Briefs and Annual Report Fall/Winter 2024

Fighting School Censorship: Meijia v. Edelblut
In May we won a significant victory in federal district court with a ruling finding New Hampshire’s school censorship law unconstitutional. The law actively discouraged public school teachers from teaching and talking about race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and gender identity inside and outside the classroom. The court found that the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment, concluding the law was so unclear and vague that it failed to provide necessary guidance to educators about what they could and could not include in their courses and that it invited arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement—up to and including the loss of teaching licenses.

The state has filed an intent to appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and we will continue working to ensure this law is permanently overturned.

Supporting School Policies Providing a Welcoming and Safe Environment: Doe v. Manchester School District
On August 30, the New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling upholding a Manchester School District policy in support of transgender students. The policy includes referring to students by their requested names and pronouns and maintaining student privacy when appropriate. GLAD Law filed an amicus brief highlighting the vital educational interests served by schools providing a welcoming and supportive environment for all students, so that all students have an equal and safe opportunity to learn. In its decision the Court concluded that “[T]he plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that the Policy infringes a fundamental parenting right.”

Protecting the Balance Between Religious Liberty and Nondiscrimination

Employment and Health Care Benefits: Bernier v. Turbocam
GLAD Law represents Lillian Bernier, a machinist at a large, private manufacturer of jet-engine parts, in a lawsuit challenging the total exclusion of essential medical coverage by her employer, Turbocam, solely because she is transgender. Turbocam claims that the religious beliefs of the company’s owner are a legal justification for discrimination through its self-funded plan. In June the federal district court denied Turbocam’s motion to dismiss Lillian’s claims, filed under both state and federal nondiscrimination laws. We are now preparing for a trial in 2025.

Schools and Public Funding: St. Dominic Academy, et al. v. Makin
For areas without public high schools, the state of Maine provides state funds to support students’ tuition at a private school elsewhere. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Carson v. Makin that the program must apply to religious schools including those that provide sectarian education, and Maine revised its program to do so.

However, Maine also requires all schools receiving tuition from public funds to abide by the educational nondiscrimination provisions of the Maine Human Rights Act. While at least one religious school has agreed to follow Maine nondiscrimination law, two other religious schools filed lawsuits in Maine federal district court claiming the application of the Human Rights Act (MHRA) provisions to them violates their free exercise of religion. The District Court denied both challenges, and the schools have appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

GLAD Law and Lambda Legal joined together on a friend-of-the-court brief to make two broad points: 1. The Carson v. Makin decision about the earlier version of the program does not control in this case, and 2. Maine has compelling state interests in requiring compliance with the MHRA.

No oral argument date has been set.

Protecting Parent-Child Relationships

Glover v. Junior
GLAD Law and partners advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ families and their children filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to issue a ruling protecting a lesbian mother’s parental status and affirming the recognition of legal parentage for children born through assisted reproduction.

The case concerns a married, non-genetic, non-gestational mother, Nicole Junior, who planned with her now former spouse to conceive and raise a child via assisted reproduction, with the clear intent that both would be the child’s parents. In a December 2023 en banc ruling overturning a prior panel decision, the Pennsylvania Superior Court – citing evidence including that Junior and Glover had jointly signed agreements related to the assisted reproduction – found Junior had established legal parentage of her child and that the couple’s subsequent separation and divorce after conception did not change the fact that Junior is her child’s intended and actual parent.

Our brief urges the state Supreme Court to affirm the Superior Court’s ruling securing Junior’s legal relationship to her child.

Protecting Marriage Equality

From supporting a long shot marriage case in the 80s, to breaking the historic barrier on marriage in the Goodridge Massachusetts case, to the 1st successful DOMA challenge in 2010 and then winning marriage equality at the US Supreme Court in 2015, GLAD Law has been expanding equality & freedoms for LGBTQ people for decades.

Marriage equality has been good for families, for kids, and for society. More marriages have harmed no one, and there is no good reason to disrupt what works. Obergefell was rightly decided and lots of people and entities count on it. It would be outrageous to undo it. We know that our communities and people all over the country are deeply worried about what’s next.

GLAD Law has a dedicated team of lawyers working nationwide on critical issues, including any efforts to limit marriages. We are monitoring for any threat & will defend marriage equality and LGBTQ people’s dignity and humanity across the board.

GLAD Law Senior Director of Civil Rights and Legal Strategies Mary Bonauto recently spoke with the New York Times about the benefits and status of marriage equality.

Supporting Efforts to Mitigate Bias and Systemic Discrimination of Formerly Incarcerated People

In August, we submitted written and oral testimony to Maine’s Criminal Record Review Committee with the intent of informing future legislative efforts. Our testimony highlights considerations and provides resources in support of expanded criminal record sealing. Record sealing and expungement allow people to reintegrate into society and pursue educational and work opportunities without the stigma of a criminal record, making such initiatives essential to eradicating systemic barriers to racial and economic justice.

For more on GLAD Law’s recent impact, see Our Annual Impact in this issue.

Visit Our Case & Advocacy page for more on GLAD Law’s current work.