Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, formed in 1973, is an American non-governmental organization devoted to promoting the legal rights of gay men and lesbians, bisexuals, the transgendered, and people with HIV or AIDS, through impact litigation and education.

Lambda initially was denied the right to organize as a not-for-profit corporation under the laws of the State of New York, on the grounds that its proposed activities would be contrary to public policy. That decision was later overturned in a 1973 decision by the New York Court of Appeals, that state's highest court. (In re Thom, 301 N.E.2d 542 (N.Y. 1973).)

Lambda has played a role in many legal cases in the United States pertaining to gay rights, including the United States Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which invalidated sodomy laws.

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