- National LGBT Bar Association
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The National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Bar Association, formerly the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association, is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliated lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender legal organizations. It was formally founded in 1989 and became an official affiliate of the American Bar Association in 1992. The association is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and its current executive director is D’Arcy Kemnitz.
Contents
Mission and Vision Statement
The National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Bar Association is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliate lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender legal organizations. The LGBT Bar promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBT community in all its diversity.
History of the Association
At the 1987 march on Washington, D.C. for lesbian and gay rights, the idea of creating a national lesbian and gay bar association was introduced and enthusiastically support by a core group of volunteers. The first Lavender Law conference was held in San Francisco, in November 1988, at the Golden Gate University. In 1989, at the American Bar Association (ABA) Midyear meeting, bylaws were presented, and a nonprofit board of directors was formalized. By the time of the second board meeting in 1989 in Boston, the NLGLA had 293 paid members and initiated a campaign to ask the ABA to include protection based upon on sexual orientation to its revision of the Model Code of Judicial Conduct for Judges, which has now been accepted by several states.
In 1992, the NLGLA became an official affiliate of the American Bar Association and it now works closely with the ABA's Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities and its Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. In January 1995, the NLGLA became the first national organization to unanimously pass a board resolution calling for transgender inclusion in Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Annual Career Fair and Conference
Every year, the National LGBT Bar Association hosts our Annual Career Fair and Conference. Hundreds of practicing attorneys, dozens of scholars, over 500 students and many leading members of the judiciary attend each year. The Career Fair and Conference is composed of a day long career fair followed by 2 days of workshops, plenary sessions, receptions for women and people of color, and other opportunities for attendees to earn continuing legal education (CLE) credits.
Year Lavender Law Site 2010 Miami, FL 2009 Brooklyn, NY 2008 San Francisco, CA 2007 Chicago, IL 2006 Washington, DC 2005 San Diego, CA 2004 Minneapolis, MN 2003 New York, NY 2002 Philadelphia, PA 2001 Dallas, TX 2000 Washington, DC 1999 Seattle, WA 1998 Boston, MA 1997 West Hollywood, CA 1996 New Orleans, LA 1994 Portland, OR 1992 Chicago, IL 1990 Atlanta, GA 1988 San Francisco, CA Awards Given Out by the Association
The Dan Bradley Award
The Dan Bradley Award is the National LGBT Bar Association's highest honor. It recognizes the efforts of a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender legal community whose work, like Attorney Dan Bradley's, has led the way in our struggle for equality under the law. Dan Bradley was the first chair of the American Bar Association Section of Individual Rights and Responsibility's Committee on the Rights of Gay People, now known as the Committee for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Bradley saw the law as a powerful instrument of social justice, and he believed that lawyers had an obligation to place their skills as advocates at the service of the least powerful among us.
Previous Award Winners
Year Winner 2008 Shannon Minter, Legal Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights Therese Stewart, Chief Deputy City Attorney, City of San Francisco
2007 Patricia M. Logue, Associate Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County 2006 Urvashi Vaid, Executive Director, Arcus Foundation 2005 Arthur S. Leonard, Professor of Law at New York Law School and author of Law Notes 2004 Ruth E. Harlow, former Legal Director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund; Lead Counsel in the landmark case, Lawrence v. Texas 2003 Matthew Coles, Director, ACLU National Lesbian and Gay Rights Project Leslie Cooper, Staff Attorney, ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project
2002 Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights, San Francisco, CA 2001 Phyllis Randolph Frye, Transgender Activist and Civil Rights Leader, Houston, TX 2000 Mark D. Agrast, Legislative Director & Counsel to Rep. William H. Delahunt, Former NLGLA Co-Chair 1999 Hon. Stephen M. Lachs, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge 1998 John Ward, Founder & Former Executive Director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders 1997 Abby Rubenfeld, Rubenfeld & Associates, Nashville, Tennessee; Former Legal Director of Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund 1996 Suzanne Goldberg, Attorney for Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund Tom Stoddard, Former Executive Director of Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund Jeanne Winer, Trial Counsel for Plaintiffs in Romer v. Evans
1994 William E. Adams, Jr., Nova University School of Law, Fort Lauderdale, FL 1992 Sue Wilson, Attorney for Sharon Kowalski 1990 Nan Hunter, Professor, Brooklyn Law School; Former Head of Gay & Lesbian Rights Project, ACLU Allies for Justice Award
Each year, the National LGBT Bar Association honors a legal professional who, in their position of leadership, has allied with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and has made a noteworthy contribution to the struggle for civil rights and equality before the law.
Past Allies for Justice Awardees
2008 Veta T. Richardson, Executive Director, Minority Corporate Counsel Association Hon. Deval Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
2007 Gavin Newsome, Mayor of San Francisco William H. Neukom, President, American Bar Association
2006 Honorable Steven H. Levinson, Associate Justice, Hawai'i Supreme Court 2005 Harold Hongju Koh, Dean, Yale University Law School 2004 Hon. John Lewis, Congressmember, Georgia 2003 Chris Zawisza, ACLU Attorney 2002 Hon. Charles Robb, Senator, Virginia 2001 James Rogers, Boston College Law School 2000 Hon. Parris N. Glendening, Governor, Maryland 1999 Hon. William Campbell, Mayor, Atlanta Richard J. Podell, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Judy Perry Martinez, New Orleans, Louisiana1998 Hon. Dennis W. Archer, Mayor, Detroit; Former Chair of the House of Delegates, American Bar Association 1997 Drucilla Stender Ramey, Executive Director and General Counsel, Bar Association of San Francisco 1996 Herma Hill Kay, Dean, Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley
Laurence Tribe, Professor of Law, Harvard University Law School
Jean Dubofsky, Former Justice, Colorado Supreme Court; Counsel to Plaintiffs in Evans v. Romer1995 Hon. Bernice B. Donald, Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Norman Redlich, Former Dean, New York University School of Law; Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, New York, NY
John J. Curtin, Jr., Former American Bar Association President; Bingham, Dana & Gould, Boston, MA1994 William L. Robinson, Dean, DC School of Law; Delegate to American Bar Association House of Delegates
John H. Pickering, Founder, Counsel to Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Washington DC; Delegate to American Bar Association House of Delegates
Sara-Ann Determan, Partner, Hogan & Hartson, Washington, DC; Former Chair, Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities, American Bar Association
Chesterfield H. Smith, Partner, Holland & Knight, Miami, FL; Former American Bar Association President1993 Brooksley E. Born, Partner, Arnold & Porter, Washington, DC
Alexander D. Forger, Jr., Partner, Millbank, Tweed, New York, NY
Elaine R. Jones, Executive Director of NAACP Legal Defense Fund
William O. Whitehurst, Texas Bar Association President
George E. Bushnell, Jr., Detroit, Michigan; President of ABAMichael Greenberg Student Writing Competition
Each year, the National LGBT Bar Association hosts a writing competition challenging students enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school to submit papers on a cutting edge legal issue affecting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and/or Intersex community.
Prizes
First Place: $3,000 scholarship, Publication in the Journal of Law and Sexuality at Tulane University Law School, Registration, airfare & lodging for Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference First Runner-up: $2,000 scholarship, Registration, airfare & lodging for Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference Second Runner-up: $1,000 scholarship, Registration, airfare & lodging for Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference The National LGBT Bar Association's Student Leadership Awards
The National LGBT Bar Association's Student Leadership Awards are presented to graduating or recently graduated law students who have demonstrated a unique level of commitment to serving the LGBT community throughout their law school careers. The first such award was presented in 2008 at the Law Student Celebration & Caucus event at the Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference.[citation needed]
Awardees
2008 Becca Levin Aaron Merki
See also
External links
- Official Website: LGBTBar.org
- Annual Career Fair and Conference Information: [1]
Categories:- American bar associations
- LGBT organizations in the United States
- LGBT professional associations
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