The movement for LGBTQ+ liberation was sparked by protests against police violence and government failure to address the needs of our communities.
Decades later, bias and discrimination against our communities run rampant in the criminal legal system. Law enforcement continues to discriminate against and abuse the LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV at alarming rates.
Lambda Legal stands up to the power of the police and the criminal legal system in a number of ways: We challenge unconstitutional and discriminatory laws that target members of our community. We hold people and institutions accountable for discrimination and abuse by representing LGBTQ+ people and those living with HIV whose legal rights are violated. And we support legislation to advance and protect the rights of our community in the criminal legal system while opposing harmful and discriminatory laws.
Fast Facts
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PROTECTED & SERVED?
A COMMUNITY SURVEY OF LGBTQ+ PEOPLE AND PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV
Protected & Served? is a project of Lambda Legal, Black and Pink National, and Strength In Numbers that looks at data — quantitative information and personal stories — gathered from over 2,500 LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV, about their experiences with misconduct involving police, courts, prisons, jails, schools, and other government agencies.
We know that LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV experience high rates of discrimination and bias in the criminal legal system, especially when they hold multiple marginalized identities, yet there is very little research on this topic.
Protected and Served? 2022 equips us with facts and data that will support new research, advocacy, litigation, and policy efforts to address unlawful bias, discrimination, and abuse of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV by law enforcement, courts, prisons, schools, and other government agencies and to hold them accountable.
Your rights
Explore our collection of resources to learn more about your rights when it comes to the criminal legal system—including law enforcement, prisons and jails, and in the courts. Have a specific question that’s not answered below? Visit our Help Desk.
Latest news
June 18, 2025
Lambda Legal, ACLU Respond to Supreme Court Ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti
This morning, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a challenge brought by three transgender adolescents, their families, and a Memphis-based medical provider against a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming hormone therapies for transgender people under 18. The Court agreed with parts of the Sixth Circuit’s opinion that allowed the law to take...
June 28, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Allows Oregon City’s Draconian Ban Targeting the Unhoused to Go into Effect
May 16, 2024
VICTORY! Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging California’s Transgender Prison Policy
April 22, 2024