WELCOME, and thank you for visiting our website. QLaw: The GLBT Bar Association of Washington is an association of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender legal professionals and their friends. Learn more about who we are and what we do in the About Us section.
TOP NEWS
QLaw Banquet is Thursday, April 16th. Register Today!
The QLaw Annual Banquet will take place Thursday, April 16, 2009 at the sparkling new Hyatt @ Olive 8. We are pleased to announce that the keynote speaker for this year will be Shannon Price Minter, Legal Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). Mr. Minter was lead counsel for same-sex couples in the marriage case recently decided by the California Supreme Court, which held that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry and that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation are inherently discriminatory and subject to the highest level of constitutional scrutiny. We all send Mr. Minter best wishes for the upcoming oral argument in the California Proposition 8 ligitation! Sponsorship opportunities for the QLaw Banquet are still available. Contact Kelly Moser at for information.
Thank you to our growing list of banquet sponsors:
GOLD
Perkins Coie
Stoel Rives
SILVER
Bullivant Houser Bailey
Davis Wright Tremaine
Lane Powell
BRONZE
Bennett Bigelow & Leedom
Carey & Lillevik
Dorsey & Whitney
Foster Pepper & Shefelman
Frank Freed Subit & Thomas
Garvey Schubert Barer
Helsell Fetterman
K & L Gates
Lambda Legal
Microsoft Corporation
The Nahajski Firm
The National LGBT Bar Association (NLGLA)
Seattle University School of Law
Stokes Lawrence
Williams Kastner & Gibbs
QLaw Summer Grant Application Deadline is March 20!
The QLaw Foundation Public Interest Summer Grant funds innovative public interest projects that benefit the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender ("LGBT") community and/or people living with HIV/AIDS. Applications are available here. For more information about applying for a QLaw grant or volunteering on the grant committee, visit the Summer Grant Program page under the QLaw Foundation tab on the left.
LGBTQ Youth Leaving Foster Care Need Your Help
The QLaw At Risk Youth Project is seeking volunteers to participate in a pro bono program providing legal assistance to youth who are leaving foster care. A disproportionate number of these youth are LGBTQ. Training materials and mentoring/assistance are available to lawyers interested in pro bono representation of youth through this program. Please email Michael Heath at for details.
WSBA Board of Governors Unanimously Supports Non-Discriminatory Civil Marriage Laws
On September 19, 2008, the WSBA Board of Governors unanimously passed a resolution supporting equal access for same-sex couples to civil marriage and its attendant legal rights and obligations. You can read the text of the resolution, along with the personal thoughts of WSBA President Mark Johnson and President-Elect Salvador Mungia in the November Bar News.
Mr. Johnson and Mr. Mungia, and well as Immediate-Past Presidents Stan Bastian and Ellen Conedera Dial, and each member of the Board of Governors deserve congratulations and thanks for the leadership this resolution demonstrates. Although the QLaw Board has officially expressed appreciation as an organization, we know that the BOG would be grateful to hear feedback from individual QLaw members on what this resolution means to them personally and/or to their law practice.
It is our understanding that opponents of equal marriage have been writing the BOG criticizing them for this resolution. Please take a moment to make sure your voice in support of thie resolution is heard! Contact information for each member of the BOG is available here.
Congratulations to the 2008 QLaw AIDS Walk Team!
Our team of six (Team Captain Dainen Penta, Michael Heath, Andrew Kamins, James McGuire, Thuy Nguyen Leeper, and Roger Sauer) raised $2,144 in support of Lifelong AIDS Alliance.
Photo left to right: Team Captain Dainen Penta, Michael Heath, Thomas Pitchford, Andrew Kamins, James McGuire