Transgender Rights
R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v EEOC & Aimee Stephens
Aimee Stephens had worked for nearly six years as a funeral director at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes when she informed the funeral home’s owner that she is a transgender woman. She was fired, the EEOC sued on her behalf, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Aimee’s employer engaged in unlawful sex discrimination when it fired her because she’s transgender. We represented Aimee Stephens in front of the U.S. Supreme Court — and won.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
View Case
Learn About Transgender Rights
All Cases
60 Transgender Rights Cases
Court Case
Jul 2023
Transgender Rights
Doe v. Madison Metropolitan School District
In February 2020, several parents anonymously sued the Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin state court. The parents claim that the school district’s guidance that seeks to provide support for transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive students violates parental rights by allowing students to use names and pronouns at school different from those they were assigned at birth, without providing parental notification absent a student’s consent. The ACLU and ACLU of Wisconsin intervened in the case on behalf of LGBTQ student groups at schools in the district to help defend the district’s guidance.
Explore case
Court Case
Jul 2023
Transgender Rights
Doe v. Madison Metropolitan School District
In February 2020, several parents anonymously sued the Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin state court. The parents claim that the school district’s guidance that seeks to provide support for transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive students violates parental rights by allowing students to use names and pronouns at school different from those they were assigned at birth, without providing parental notification absent a student’s consent. The ACLU and ACLU of Wisconsin intervened in the case on behalf of LGBTQ student groups at schools in the district to help defend the district’s guidance.
Court Case
Jun 2023
Transgender Rights
Vasquez v. Iowa Department of Human Services
On May 31st, 2019, the ACLU of Iowa and National ACLU LGBTQ and HIV Project filed a lawsuit to block implementation of an Iowa law that was recently passed to restore the ban on Medicaid coverage for essential, gender-affirming surgery to transgender Iowans that the Iowa Supreme recently struck down.
Explore case
Court Case
Jun 2023
Transgender Rights
Vasquez v. Iowa Department of Human Services
On May 31st, 2019, the ACLU of Iowa and National ACLU LGBTQ and HIV Project filed a lawsuit to block implementation of an Iowa law that was recently passed to restore the ban on Medicaid coverage for essential, gender-affirming surgery to transgender Iowans that the Iowa Supreme recently struck down.
Nebraska Supreme Court
May 2023
Transgender Rights
LGBTQ Rights
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Hilgers
In May 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Nebraska filed a lawsuit on behalf of Nebraska abortion providers and their patients challenging a state law that bans physicians from providing abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy and that, as of October 2023, will restrict health care available to trans youth. The ACLU has asked a state court in Nebraska to enter an emergency order blocking the law’s enforcement. The Court ruled that the two halves of L.B. 574 fall within the single subject of regulating health care, and thus the Court held that L.B. 574 does not violate the single-subject rule. Consequently, the abortion ban and gender-affirming care restrictions in L.B. 574 remain in effect. However, the Court did reject the state’s argument that the single-subject is a nonjusticiable political question.
Explore case
Nebraska Supreme Court
May 2023
Transgender Rights
LGBTQ Rights
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Hilgers
In May 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Nebraska filed a lawsuit on behalf of Nebraska abortion providers and their patients challenging a state law that bans physicians from providing abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy and that, as of October 2023, will restrict health care available to trans youth. The ACLU has asked a state court in Nebraska to enter an emergency order blocking the law’s enforcement. The Court ruled that the two halves of L.B. 574 fall within the single subject of regulating health care, and thus the Court held that L.B. 574 does not violate the single-subject rule. Consequently, the abortion ban and gender-affirming care restrictions in L.B. 574 remain in effect. However, the Court did reject the state’s argument that the single-subject is a nonjusticiable political question.
West Virginia
May 2023
Transgender Rights
Hersom v. Crouch
Xavier Hersom applied for and was denied a gender marker change on his birth certificate. He said DHHR’s policy has created yet another layer of difficulty for him as a transgender person living in West Virginia. The ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and the Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic filed a federal lawsuit asking a court to declare West Virginia’s birth certificate policies relating to transgender people unconstitutional on behalf of Hersom and an another anonymous plaintiff.
Explore case
West Virginia
May 2023
Transgender Rights
Hersom v. Crouch
Xavier Hersom applied for and was denied a gender marker change on his birth certificate. He said DHHR’s policy has created yet another layer of difficulty for him as a transgender person living in West Virginia. The ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and the Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic filed a federal lawsuit asking a court to declare West Virginia’s birth certificate policies relating to transgender people unconstitutional on behalf of Hersom and an another anonymous plaintiff.
California
Feb 2023
Transgender Rights
Knight v. St. Joseph Hospital
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California and Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP filed a lawsuit on March 21, 2019 on behalf of Oliver Knight, a 29-year-old transgender man who was denied surgery minutes before it was scheduled to take place based on the hospital’s religious beliefs, which do not recognize gender-affirming care.
Explore case
California
Feb 2023
Transgender Rights
Knight v. St. Joseph Hospital
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California and Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP filed a lawsuit on March 21, 2019 on behalf of Oliver Knight, a 29-year-old transgender man who was denied surgery minutes before it was scheduled to take place based on the hospital’s religious beliefs, which do not recognize gender-affirming care.