After serving 24 years as Lambda Legal's executive director, Kevin Cathcart has announced he will retire in April 2016 at the end of his current contract.

Cathcart, the longest serving head of a major national LGBT nonprofit, helped win three historic Supreme Court cases on LGBT rights (Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas, and last month's Obergefell v. Hodges) as well as numerous other lower court victories.

“We cannot begin to express the admiration we have for Kevin's extraordinary leadership and record of accomplishments,” said Stephen Winters, Co-Chair of the Board of Directors in a statement. “Kevin guided and built this organization to become America's strongest, most effective legal advocacy organization in the LGBT civil rights movement, and the lives of countless members of the LGBT community and people living with HIV have been touched and made better by it. He has devoted his life to this work – pushing, pulling and leading our country toward equality – and we are tremendously grateful for his vision and tenacity.”

“I am proud of what we have accomplished together,” Cathcart said, “and the work will not stop over the next 10 months or the decades ahead. Our community deserves our best efforts, addressing the discrimination, violence, and inequality we still face. I plan to keep us moving forward until my last day at Lambda Legal and I have every confidence in the organization's staff and volunteer leadership – as well as in the next generation of leaders. As with any major transition, this is an opportunity for Lambda Legal to look toward the future and continue building the capacity of the organization.”

More on Cathcart's career and accomplishments here.