For almost four decades, Lambda Legal has been initiating “impact litigation” — cases that promote civil rights for the entire LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community through advocacy of the causes of individual plaintiffs.
In the beginning, however, the organization had to fight hard in court to protect its own rights. After a panel of New York judges initially found its mission was “neither benevolent nor charitable,” Lambda Legal spent nearly two years in court before the New York Court of Appeals granted it nonprofit status (Application of Thom, 33 N.Y.2d 609).
