From Gay Rights and American Law:
“[L]esbian and gay litigants experienced substantially greater success in state courts than in federal fora, with the former deciding sexual minority rights cases more than twice as favorably, on average, as the latter.” (Page 145)
“Among . . . federal cases . . . not influenced by controlling [legal] precedent, only 26.7 percent of [the] votes of judges nominated by Republican presidents were favorable to sexual minorities, while 60.2 percent of [the] votes by Democratic appointees supported homosexuals -- a difference of 125 percent!” (Pages 151-152)
Edited American Appellate Cases
Adjudicating Lesbian and Gay Rights Claims
Arranged by Court
United States Supreme Court
1986 Bowers v. Hardwick
1995 Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston
1996 Romer v. Evans
2000 Boy Scouts of America v. Dale
2003 Lawrence v. Texas
See also: Is Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a Homophobe?
United States Courts of Appeals
Second Circuit
2000 Simonton v. Runyon
Third Circuit
2000 Sterling v. Borough of Minersville
Fourth Circuit
1981 Nemetz v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
1996 Thomasson v. Perry
Fifth Circuit
1981 Van Ooteghem v. Gray
1984 Gay Student Services v. Texas A&M University
1986 Joachim v. AT&T Information Systems
2011 Adar v. Smith
Sixth Circuit
1984 Brown v. Johnson
1987 Gay Inmates of Shelby County Jail v. Barksdale
1992 Dillon v. Frank
1997 Equality Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, Inc. v. City of Cincinnati
Seventh Circuit
1996 Nabozny v. Podlesny
Ninth Circuit
1989 Watkins v. U.S. Army
1990 High Tech Gays v. Defense Indus. Sec. Clearance Office
1997 Philips v. Perry
2000 Hernandez-Montiel v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
2004 Peterson v. Hewlett-Packard Co.
Tenth Circuit
1984 National Gay Task Force v. Board of Education of the City of Oklahoma City
Eleventh Circuit
1997 Shahar v. Bowers
2004 Lofton v. Secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services
District of Columbia Circuit
1984 Dronenburg v. Zech
1987 Padula v. Webster
1994 Steffan v. Perry
Alabama
Court of Civil Appeals
1997 J.B.F. v. J.M.F.
Supreme Court
1985 Logan v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.
1998 Ex Parte D.W.W.
Arkansas
Court of Appeals
1987 Thigpen v. Carpenter
Supreme Court
2006 Department of Human Services v. Howard
California
Court of Appeal
1983 Curran v. Mount Diablo Council of the Boy Scouts of America
1984 Rolon v. Kulwitzky
1985 Hinman v. Department of Personnel Administration
1987 Coon v. Joseph
1990 Curiale v. Reagan
1991 Brian R. v. Santa Clara County Department of Family and Children’s Services
Soroka v. Dayton Hudson Corporation
1993 Engel v. Worthington
1995 Baluyut v. Superior Court
2000 People v. Garcia
Colorado
Court of Appeals
1991 Hayes v. Smith
1994 Ross v. Denver Department of Health and Hospitals
1995 Borquez v. Ozer
Delaware
Supreme Court
1993 Adoption of Swanson
District of Columbia
Court of Appeals
1987 Gay Rights Coalition v. Georgetown University
1995 In re M.M.D.
Florida
District Court of Appeal
1997 Posik v. Layton
2010 Florida Department of Children and Families v. In re: Matter of Adoption of X.X.G. and N.R.G.
Supreme Court
1981 Florida Board of Bar Examiners Re: N.R.S.
Georgia
Court of Appeals
1985 Loring v. BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Corporation
Supreme Court
1995 City of Atlanta v. McKinney
1996 Christensen v. State
1997 City of Atlanta v. Morgan
1998 Powell v. State
Hawai’i
Supreme Court
1993 Baehr v. Lewin
Illinois
Appellate Court
Indiana
Court of Appeals
1991 R.E.G. v. L.M.G.
Iowa
Court of Appeals
2000 Marriage of Kraft
Kansas
Court of Appeals
2004 State v. Limon
Kentucky
Court of Appeals
1997 Ireland v. Davis
Supreme Court
Maine
Supreme Judicial Court
1982 State v. Lovely
Maryland
Court of Special Appeals
2000 Gestl v. Frederick
Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court
1993 Adoption of Tammy
1994 Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston v. City of Boston
1999 E.N.O. v. L.M.M.
2003 Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
2004 Opinions of the Justices to the Senate
Michigan
Supreme Court
2008 National Pride at Work, Inc. v. Governor of Michigan
Minnesota
Court of Appeals
1991 Dignity Twin Cities v. Newman Center and Chapel
1994 Hanke v. Safari Hair Adventure
1998 Welfare of G.A.S.
2000 LaChapelle v. Mitten
Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis v. City of Minneapolis
Supreme Court
1986 Potter v. LaSalle Court Sports & Health Club
Mississippi
Court of Appeals
Supreme Court
1997 Bowen v. Bowen
1999 Plaxico v. Michael
Missouri
Court of Appeals
1982 J.L.P.(H.) V. D.J.P.
1987 Woy v. Woy
1998 Delong v. Delong
Nebraska
Supreme Court
1998 State v. Pattno
New Hampshire
Supreme Court
New Jersey
Superior Court, Appellate Division
1997 Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters v. Rutgers, The State University
Supreme Court
1999 Dale v. Boy Scouts of America
New Mexico
Court of Appeals
1988 State ex rel. Human Services Department
New York
Supreme Court, Appellate Division
1993 Matter of Cooper
1998 Raum v. Restaurant Associates, Inc.
Court of Appeals
1983 People v. Uplinger
1984 Adoption of Robert Paul P.
1989 Braschi v. Stahl Associates Company
1994 Lloyd v. Grella
1995 Matter of Jacob
2001 Levin v. Yeshiva University
North Dakota
Supreme Court
1981 Jacobson v. Jacobson
Ohio
Court of Appeals
1991 Gajovski v. Gajovski
1993 Seward v. Mentrup
1995 Greenwood v. Taft, Stettinius & Hollister
1999 State of Ohio Metroparks v. Lasher
Supreme Court
2007 State of Ohio v. Carswell
Oklahoma
Court of Criminal Appeals
1994 Allen v. State
1995 Sawatzky v. City of Oklahoma City
Oregon
Court of Appeals
1981 Ireland v. Flanagan
1995 deParrie v. City of Portland
1998 Tanner v. Oregon Health Sciences University
Pennsylvania
Superior Court
1984 De Santo v. Barnsley
1995 DeMuth v. Miller
1999 Mitchell v. Moore
South Carolina
Court of Appeals
1987 Stroman v. Williams
South Dakota
Supreme Court
1992 Chicoine v. Chicoine
1998 Collins v. Faith School District
Texas
Court of Appeals
1993 City of Dallas v. England
1996 Evans v. May
2010 In the Matter of the Marriage of J.B. and H.B.
2011 In re Divorce of Naylor and Daly
Vermont
Supreme Court
1993 Adoptions of B.L.V.B. and E.L.V.B.
1999 Baker v. State
Virginia
Court of Appeals
1996 Thomas v. Thomas
1998 Piatt v. Piatt
2006 Miller-Jenkins v. Miller-Jenkins
Supreme Court
1981 Doe v. Doe
1995 Bottoms v. Bottoms
2000 Arlington County v. White
Washington
Court of Appeals
2000 Vasquez v. Hawthorne
Supreme Court
Wisconsin
Court of Appeals
Supreme Court
1994 Angel Lace M. v. Terry M.
1995 Custody of H.S.H.-K.