Legal impact of state bans on rights of LGBT individuals

LGBT lawyers discuss ways the legal community in California can help LGBT people impacted by laws in other states. The roundtable delves into the legal pitfalls and professional ramifications of facilitating access to gender-affirming care in relation to third parties and jurisdiction.

The roundtable was hosted on October 19, 2022, and is available to view online through the video player below.

PANELISTS:

Speakers

Courtney Cahill, Professor at UC Irvine School of Law, scholar of constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, sex equality, and LGBTQ equality.

Professor Cahill is a scholar of constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, sex equality, and LGBTQ equality. Her work examines the role of disgust in lawmaking, the synergies between sex equality and LGBTQ equality, and the mutually constitutive relationship between marginal practices (same-sex marriage, alternative reproduction) and mainstream norms. Forthcoming projects include a series of essays on constitutional sex equality--including the constitutional sex equality argument for abortion--in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, and a paper arguing that sex equality's ongoing commitment to "real differences between the sexes" cannot survive LGBTQ equality.

Asaf Orr, Senior Staff Attorney, National Center for Lesbian Rights.

For more than a decade, Asaf has worked to advance the rights of the little "t" in LGBT. During that time, he represented transgender youth and their families in a wide range of legal matters including discrimination in schools, child custody disputes, child abuse and neglect, and access to affirming medical and mental health care. His current cases include, for example, lawsuits challenging Alabama's ban on healthcare for trans youth, Arizona's surgical requirement for trans people to administratively correct the sex listed on their birth certificate, and Utah's ban on transgender girls participating in girls' sports. By changing the life trajectories of transgender and gender-expansive youth through litigation, public policy, and advocacy, Asaf hopes to create a future where all children can thrive.

Jenny Pizer Chief Legal Officer for Lambda Legal's Western Regional Office.

Jenny Pizer is permanent Chief Legal Officer for Lambda Legal, the country's oldest and largest legal organization representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights movement through impact litigation, policy development and advocacy, and public education. Since joining Lambda Legal's staff in 1996, Jenny has been a leading national voice for ending discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, education, health care, and family law including marriage, and against use of religion and free speech rights to license discrimination. She now guides the organization's Legal Department of 26 attorneys and 11 paraprofessionals working nationwide through offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Jenny has received many professional achievement and community service awards, including being named among California's top women lawyers seven times.

Moderator

Judge Dean Hansell, Los Angeles County Superior Court. Before joining the bench he was a litigation partner at Hogan Lovells. Judge Hansell co-founded and served as Co-Chair of GLAAD/LA Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the Los Angeles LGBT Center Board of Directors.