LGBT Equality

The ACLU works for equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. We fight discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

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Ashton stood up for a law to support trans students. Gov. Brown... Read more

Blog

Transform California: Stop the Hate Now

April 19, 2016

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LGBT Equality

From North Carolina to California and everywhere in between, transgender individuals face threats from lawmakers, bigots, pundits and others who choose to marginalize their fellow residents. Read more »

Blog

Clovis students and parents and Abre' Conner at a school board meeting about the dress code

Clovis Learns the Hard Way: Hiding Discrimination in a Dress Code Won’t Fly

April 8, 2016

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Education Equity, LGBT Equality, Racial Justice

The Clovis Unified School District has a problem. School administrators in this small town in California’s Central Valley can’t seem to stop punishing students for being themselves. But this week, the school board took a brave leap into the 21st... Read more »

News

ACLU and Leading LGBTQ Organization Call on Clovis School Board to Revise Dress Code

April 5, 2016

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Education Equity, LGBT Equality, Racial Justice

Media Contact for GSA Network: Brittaney Carter, Communications Manager, (415) 612‐2402, bcarter@gsanetwork.org (Clovis, CA, April 5, 2016) On Wednesday, April 6, the Clovis Unified School District Governing Board will convene to vote on removing... Read more

Case

T.V. v. Beukelman (Student Censorship)

File Under :

Education Equity, Free Speech, LGBT Equality

ACLU Foundation of Northern California has settled a lawsuit with the Manteca Unified School District after two high school officials chastised and censored a student for wearing a shirt to school identifying herself as a proud member of the LGBT... Read more

News

ACLU client Taylor Victor wearing t-shirt at school that reads "Nobody Knows I'm a Lesbian"

California School District Changes Dress Code after ACLU Sues for Censorship

February 17, 2016

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Education Equity, Free Speech, LGBT Equality

Last night, the Manteca Unified School District voted to update the dress code as part of a settlement with the ACLU of Northern California, which sued two Sierra High School officials on behalf of a lesbian student in October 2015. Eleventh-grader... Read more

Blog

ACLU client Taylor Victor wearing t-shirt that reads "Nobody Knows I'm a Lesbian"

I Sued My School for Censorship and Won — Because Being a Lesbian Shouldn’t Violate the Dress Code

February 17, 2016

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Education Equity, Free Speech, LGBT Equality

It all started with a t-shirt. I was at the mall, and I saw a shirt I knew I had to buy. It said “NOBODY KNOWS I’M A LESBIAN.” It made me laugh because pretty much everybody knows I’m a lesbian. My school tried to stop me from wearing it. Read more »

Blog

Leave It to Beaver Dow Billingsley Mathers 1959

Stuck in a Gender Rut: Clovis School Refuses to Bring Dress Code in Line with the Law

January 28, 2016

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Education Equity, LGBT Equality, Racial Justice

Clovis Unified School District outdid itself once again. The district had the opportunity to change its painfully outdated dress code, but the district defied reason - and the law - this week. Read more »

News

Civil Rights Coalition Ready to Launch Education Campaign Following Failed Anti-Transgender Ballot Push

December 21, 2015

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LGBT Equality

A coalition of California civil rights and LGBT organizations said today that supporters of a proposed anti-transgender ballot initiative announced that they have failed to submit the signatures necessary to qualify it for the November 2016 ballot. Read more

Blog

Real Changes to Facebook's 'Real Name' Policy

December 18, 2015

File Under :

Free Speech, LGBT Equality, Technology and Civil Liberties

Facebook just announced concrete changes to its harmful “real name” policy. Following up on its promise to groups including the ACLU of California, the changes are meant to reduce risks such as abusive reporting and lockouts of users and their... Read more »

Blog

Detention for Long Hair?

December 11, 2015

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Education Equity, Free Speech, LGBT Equality, Racial Justice

Never has it been more important for students to know their rights, especially in the face of increasing police presence in our schools. Look no further than what happened in Columbia, South Carolina last month, where video footage showed a school... Read more »