Archive

MADERA — Today, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California reached a settlement agreement with Chawanakee Unified School District that calls for new school policies to protect LGBTQ students. The ACLU initially filed suit in March on behalf of two then-Minarets High School seniors, Steven Madrid and Mikayla Garaffa. Their pro-LGBTQ yearbook quotes were removed from their senior yearbook by an a... Read More

A core aspect of human autonomy and dignity is to be able to make decisions about our own bodies. But each year, doctors around the country continue to perform medically unnecessary, harmful surgeries on intersex infants and children, just to “normalize” their bodies. What this means is that doctors are forcing infants and young children to undergo medically unnecessary genital surgery simply to f... Read More

When our oldest child came out to us as transgender, my wife and I faced a steep learning curve. As part of this learning process, we discovered that transgender adolescents have significantly higher rates of depression and suicide than other teens. Learning about the struggles of those with untreated gender dysphoria—the condition of experiencing a conflict between one’s assigned gender and ge... Read More

YUBA COUNTY — The ACLU of Northern California today sent a letter to Yuba Community College District and Tri-County Schools Insurance Group calling on them to immediately remove an illegal provision in the district’s employee health care plans that discriminates against transgender people with a blanket-exclusion for gender-affirming care. Our client Brian Condrey, an English Professor at Yuba ... Read More

The California Court of Appeal recently ruled 3-0 that our client Evan Minton can pursue his discrimination case against the Sacramento-area hospital that in 2016 denied him access to surgery just because he’s transgender. Although this is an important victory for Evan, it also marks a big step in the broader journey toward justice in health care. Across the country, transgender people face bar... Read More

In a year when we’ve seen states throughout the South and Midwest move to ban abortion and restrict access to reproductive health, California could soon cement its reputation as a leader in reproductive freedom. This past week, the state legislature passed SB 24 to ensure that medication abortion is available to college students in public universities. Jessy Rosales, a UC student, struggled wit... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — The Court of Appeal on Tuesday confirmed that it is illegal discrimination for a hospital to deny someone care simply because they’re transgender, allowing a lawsuit filed against Dignity Health to move forward.  Plaintiff Evan Minton was scheduled to receive a hysterectomy at Mercy San Juan Medical Center, a Sacramento-area Catholic hospital in the Dignity Health chain. Two day... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — The ACLU is set to argue before the Court of Appeal in San Francisco Tuesday on behalf of Evan Minton, a man who was denied health care because he is transgender. Minton was scheduled to receive a hysterectomy at Mercy San Juan Medical Center, a Sacramento-area Catholic hospital in the Dignity Health chain. Two days prior to the appointment, a nurse called to discuss the surgery... Read More

This Pride weekend, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, let’s march, let’s celebrate, let’s party. But first let us remember today and always that the lives of Black trans people, and specifically the lives of Black trans women, matter. Let’s recognize and memorialize the great social, political, and civil rights gains achieved over the past 50 years by Black and Latin... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – In response to intensifying pressure from UCSF students and faculty, policymakers, and reproductive justice and LGBTQ advocates, the UCSF Chancellor and the President and CEO of UCSF Health today announced that they will not continue to pursue expanded affiliation with Catholic hospital system Dignity Health “as it had been envisioned.” Statement from Phyllida Burlingame, Reprod... Read More