Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund is committed to ending discrimination based upon gender identity and expression and to achieving equality for transgender people through public education, test-case litigation, direct legal services, and public policy efforts.
The National Center for Transgender Equality and Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund are merging to become Advocates for Trans Equality. More Information
ATLANTA — Today, the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) won our case involving a trans woman in Georgia, Sgt. Anna Lange, who was denied coverage by her employer for transition-related care. Today's win is huge for trans southerners — Anna Lange is one of more than 500,000 trans people living in the South — and this win follows our recent win in North Carolina for trans southerners.
WASHINGTON - Today, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF), two leading national trans civil rights organizations, officially announced their intent to merge and create a new organization called Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE). Once the merger takes effect, Andrea “Andy” Hong Marra (she/her), executive director of TLDEF, and Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen (he/him), executive director of NCTE, will lead the new organization as CEO and Executive Director, respectively.
Today, the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF), along with co-counsel Bondurant Mixson & Ellmore LLP, announced a settlement in their lawsuit against the State of Georgia for denying coverage of transgender-related health care in the Georgia State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP), which covers more than half a million Georgians, including employees of state agencies and public school districts, and their family members. The changes are particularly timely, as open enrollment is currently underway for SHBP participants, who will need to assess whether plans will provide them with the health care coverage they need.
“I am thrilled to know that none of my trans colleagues will ever have to go through what I did,” said Micha Rich (he/they), employee of a Georgia government agency and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “I hope this is a new day for my beloved state of Georgia in its treatment of trans and nonbinary people.”
Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) announced that it has resolved a complaint on behalf of career federal employee Kelly Shaw, a transgender woman who was denied necessary facial surgery prescribed by her medical provider.
Makyyla Holland (she/her/hers), a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, reached a landmark settlement with Broome County following violence, denial of medical care, and discrimination inflicted on her at the Broome County Jail because she is transgender.
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) filed claims with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on behalf of two transgender individuals with disabilities, August Rocha and Christine Muller, alleging discrimination based on disability and transgender status.
Updated on May 13, 2024