(Seattle, WA, April 21, 2025) The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington late Friday ruled that Premera Blue Cross's arbitrary and categorical policy to deny coverage for gender-affirming chest surgery for patients under 18, regardless of the patient's medical needs, unlawfully discriminated based on sex in violation of Affordable Care Act. Lambda Legal and Sirianni Youtz Spoonemore Hamburger PLLC filed a federal lawsuit in June 2023 on behalf then-15-year-old transgender adolescent A.B. and his parents challenging Premera Blue Cross's policy. The lawsuit was later amended in June 2024 to add then-17-year-old transgender adolescent J.M. and his parents as plaintiffs.

BOSTON - April 18, 2025 A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction today after finding that an executive order by President Trump and a State Department policy prohibiting updates to sex designations on passports is likely unconstitutional and in violation of the law. The preliminary injunction requires the State Department to allow six transgender and nonbinary people to obtain passports with sex designations consistent with their gender identity while the lawsuit proceeds. Though today's court order applies only to six of the plaintiffs in the case, the plaintiffs plan to quickly file a motion asking the court to certify a class of people affected by the State Department policy and to extend the preliminary injunction to that entire class.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 16, 2025 - Health and LGBTQ+ advocates are sounding the alarm over sweeping harmful public health cuts orchestrated by the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Trump administration. The dismantling of HIV prevention infrastructure and public health research capacity could mean a resurgence in preventable disease outbreaks, disproportionately affecting LGBTQ+ communities. HRC Senior Public Policy Advocate Matthew Rose, spoke with Christopher Kane of the Washington Blade for an article published today.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - April 16, 2025 - Nearly 80 public officials and 38 organizations have joined in a letter sent to UPMC demanding the healthcare system continue saving the lives of transgender youth. The letter calls for UPMC to resume full basic medical care it had provided for over a decade to young patients who are transgender. Signatories to the letter include House Speaker Joanna McClinton, co-chairs of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus Reps. Jessica Benham and Ismail Smith-Wade-El, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, and nearly all members of Pittsburgh City Council. This strong letter organized by TransYOUniting and the Pennsylvania Youth Congress supporting gender affirming healthcare reflects not only backing for trans youth in Pittsburgh, but across the entire commonwealth. Nearly a quarter of the Pennsylvania General Assembly is publicly backing transgender youth through this statement.

April 15, 2025 - Today, Lambda Legal and the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Superintendent Yvette M. Davids urging the U.S. Naval Academy to reverse its decision to remove 381 books discussing race, gender, and sexuality from its Nimitz Library collection. In the letter, Lambda Legal Chief Legal Officer Jennifer C. Pizer and LDF Director of Strategic Initiatives Jin Hee Lee express the organizations' deep concern over the decisionissued as a verbal order from the Defense Secretary's officeand emphasize the urgent need to reinstate the removed books to safeguard the constitutional rights of the institution's cadets.

(Washington, DC - April 11, 2025) - Lambda Legal submitted an amicus brief joined by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, PFLAG, Inc., and the National Women's Law Center to the U.S. Supreme Court inMahmoud v. Taylor, urging the Court to reject a challenge brought by a group of parents claiming their religious rights were unconstitutionally burdened by not being allowed to opt their kids out of reading storybooks that were part of an LGBTQ+ inclusive literacy curriculum in the Montgomery County Public School system.

>WASHINGTON - April 9 On Wednesday, the House Education and Workforce Committee is scheduled to advance two anti-transgender bills, H.R. 2616 and H.R. 2617, taking power from local schools and placing teachers into a position where they cannot acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ+ people & must 'out' vulnerable students. In response, Laurel Powell, Communications Director at the Human Rights Campaign issued the following statement "Instead of putting our dangerous President in check and tackling the American economy's freefall, House Republicans showed where their priorities lie - giving airtime to junk science and trying to pass more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Forcing teachers to 'out' trans youth rather than supporting them in coming out to their families and demanding that schools ignore the trans students who sit in their classrooms is a craven attempt to distract people from economic disaster by vilifying children. Even as they fire people whose jobs were to make sure schools have the resources they need, the Trump administration and their allies in Congress continue to attack vulnerable young people to score points with the far right."

The Pennsylvania Equality Project will be holding FreeShop Fall Edition at the Meadville Public Library on Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May 10 from 10 AM 4 PM. We are seeking donations of gently used clothing, blankets, non-perishable food items, kitchen items, books, toys, games, etc. which may be dropped off both days of the event. Anyone who needs the donated items can take what they like for free during both days of the event. There is no cost for admission to this event. FreeShop 2025, Spring Edition is being held at the Meadville Public Library in the Community Room on the Upper floor, 848 North Main Street, Meadville, PA 16335. For more information, go to our website, https://paequality.com or call (814) 350-6635.

On April 2, the Pennsylvania Equality Project is launching round 3 of our survey about Housing Affordability and Sustainability for the LGBTQ+ community. The housing survey will focus on issues related to costs, discrimination, and affordability for households, and how sustainable residences are in Pennsylvania. All survey responses will remain confidential. The survey is open to all Pennsylvanians in the LGBTQ+ community and our allies. College students who attend classes at a Pennsylvania post-secondary school and reside in the Commonwealth during the academic sessions may also participate. The Housing Survey will run through May 31, 2025. To take the survey, go to paequality.com and click on the Survey link at the top of the page, beginning April 2. For more information, send an email to info@paequality.com.