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The Williams Institute's 7th Annual Update and Gala Reception Featuring
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED FOR THE ANNUAL UPDATE
February 22, 2008 Annual Update Conference Schedule Click to download the schedule (PDF)
Equality and Beyond: Envisioning the Future of LGBT Rights
Much of the struggle for LGBT rights has focused on achieving equality. This year’s Annual Update will take a closer look at, and beyond, the concept of equality. What has been achieved using arguments based on equality? What limitations do such arguments have? Are there better alternatives? If some of the goals of formal equality are achieved, such as anti-discrimination legislation or marriage rights, what issues will remain? Will formal equality help all LGBT people? What law and policy initiatives will be needed the day after formal equality is achieved? Please join the nation’s leading experts in exploring these questions as we look to equality and beyond.
10:00 - 10:50 am
Keynote Address: The Constitutional Claim for Equality in LGBT Rights Litigation, A conversation with Nan Hunter, Professor, Brooklyn Law School Kenji Yoshino, Guido Calabresi Professor, Yale Law School
Introduction by Brad Sears Executive Director, The Williams Institute
In this exciting dialogue, two of the nation’s leading sexual orientation scholars, Professors Nan Hunter and Kenji Yoshino, will analyze and critique the reliance on the concept of equality in constitutional arguments for LGBT rights, and consider other alternatives.
10:50 – 11:50 am
Marriage Update Gary J. Gates, Senior Research Fellow, The Williams Institute Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights Lee Swislow, Executive Director, GLAD Moderated by Jon Davidson, Legal Director, Lambda Legal 2007 was a sobering year for marriage equality. What are the lessons of the past year? What is on deck for 2008? Are same-sex couples taking advantage of the forms of legal recognition now offered in ten states and the District of Columbia? If not, why not? If so, what issues are they encountering?
12:10 – 1:10 pm
WORKING Lunch: New Research and Scholarship Choose one of the four lunchtime discussions to interact in a more intimate setting with leading sexual orientation and gender identity law and policy scholars. Box lunches will be available starting at 11:50.
1) Legal Issues with California's Domestic Partnership Law Patricia Cain, Inez Mabie Distinguished Professor, Santa Clara Law Fred Hertz, Attorney Deborah Wald, Founder, The Wald Law Group Moderated by Clifford Rosky, Law Teaching Fellow, The Williams Institute California’s comprehensive Domestic Partnership Act went into effect January 1, 2005. What issues are registered domestic partners encountering? Has the formal legal status created issues for those who have not registered? What issues are created because registered partners are not recognized under federal law? Leading California practitioners and scholars will discuss how California’s Domestic Partnership Act is working in practice.
2) Gay Relationships and Motherhood Among Black and Latina Women Mignon Moore, Assistant Professor of Sociology, UCLA Moderated by Gary J. Gates, Senior Research Fellow, The Williams Institute This session explores empirical research about the relationships black gay women who are raising families have with their racial/ethnic communities. Professor Mignon Moore will discuss the contradictions and ambiguities they face as they work to maintain a racial identity that can coincide with their identities as openly gay women in black families, neighborhoods and religious institutions.
3) Trans Awareness For Legal Professionals Dean Spade, Law Teaching Fellow, The Williams Institute and Harvard Law School Moderated by Adam P. Romero, Public Policy Fellow, The Williams Institute This one-hour interactive session builds skills for working with transgender clients and colleagues and understanding the current issues in the emerging area of transgender law. Participants will gain an understanding of key terms and concepts, major areas of discrimination and the scope and effect of emerging protections within the law.
4) The Right To Be Out In Public Education Stuart Biegel, Professor, UCLA School of Law Moderated by Doug NeJaime, Law Teaching Fellow, The Williams Institute In this session, Professor Stuart Biegel, a member of the Williams Institute’s Faculty Advisory Committee, will present a section of his forthcoming book exploring the legal foundations for the rights of students, faculty, administrators and others to be out in public schools. This session will highlight issues central to the final round of the Moot Court Competition, to be held later in the day.
1:20 – 2:35 pm
Beyond Marriage Grace Blumberg, Professor, UCLA School of Law Angela Harris, Professor, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley Nancy Polikoff, Professor, American University Washington College of Law Professor Nancy Polikoff will introduce her new book, Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage, which reframes the family-rights debate by arguing that marriage should not bestow special legal privileges upon couples because people, both heterosexual and LGBT, live in a variety of relationships. Professor Polikoff will discuss how these relationships, like marriage, are about building and sustaining economic and emotional interdependence and nurturing the next generation. Following her presentation, Professor Grace Blumberg and Professor Angela Harris will comment on her new book.
2:50 – 3:50 pm
Discrimination Update Toni Broaddus, President & Executive Director, Equality Federation & Equality Federation Institute Matt Foreman, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Dean Spade, Law Teaching Fellow, The Williams Institute Moderated by David Cruz, Professor, USC Gould School of Law In 2007, the United States House of Representatives passed a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation but not gender identity. Iowa, Oregon, and Colorado passed statutes prohibiting both forms of discrimination, and Vermont added gender identity to its statute prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination. This panel will explore the developments of the past year and preview what to watch out for in 2008.
3:50 – 5:00 pm
Beyond Anti-Discrimination Legislation M.V. Lee Badgett, Research Director, The Williams Institute Chai Feldblum, Director, Federal Legislation Clinic and Professor, Georgetown University Law Center Jody Armour, Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law, USC Gould School of Law Moderated by Russell Robinson, Professor, UCLA School of Law Will employment anti-discrimination legislation lead to full equality and dignity for LGBT people in the workplace? What has been the experience of other groups, such as people of color, people with disabilities, and women who have been covered by employment discrimination legislation? What about LGBT people who are unemployed or who are living in poverty? Panelists will explore these issues and offer a vision of robust workplace and economic equality for all LGBT people.
5:15 – 6:30 pm
Final Round of the 4th Annual Moot Court Competition The Honorable Vice Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch, Arizona Supreme Court, the Honorable Justice James Graves, Mississippi Supreme Court, and the Honorable Jean Dubofsky, former Justice, Colorado Supreme Court, presiding.
Moderated by Brondi Borer, Judicial Education Director, The Williams Institute Twenty eight teams from law schools around the country competed in the Williams Institute’s 4th Annual Moot Court Competition. The finalists of the competition will present their arguments before a panel of distinguished judges. This year’s moot court problem explores the question of the rights of students to form Gay-Straight Alliances in public secondary schools under the Equal Access Act and the First Amendment.
6:30 pm
cocktail Reception Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library, UCLA Law
Take the 405 Freeway to the Sunset Boulevard exit and head east. Turn right at Hilgard Avenue and then right at Wyton Ave. As you enter the campus, an information/parking kiosk is located directly in front of you. Parking is available in Lot 2 or Lot 3 for $8 on the UCLA campus.
