GLAD Law

GLAD Law’s work includes public education, litigation, policy advocacy, and legal services for LGBT people and people living with HIV. ³ It has led cases involving LGBT student interests, HIV-related Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protections, the tax treatment of gender-related medical care, marriage equality, transgender military service, school policy challenges, and transgender prison placement. ⁴

Background

GLAD Law is a legal rights organization focused on protecting and advocating for LGBT people and people living with HIV through public education, policy advocacy, and litigation. ³ It has a full-time legal staff and a network of independent attorneys in the New England area. ⁵

GLAD Law was founded in 1978 by Boston attorney John Ward when he filed a civil rights suit against the City of Boston for a sting operation it conducted at the Boston Public Library against gay men. ⁶

Education and Training

GLAD Law’s public education program includes community education programs, publications, and guides on topics like transgender rights, HIV-related legal issues, protections for LGBT people, and anti-discrimination laws. It provides training for attorneys and educators on LGBT legal issues. ⁷ It operates GLAD Law Answers, a legal information line for LGBT people and people with HIV. ⁸

Litigation and Legal Services

GLAD Law’s litigation has included cases in support of legal recognition of same-sex marriages, same-sex spousal health insurance, adoption by same-sex couples, gender-reassignment treatments, and dividing sports and prison assignments by subjective gender identity rather than natal sex. ⁶

One of GLAD Law’s earliest cases, Fricke v. Lynch (1980), established a student’s right to bring a same-sex date to a school dance. ⁹

In Bragdon v. Abbott (1998), GLAD successfully advanced the argument with the U.S. Supreme Court that people with HIV and AIDS meet the Americans with Disabilities Act definition of a disability and are protected by the ADA. ¹⁰

In GLAD Law’s O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (2010), the U.S. Tax Court determined that treatments for gender identity disorder qualify as tax-deductible medical care. ¹¹

In DeBoer v. Snyder, GLAD Law’s civil rights project director Mary Bonauto was one of several attorneys to argue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of same-sex couples seeking state recognition of their marriages. The case resulted in a ruling that “marriage is a fundamental right for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.” ^{12  13}

In January 2025, GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people in the military. ^{14  15}

In August 2025, GLAD Law, along with the ACLU and the National Education Association, filed a lawsuit on behalf of several New Hampshire school districts and New Hampshire Outright, which promotes gender identity education in elementary classrooms, challenging New Hampshire’s ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in New Hampshire schools. ¹⁶

In Doe v. Blanche, GLAD Law is representing eighteen transgender women (natal males living as women) who are incarcerated in federal women’s prisons. The lawsuit is challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order directing that prisoners should be detained in the prison that represents their natal sex. ¹⁷

As of August 2026, GLAD Law lists 23 currently open cases, many of which focus on transgender issues. ⁴

GLAD Law provides services to transgender people in updating gender identity and legal names on documents such as social security cards, drivers’ licenses, passports, and birth certificates through its Transgender ID Project. ¹⁸

Advocacy

In Massachusetts, GLAD Law is actively supporting legislation to make name changes for transgender people confidential.  ¹⁹

In April 2026, GLAD Law published a statement in support of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which was indicted by a federal grand jury for wire and bank fraud over undisclosed payments to persons associated with extremist groups. ^{20  21}

In 2021, GLAD Law advocated for Rhode Island public facilities to be labeled “restroom” rather than by gender to allow transgender and nonbinary people access to a restroom of their choice. ²²

In 2022, GLAD Law partnered with the Beyond Roe Coalition to support a bill providing abortion access and gender-change health care to transgender people in Massachusetts. ²³

GLAD Law is a member of the Save Maine Absentee Voting Coalition, claiming that the removal of absentee voting and requiring photo ID would “disenfranchise transgender individuals, LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness.” ²⁴

Associated Groups

GLAD Law is a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR), a coalition of over 200 left-wing organizations that work together to support so-called civil rights legislation. Other coalition members include the AFL-CIO, Americans for Democratic Action, the Brennan Center for Justice, the Center for Popular Democracy, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Common Cause, Human Rights Watch, the NAACP, the National Black Justice Coalition, the National Immigration Law Center, the Open Society Policy Center, People for the American Way, and the Trevor Project. ²⁵

Organizations that work with GLAD Law include Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, and state and local LGBT advocacy groups. ²⁶

Leadership

As of 2026, Ricardo Martinez was working as the executive director of GLAD Law. Previously, Martinez was the CEO of Equality Texas, Texas’ largest LGBT political advocacy organization. ²⁷ Martinez earned a master’s degree in nonprofit management from The New School in New York City. He has worked at PENCIL, Summer Search, GLSEN, and Stand for Children. In 2012, he was named an “emerging LGBTQ Leader” by the Obama administration. He joined GLAD Law as the executive director in July 2024. ^{28  29  30}

As of 2026, Joseph Metmowlee Garland was board president. ³¹ Garland is an associate professor of medicine at Brown University Health. He earned a doctor of medicine degree from Harvard University Medical School in 2006. ³²