The AIDS Legal Referral Panel of the San Francisco Bay Area (ALRP) announced that it will be honoring Thomas R. Burns, Esq. and van Loben Sels/RembeRock Foundation at its  2018 Major Donor Party . The event is being held on Wednesday, May 9th at  MarketBar  in the San Francisco Ferry Building from 5:30-7:30pm, and features delicious food, wine (cash bar available) and great Bay views.

 

ALRP's Major Donor Party celebrates the agency's major donors and community leaders.  Tom Burns will be receiving the ALRP 2018 James C. Hormel Philanthropist Award and van Loben Sels/RembeRock Foundation will be receiving the ALRP 2018 Community Partner Award. ALRP's Major Donor Party also celebrates ALRP's 2018 Advocates Club Members - individuals who donate $500 or more to ALRP. 

 

The event helps to promote the  ALRP 2018 Heart of the Family CAMPAIGN , an initiative to raise funds to support ALRP's housing, immigration and insurance protection programs. The Campaign has a goal of raising $100,000 by June 30.

 

ALRP 2018 donors who contribute $500 or more by May 7th will automatically be added to the party guest list. Donations can be made in advance at  www.alrp.org  using the Donate Now $ button or at the door on May 9th. To RSVP or to make a donation, or for more event information, contact ALRP development director Jim McBride at (415) 701-1200 ext. 301 or  [email protected] .

On behalf of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), in collaboration with the Filipino American Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC), I would like to invite the MBC and all of its members to the BALIF/FBANC Spring Diversity Mixer. 

 

At BALIF and FBANC, we want to celebrate and bring together the diverse legal workers and attorneys in the LGBTQ community.  Many of us in the LGBTQ community hold complex identities that may not be well represented in the mainstream whether because of our race, gender, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation.  Whenever possible, it is important for us to reflect on that diversity and provide support to others within our community who may be different than us.  To that end, we are hosting a happy hour on:

 

Thursday, May 24th from 6PM to 8:30PM
Mr. Smiths
34 Seventh Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

On December 22, 2017, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District of Hawaii's preliminary injunction barring enforcement of #45's discriminatory travel ban.  Immigration Equality, BALIF, and many other organizations submitted an amicus brief in favor of the injunction and against the ban. The Ninth Circuit cited and discussed the amicus brief (a rare occurrence) in support of its conclusion that the injunction is in the public's interest.

 

The Trump Administration appealed the Ninth Circuit's decision.  Amici, including BALIF, revised their brief and submitted it to the United States Supreme Court on March 26, 2018.  Read that brief here.  BALIF will update the community on this important case going forward. Want to get involved in BALIF's amicus efforts? Please email  [email protected] for more information.

BALIF congratulates Board Member Jennifer Orthwein for receiving the Pride Freedom Award in 2018's SF Pride! This award is given to leaders in the movement for advancing LGBTQI civil rights.  Read about Jennifer's award and the other honorees here! 

In late 2017, BALIF's CCBA Committee debated a resolution at the CA Conference of Bar Associations (CCBA) Conference of Delegates that provides for equal access to rehabilitative and other programming opportunities to LGBTQI and other prisoners at high risk for sexual assault placed in solitary confinement for their own protection. The resolution overwhelmingly passed.  That portion of the resolution has now been included in current legislation being considered by the CA legislature: SB 990.  SB 990 will help ensure that the dignity of transgender people is honored in incarceration settings and that LGBTQI people and others at high risk of sexual assault and harassment have an equal opportunity to access rehabilitative, educational and work programs. SB 990 will also require that people entering jails and prison be given an opportunity to specify their preferred first name, gender identity, gender pronoun, and honorific (e.g., Mr., Ms, Mx.) and will require all facility staff to use the designated name, pronoun and honorific when addressing the person. SB 990 will further require that people housed outside of the general population for their own safety be provided equal access to rehabilitative, religious and educational programs.

The National LGBT Bar Association is proud to launch their  Commit 2 Inclusion campaign this month.

A petition is being circulated to law schools around the nation, asking the legal education community to support diversity and inclusion and reject hate groups.

The campaign recognizes that the rise of hate groups in our society and in our justice system is a direct threat to diversity and inclusion efforts and equality at large. Hate groups are defined by the FBI as those whose primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons of or with a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity which differs from that of the group's members or the organization.

The petition asks members of the legal education community to publicly acknowledge their commitment to the rule of law and the principles of the  American Bar Association's Resolution 113. That guiding Resolution urges all providers in the legal profession, including law firms and corporations, to attract and retain the talent of diverse attorneys.

Law students, law professors, administrators, and law school groups must work to uphold the rule of law and promote access to justice for all. Hate groups hurt our collective efforts to foster a diverse workplace and a more inclusive society. Hate groups marginalize diverse communities and promote hostility against them. Discrimination and hate have no place in law schools or the legal profession.

National LGBT Bar Association is committed to working toward a more equitable future led by legal professionals committed to the U.S. Constitution, its Bill of Rights, and its rule of law.  Join them today.

Location: 

BASF

301 Battery Street, 3rd Floor

San Francisco, CA

May 15, 2018 marks the Tenth Anniversary of the California Supreme Court's historic ruling in  In re Marriage Cases,  43 Cal.4th 757 (2008), recognizing the freedom to marry for same-sex couples and strict judicial scrutiny for laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation.  Please join us for a conversation about the far-reaching impacts of this historic decision. This event is co-sponsored by Morrison & Foerster LLP and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Kate Kendell, the Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), will moderate the discussion, with the following distinguished speakers:

 

When:       May 15, 2018, 12:00-1:30 

Where:     Morrison & Foerster LLP, 425 Market St.,  SF, CA 94105

Cost:         $35 for lawyers (1 hour MCLE credit); free for law students.   

Lunch will be provided.

Morrison & Foerster LLP (provider # 2183) certifies that this activity has been approved for MCLE credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1 hour.

 

Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the BALIF Foundation.  The Foundation recently launched and is working to assist BALIF in bringing LGBT judges to the bench and supporting scholarships, stipends and fellowships for law students and attorneys working in the LGBTQ community.  You can donate here.  In the four years ahead, we believe the Foundation's work will be critical in helping to protect our community.

And the Foundation is looking for Founding Circle members through the end of 2018 - pledge and pay as little as $1,000 to always be listed as a Founding Circle member of the BALIF Foundation.

For more information about the BALIF Foundation or how to get involved, contact Jamie Dupree [email protected].  

BALIF is the Bay Area's LGBT Bar Association, which is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, which can engage in political activity.  Its Board members are elected by the BALIF membership and chair various committees of the BALIF bar association.

 

The BALIF Foundation is BALIF's charitable arm.  Donations to the BALIF Foundation are tax deductible because it is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.  The BALIF Foundation is dedicated to increasing the number of LGBT judges on the bench through educational programming, supporting LGBT community organizations, and providing scholarships, summer stipends, and fellowships for LGBT  law students and young attorneys seeking to help the LGBT community through legal work.  It gave its inaugural summer fellowship for the summer of 2017.