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Everyone in America deserves equal treatment under the law regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression including the right to marry the partner of your choice. The ACLU works for equal rights and legal protections against discrimination and harassment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

Resources

News Release, Published: 
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A student who endured severe harassment by other students throughout junior high and high school is suing the Aberdeen School District for failing to take steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment. The district's failure to act created a hostile educational environment for the student, says the ACLU-WA, which is representing him.
Published: 
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
LGBT teenagers are more likely than their peers to be punished by schools, police and the courts, according to a recent Washington Post article which cites the first nationwide study of its kind to highlight these important issues. The study found that LGBT youth are 40% more likely to receive educational and criminal justice-related punishments, such as expulsions, police stops, arrests and incarceration.  These studies confirm what the ACLU has known for a long time: that LGBT students are often discriminated against from a young age, which denies them equal access to education and robs them of future opportunities.  
News Release, Published: 
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Maj. Margaret Witt, a decorated flight nurse dismissed under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” spoke about her eagerness to rejoin the U.S. Air Force. When reinstated, she will become the first openly gay person to serve in the military due to a court order under DADT. Major Witt spoke at a press conference at the ACLU-WA, which has represented her in a four-year-long lawsuit seeking her reinstatement.  
News Release, Published: 
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Major Margaret Witt, a decorated flight nurse who had been dismissed under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, will be able to resume her service with the U.S. Air Force, the ACLU of Washington announced today.  Major Witt will become the first openly gay person to serve in the military due to a court order under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The ACLU-WA has represented Major Witt in a four-year-long lawsuit seeking her reinstatement. Pictured: Major Witt (far right) deployed in Oman. 
Published: 
Friday, October 29, 2010
What’s the next best thing to being an ACLU staff attorney? Being an ACLU legal fellow. As election season rolls around, the end of my year-long fellowship at the ACLU of Washington does as well. A 2009 graduate of Hastings College of Law in California, I’ve been hired by Perkins Coie but deferred my starting date with the firm. So for the past year, instead of working on commercial litigation, I have had the amazing opportunity to work full-time in the ACLU-WA legal department. I have gotten a taste of advocacy and educational work, creating a toolkit for farmworkers’ rights. I have dipped my feet in legislative and policy work in immigration issues. Most excitingly, I immediately plunged into litigation as a member of the ACLU-WA legal team on the landmark “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” case Witt v. Air Force. Read more
Published: 
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Schools must protect students from harassment, and if they don’t, the federal government will have something to say about it.  That was the message sent by the White House and the Department of Education on October 26th when they issued new guidance designed to make clear that schools have a legal duty to protect students from harassment under existing federal civil rights statutes. Read more
News Release, Published: 
Friday, September 24, 2010
U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton has ordered the Air Force to reinstate Major Margaret Witt, a decorated flight nurse who had been dismissed under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. After six days of trial, the Court found that Major Witt’s sexual orientation does not negatively impact unit morale or cohesion.  ACLU of Washington attorneys have directly represented Major Witt since her case began in 2006.
Published: 
Friday, September 24, 2010
Today, in Federal District Court, Judge Ronald Leighton ordered that the Air Force reinstate Major Margaret Witt, a dedicated flight nurse that had been dismissed under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. This is an exciting moment for everyone who believes in equality and an important advance in the fight to end discrimination against LGBT Americans in the military and in society at large. Perhaps most importantly, it is also a homecoming.
Published: 
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The landmark trial of Maj. Margaret Witt wrapped up yesterday, and Judge Ronald B. Leighton announced that he will deliver his decision this Friday at 1:30 PM PDT. Read more
Published: 
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Testimony from former members of Maj. Witt’s unit, the 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, filled the third day of the trial. Leading off was Jill Robinson, who spent 23 years in the Air Force. Inspiring her service was a recruiting poster for the Air Force Reserves that featured Maj. Witt on the cover. Read more

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