San Francisco Bay Times May 5, 2016 nclr

May 5-18, 2016 | www.sfbaytimes.com

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UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health Pages 13-14 LGBT Women Continue to Advance Human and Civil Rights

The Women’s Building Pages 15-17

What a Difference 20 Years Makes

This year marks my 20th anniversary as the Executive Director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Every year has been filled with joy, heartbreak, elation, passion, and resolve. Every year, I have spent almost every day grateful that this is my job. Every year, I have been surrounded by the most talented and committed staff, board, and donors. Every year, I have been reminded how important and critical NCLR is in the lives of so many. And as we wind down the first half of 2016, I’ve never been more convinced of how needed our work is than this year.

As you all know, our community is under attack. So far, more than 100 bills have been introduced to roll back, degrade, stigmatize, harm and target lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender folks in dozens of states. The worst of those bills have become law in North Carolina and Mississippi.

Much of the current backlash is focused on the most vulnerable, and also most resilient, in our community. Transgender women of color and trans people generally are under savage attack and the subject of toxic lies and misinformation. LGBT folks living in rural areas or in parts of the nation with few or no legal protections or security are particularly vulnerable to the new wave of hate and intimidation. But what we’ve been witnessing over the past few weeks is remarkable. We are seeing an outpouring of support and virtually universal condemnation of these laws and other efforts to roll back or limit our progress.

In their broad overreach to attack our community, the fear and hate mongers have ignited a conversation about trans lives and gender that we’ve desperately needed. And that conversation has accelerated the understanding of trans lives in a way nothing else could have. While much work remains, in some ways our fiercest opponents have done us a favor. It’s now up to us to capitalize and capture this momentum for all those who still fear for their lives and futures.

It has been an honor for NCLR to work closely with so many others in our community (and it has really felt like a community) to help coordinate a response to the cynical and toxic effort to deny our humanity and our progress in

winning greater security and belonging in this country. We know we are far from finished and that we will yet see more efforts to do damage to us. But we are nothing if not up for the challenge.

For 39 years, NCLR has been here precisely for moments like these. When I took the job as Executive Director in 1996, there was very little national conversation of our lives.

LGBT youth suffered mostly in silence, almost everywhere were lost jobs and family, few states allowed us custody or adoption of children, the idea of marriage seemed fanciful, and most popular culture depictions of us were as sick or a threat. And now look where we are.

We are here for the long haul and we are here for everyone still terrified or targeted because of who they are or whom they love. I’ve seen a lot in 20 years, and I know how far we have come. But I also know how much more there is to do.

Stay connected, stay involved. We only got here because of you and this work will not be finished without every LGBTQ person owning our movement.

Kate Kendell, Esq., is the Executive Director of NCLR.

PHOTO BY SANDY MORRIS

We are in the middle of a ferocious backlash. But what is also true is that our community and those who value equity, fairness, and justice have shown up in numbers I could have never imagined. We have allies and friends who are CEO’s, friends who are Hollywood stars, friends who are sports icons, and friends who are The Boss. And we are coming together for one simple message: We are never going back and we are not leaving anyone behind.

By Kate Kendell, Esq.

NCLR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION 2016 San Francisco

NCLR Timeline

1977—Lesbian Rights Project founded (renamed National Center for Lesbian Rights in 1989) 1980—NCLR wins landmark victory in California for Denise Kreps, denied a job as County Sheriff because of her sexual orientation 1981—NCLR brings groundbreaking case on behalf of a woman discharged from the National Guard solely for being a lesbian 1985—NCLR represents two gay men in one of the first cases in the country to seek equal health benefits for same-sex partners 1986—NCLR represents Annie Affleck and Rebecca Smith as they become one of the first same-sex couples to jointly adopt in the U.S. 1987—NCLR wins one of the first secondparent adoption cases in the country and begins promoting second-parent adoption as a legal strategy for protecting same-sex parent families 1988—NCLR wins one of the nation’s first court custody battles for a parent with AIDS on behalf of Artie Wallace, a gay dad whose son was kidnapped by his ex-wife 1993—NCLR is the first national LGBT legal organization to launch a groundbreaking advocacy program on behalf of LGBT youth 1994—NCLR dramatically expands its advocacy on behalf of LGBT immigrants with the launch of its Immigration Project, becoming the first national LGBT legal organization to do so

bia and transphobia in sports with the launch of its Sports Project 2001—NCLR wins a landmark wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Sharon Smith against the owners of two vicious dogs who killed Sharon’s life partner, Diane Alexis Whipple 2002—NCLR wins a victory on behalf of a lesbian mother in Mississippi who lost custody of her child to her former husband who had physically abused and padlocked her in their home 2002—NCLR represents Michael Kantaras, a transgender dad in Florida, in a landmark custody and divorce case televised on Court TV 2003—NCLR litigates and wins the first school harassment case to involve both lesbian and gay students who were subjected to years of anti-lesbian and anti-gay harassment 2005—NCLR wins the first round of the California marriage battle when the San Francisco Superior Court rules that excluding same-sex couples from the right to marry violates the California Constitution 2006—NCLR successfully defends the marriage of a Cherokee lesbian couple before the Cherokee Supreme Court 2006—NCLR launches the Family Protection Project to improve access to family law services for low-income, same-sex parent families, with a focus on serving families of color

1996—NCLR represents a lesbian mother in Florida in a precedent-setting case holding that courts must not base custody decisions on stereotypes about lesbian and gay parents

2007—In the first lawsuit to shine a public spotlight on pervasive homophobia in women’s sports, NCLR represents Jennifer Harris, a former college basketball star, in a discrimination case against Penn State and former coach Rene Portland

1999—NCLR is the first LGBT legal organization to launch a permanent Elder Law Project as the first wave of baby boomers become senior citizens

2007—NCLR represents a gay couple in a landmark victory against an Internet adoption business that discriminates against same-sex couples and single parents

2000—In a powerful decision that adopts many of the arguments put forward by NCLR in an amicus brief, the Ninth Circuit awards asylum to a gay man from Mexico and holds that sexual orientation is an immutable characteristic

2007—NCLR and California Rural Legal Assistance launch another first-of-its-kind project, Proyecto Poderoso/Project Powerful, to improve legal services for low-income LGBT farm workers and people in rural California

2001—NCLR becomes the f irst national LGBT legal organization to launch a Transgender Law Project 2001—NCLR is the first national LGBT organization to tackle the rampant homopho-

2008—NCLR is lead counsel in the historic case in which the California Supreme Court rules the state can no longer exclude samesex couples from marriage, including holding that LGBT people are entitled to the highest level of constitutional protection, the first time any high court has ever done so

2008—The day after passage of California’s Proposition 8, NCLR files a legal challenge with the California Supreme Court 2009—NCLR wins a case that establishes that Florida must give full faith and credit to all adoptions, including second-parent adoptions, granted to same-sex couples by other states 2009—NCLR’s Legal Director Shannon Minter testifies in the first-ever congressional hearing on gender identity discrimination 2010—NCLR represents Clay Greene, an elderly man forcefully removed from the Northern California home he shared with his long-time partner after he was hospitalized, eventually settling the case for $600,000 2010—NCLR wins U.S. Supreme Court case upholding the right of colleges and universities to enforce non-discrimination policies that protect LGBT students 2011—NCLR client Vanessa Adams settles with Federal Bureau of Prisons, establishing major changes in transgender medical policy for those in federal facilities 2011—NCLR prevents state officials from separating and denying health care rights to an elderly lesbian couple in rural Florida 2011—NCLR successfully settles a federal case on behalf of two lesbian high school seniors in Minnesota, enabling them to walk together in “royalty court” procession 2011—NCLR wins 20 asylum cases on behalf of LGBT people facing unspeakable discrimination, harassment, and violence in their countries of origin 2011—NCLR drafts comments on behalf of over 30 organizations successfully persuading the Department of Housing and Urban Development to include LGBT people and families in their housing benefits and programs 2011—NCLR convinces Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in the new state healthcare exchanges 2012—NCLR’s 35th anniversary 2012—NCLR drafts and helps pass California’s Senate Bill 1172, the first law in the country to protect LGBTQ youth from the dangers of conversion therapy 2012 – NCLR wins a case in New Mexico establishing that unmarried non-biological mothers can be recognized as parents under New Mexico’s parentage statutes

2013—NCLR works with New Jersey leaders to pass the second bill of its kind in the country protecting LGBT youth from conversion therapy 2013—NCLR wins New Mexico marriage equality case; files marriage cases in Tennessee and Idaho; and begins representing plaintiffs in Utah 2013—Along with members of NCLR’s National Family Law Advisory Council, NCLR staff helps draft legislation in Delaware and Nevada allowing all intended parents, including unmarried parents and intended single parents to conceive through surrogacy 2014—NCLR launches its #BornPerfect campaign to end conversion therapy nationwide by 2019 2014—NCLR drafts and helps pass California’s Senate Bill 274, the first comprehensive statute in the country explicitly allowing children to have more than two legally recognized parents in limited circumstances 2014—U.S. Supreme declines review of NCLR Utah marriage case, resulting in marriages beginning in the state and several other states within days of decision 2014—Washington, D.C., is the third jurisdiction in the country to protect LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy; #BornPerfect leaders testify before the UN 2015—NCLR represents marriage plaintiffs in Alabama, Idaho, Florida, Tennessee, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota 2015—#BornPerfect helps pass laws protecting LGBTQ youth from conversion in two more states, Oregon and Illinois 2015—U.S. Supreme Court grants review of NCLR’s Tennessee marriage case, along with cases from three other states 2015—History is made when the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of marriage equality nationwide after hearing NCLR’s Tennessee marriage case and cases from three other states 2015—NCLR launches the #Equality4Families campaign to raise awareness about the need to update family laws across the country to fully protect LGBT parents and their children 2016—U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reverses an Alabama Supreme Court decision refusing to recognize our client, a lesbian mother, and her prior adoption of her three children in Georgia

NCLR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION 2016 San Francisco

Don’t Miss the LGBT Party of the Year on May 7

By Danielle Siragusa

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS

You don’t want to miss the National Center for Lesbian Rights Anniversary Celebration–known as the LGBT party of the year–set for May 7th in San Francisco at City View at Metreon. Tickets are selling fast for our signature event that celebrates progress made in the movement for LGBT equality and recognizes those who have stood up for themselves and our community, becoming role models to millions of people across the country in the process. We always try to outdo ourselves each year, bringing you–and 2,000 others–the best party you have ever attended, with a mix of fun activities, carnival-like entertainers, amazing music, and dancing. And this year, we’re upping our game once again, bringing you DJ Rockaway, Shake Your Booty Band, and so much more. We’re also excited to celebrate our honorees–Black Lives Matter cofounders for their commitment to justice, a lesbian mother who would not sit idly by when her rights as a parent were challenged, and a deaf transgender young boy whose courage has shaped the national conversation around transgender youth.

The Awards & Honorees: Justice Award

Black Lives Matter Co-Founders Alicia Garza, Patrisse Kahn-Cullors, and Opal Tometi Garza, Kahn-Cullors, and Tometi co-created #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Lives Matter National Network as a call to action following the acquittal of George Zimmerman who brutally murdered 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The Network, which was catalyzed by organizers and activists in Ferguson, MO, spurred a broader movement and promulgated an international conversation about anti-Black racism, American democracy, and the experiences of Black people across the globe. Black Lives Matter “is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression,” Garza says.

Courage Award

Ryland Whittington and Family NCLR worked closely with Ryland, an 8-year-old transgender boy, who won the hearts of millions when his supportive parents, Jeff and Hillary, shared his inspirational journey through a YouTube video that went viral. When Ryland was about a year old, Jeff and Hillary learned that Ryland had profound hearing loss, and made the decision to obtain cochlear implants for him. As their child grew, they provided him with unconditional love and support, ensuring that Ryland knew he was just like any other child and his hearing did not make him any different. When Ryland began to talk, some of his first words were, “I am a boy,” prompting Jeff and Hillary to research the issue. But, like many parents, they realized unconditional love is what their child needed most, providing him with the support he needed to become a happy, healthy, and well-adjusted boy. The family—who NCLR helped through Ryland’s transition—has since shared their courageous story with millions, including in a new book, in hopes that their story will help other transgender children and their families. If you haven’t purchased your ticket yet, don’t wait much longer. It will be a night you’ll never forget.

Liberty Award

Tiara Yates and Family Tiara and Sheena Yates were high school sweethearts. They became civil union partners in New Jersey in 2011 and married three years later. They conceived their youngest child, who is now nearly 3, using a known sperm donor through at-home insemination. Since they were civil union partners when their son was born, they are both listed on his birth certificate.

But they had to fight to both be recognized as legal parents. When their son was about 1, the sperm donor sued them for custody and visitation. The trial court wrongly held that he, rather than Tiara, was the child’s second legal parent even though he had barely had any contact with the child. New Jersey generally recognizes a man as a sperm donor only if the sperm is first provided to a doctor. But for many low-income families like the Yateses, going to a doctor or clinic for inseminations can be too expensive. In March 2016, with the help of NCLR and Lowenstein Sandler, LLP, Tiara and Sheena succeeded in having the sperm donor’s lawsuit dismissed and his paternity order vacated.

What: National Center for Lesbian Rights Anniversary Celebration When: 8:30 pm to midnight on May 7 Where: City View at Metreon, San Francisco Tickets: Tickets are $100 and are available online at www.NCLRights. org/2016Anniversary until end of business May 5.

Tickets can be purchased at the door beginning at 8:00 pm.

Danielle Siragusa is NCLR’s Corporate Relations & Events Manager.

San Francisco Bay Times and “Betty’s List” are proud to partner with Feinstein’s for the new Feinstein’s Women Series!

On June 2, the mighty Montclair Women’s Big Band, under the direction of trumpet player Ellen Seeling, will blow the house down with their addictive grooves, powerhouse arrangements, and inspired solos.

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