statement on Ashley Diamond Case

Southern Poverty Law Center Statement on Ashley Diamond Case
April 10, 2015 - The following statement was issued by SPLC Deputy Legal Director David Dinielli following the disclosure that the Georgia Department of Corrections has changed its policy relating to the provision of hormone therapy to transgender prisoners.
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April, 2015

Civil Rights Organizations Ask Federal Court In Alabama To Order Freedom To Marry Statewide

Civil Rights Organizations Ask Federal Court In Alabama To Order Freedom To Marry Statewide
(Mobile, AL, March 6, 2015)—A group of leading national civil rights organizations today filed a motion requesting a federal district court to expand a lawsuit challenging Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage and to order all county probate judges in the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
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DOJ files brief in SPLC suit seeking justice for transgender inmate in Georgia prison

DOJ files brief in SPLC suit seeking justice for transgender inmate in Georgia prison
April 3, 2015 - The Department of Justice today filed a statement of interest in Diamond v. Owens, et al., a case filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center seeking relief for Ashley Diamond, a transgender inmate in a Georgia prison, who is being denied medically necessary treatment.
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March, 2015

New Jersey Judge Rules Conversion Therapy Group Can't Claim Homosexuality is a Disorder

New Jersey Judge Rules Conversion Therapy Group Can't Claim Homosexuality is a Disorder
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - February 10, 2015 – A New Jersey Superior Court judge has ruled that misrepresenting that homosexuality is a disorder in marketing conversion therapy services violates the state's consumer protection laws – a devastating ruling for the conversion therapy industry, which claims to "convert" people from gay to straight, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced today.
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SPLC Lawsuit Demands Necessary Health Care for Transgender Inmate in Georgia State Prison

SPLC Lawsuit Demands Necessary Health Care for Transgender Inmate in Georgia State Prison
Macon, Ga. - Feburary 20, 2015 – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Corrections on behalf of a transgender woman who has been denied medically necessary treatment and sexually assaulted by other inmates while held at a men's prison.
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February, 2015

Decision Overturning Alabama's Same-Sex Marriage Ban a Victory for Families, Children of Same-Sex Couples

Decision Overturning Alabama's Same-Sex Marriage Ban a Victory for Families, Children of Same-Sex Couples
MONTGOMERY, Ala - January 23, 2015. – A federal judge's ruling striking down Alabama's same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional will provide greater stability to the lives of same-sex couples and their children, but more work remains to eliminate anti-LGBT discrimination in the state, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced today.
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Judge Rules in Favor of SPLC Clients to Exclude Conversion Therapy Experts in Consumer Fraud Case

Judge Rules in Favor of SPLC Clients to Exclude Conversion Therapy Experts in Consumer Fraud Case
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - February 5, 2015 –  Superior Court Judge Peter F. Bariso Jr. ruled today that several prominent gay-to-straight conversion therapy proponents, including Joseph Nicolosi, will not be allowed to testify as defense experts in a consumer-fraud lawsuit against a conversion therapy organization.
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December, 2014

SPLC's Intelligence Report: Recent Wave of Immigrant Children May Have Revitalized Nativist Extremist Movement

SPLC's Intelligence Report: Recent Wave of Immigrant Children May Have Revitalized Nativist Extremist Movement
MONTGOMERY, Ala.- November 21, 2014 – As presidential action to allow more undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States became news this week, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a major report examining the possible rebirth of the nativist extremist movement that roiled the country from 2005 to 2011.
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