Throughout June, Brown, Goldstein & Levy proudly recognizes LGBTQ+ Pride Month. We honor the individuals who stood against discrimination and police persecution during the Stonewall Uprising and celebrate the generations of LGBTQ+ people and advocates who have continued the ongoing pursuit of equality, inclusion, and justice.
Despite meaningful progress, LGBTQ+ individuals continue to face discrimination and hostility, particularly transgender youth. When members of the LGBTQ+ community encounter injustice, BGL attorneys bring decades of civil rights experience to provide dedicated, compassionate, and effective representation. We proudly advocate for LGBTQ+ clients across a broad range of legal matters.
The firm is currently representing eleven families who have moved for a class action to block the US Department of Justice (DOJ) from obtaining sweeping access to private, protected health information about transgender youth from hospitals across the country. The filing comes in response to escalating efforts by DOJ to force hospitals and providers to turn over transgender patients’ private medical records, including personal identifying information, despite federal court orders prohibiting the government from obtaining that information from multiple hospitals.
Last year, we secured a precedent-setting victory on behalf of a married gay employee who challenged Catholic Relief Services’ decision to withdraw health insurance coverage for his husband. The case marked the first application of new law concerning the religious exemption under the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act. We are currently defending our victory on appeal to the Fourth Circuit.
We also obtained a temporary restraining order on behalf of three transgender women incarcerated in federal correctional facilities last year. The order successfully blocked enforcement of an Executive Order that would have transferred them to men’s facilities and denied them access to gender-affirming healthcare.
BGL is also proud to collaborate with organizations advancing LGBTQ+ rights and access to justice. For example, we have partnered with FreeState Justice, Maryland’s statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy and legal services organization, to provide pro bono representation for LGBTQ+ individuals seeking name and gender marker changes, asylum protections, and legal assistance in employment and healthcare discrimination matters.
For more than four decades, BGL has remained committed to fostering inclusion, accessibility, and belonging in every aspect of our work. We believe that embracing diversity and creating an inclusive environment strengthens collaboration, encourages innovation, and allows us to better serve our clients and communities.
Brown, Goldstein & Levy remains proud to advocate for the dignity, rights, and full equality of the LGBTQ+ community.
ABOUT BROWN, GOLDSTEIN & LEVY
Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, D.C. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.