LGBTQ+
Willkie has a long history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community through pro bono work and community outreach. In recent years, Willkie’s pro bono efforts have focused on supporting the transgender community in particular as set forth below.
Immigration
Willkie has represented LGBTQ+ individuals from over a dozen countries seeking asylum after fleeing physical abuse, sexual assault and/or death threats due to their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Through referrals from Immigration Equality and the City Bar Justice Center Immigrant Justice Project, we have obtained asylum for transgender women from Ecuador and Indonesia, gay men from Guyana, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Morocco and Russia, and a gay woman from Jamaica, among others.
Healthcare Coverage
Willkie continues its work, which began with Cruz v. Zucker in the Southern District of New York, to ensure nationwide access to healthcare coverage for transgender individuals. Willkie was co-counsel to the Legal Aid Society and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project in this federal class action on behalf of transgender Medicaid patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria (GD). The team achieved a complete victory, resulting in the amendment of the challenged regulation which now provides coverage for treatment for many low-income people with GD. The team also obtained an order resulting in New York State removing restrictions on medically necessary healthcare for transgender Medicaid recipients under the age of 18.
Willkie attorneys, along with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), represented a sheriff’s deputy, in a federal lawsuit in Georgia, who was denied coverage for medical care related to her transition. The suit, Lange v. Houston County, alleged that the plan’s transgender-related healthcare exclusion violated the constitutional right to equal protection, Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws. The Willkie team won the Title VII claim on summary judgment, and the Georgia federal district court issued a landmark ruling holding that employers who refuse to cover gender affirming care violate federal law. Following a trial on damages, the jury found that Sgt. Lange suffered mental and emotional harm as a result of her employer’s denial of healthcare coverage for her gender-affirming surgery in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and awarded Sgt. Lange compensatory damages.
Amicus Briefs in Support of Transgender High School Students
Willkie filed amicus briefs in partnership with Education Counsel, on behalf of leading educational organizations (such as GLSEN and the National PTA), to support adopting gender identity-affirming school restroom and locker room policies nationwide in:
- Parents for Privacy v. Dallas (Ninth Circuit);
- Adams v. School Board of St. Johns County (Eleventh Circuit);
- Doe v. Boyertown (Third Circuit); and
- Gloucester County School Board v. Gavin Grimm (SCOTUS).
Name Changes
Willkie, in partnership with Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, Legal Services NYC, Sanctuary for Families, and TLDEF, regularly provides pro bono legal name-change services to low-income transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary people.
Awards and Recognition
- Willkie partner was honored with the LGBTQ+ Law Section of the New York State Bar Association’s LGBTQ+ Vanguard Award 2024.
- Willkie has been named a “2023 Pro Bono Innovator” by Bloomberg Law for its groundbreaking pro bono work to secure transgender health care rights.
- Willkie partners were named Litigator of the Week First Runners-Up by AmLaw Litigation Daily for their work on Toomey v. Arizona (October 2023).
- Willkie partner was “Highly Commended” among the finalists for Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year for the Chambers Diversity and Inclusion Awards USA 2023.
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Willkie was named TLDEF’s 2022 Pro Bono Partner of the Year in recognition of Willkie’s work on the Lange v. Houston County lawsuit and Willkie’s work to provide name changes to transgender individuals.
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Two Willkie partners were recognized as Notable 2022 LGBTQ Leaders by Crain’s New York Business.
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Willkie won the Pro Bono Program of the Year Award at Chambers Diversity & Inclusion Awards, North America 2020.
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Willkie was honored at Immigration Equality’s 2020 Safe Haven Awards with the #ProudandFree Law Firm Award.
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Willkie partner was also named LGBTQ+ Equality Lawyer of the Year at Chambers Diversity & Inclusion Awards, USA 2019.