Every year the extraordinary Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law & Public Policy sponsors an annual update on issues concerning the LGBT community. It’s a virtual Lollapalooza for LGBT thinkers, legal and intellectual activists!
Fittingly, given the hectic election year politics, this year the topic of the April 13-14 conference at the UCLA School of Law is: Fair Play? LGBT People, Civic Participation & Political Process:
We participate in our democracy by voting, having issues we care about voted upon, running for office, serving on juries, and being counted in the Census. This year’s conference will explore whether, in 2012, LGBT people are equal participants in the political process or still relegated to second class citizenship by discrimination and bias.
Remember all that consternation when Williams Institute scholar Gary Gates reported that, based on his analysis of 11 large US surveys, he estimated that the LGBT population is not 10% of the US population as is regularly reported but closer to 3.8%? That’s nearly 9 million Americans, the equivalent of the population of New Jersey, but nonetheless there was an uproar. This year the keynote address will be given by U.S. Census Director Robert Groves, who is intent on improving the accuracy and validity of data collected about same-sex couples.
For a day made for people who think thinking about LGBT issues is fun and important (see more info below) – the conference runs 9:00-6:30p (with lunch and breaks), at the UCLA School of Law in Westwood, Room 1357 RSVP, visit: http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/highlight/11th-annual-update-2/
The closing keynote also looks to be powerful: ARE LGBT PEOPLE POLITICALLY POWERLESS TODAY?
The closing keynote address will address the question of whether LGBT individuals are still a politically powerless minority deserving of judicial protection in this country. In both granting and withholding such protection, the Court has often focused on political powerlessness as a precondition for heightened scrutiny. In the context of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, how should we assess relative political power and vulnerability for heightened scrutiny purposes?
Featuring:
Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University School of Law
With Introduction by Brad Sears, Executive Director, Roberta A. Conroy Scholar of Law and Policy, The Williams Institute
The Williams Institute also closes their annual update with a moot court debate on this issue before these judges:
The two final teams from preliminary rounds of thirty-eight teams from law schools across the country will argue privacy versus disclosure issues in ballot issue campaigns, and claims of judicial bias based on gay identity.
Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University School of Law
The Honorable Christine Durham, Chief Justice, Utah Supreme Court
The Honorable Phyllis R. Frye, Associate Judge, City of Houston Municipal Courts, Municipal Courts Department
The Honorable George P. Schiavelli, Former Judge, United States District Court, Central District of California
Here’s the scoop:
6.25 Units of MCLE Credit Available
UCLA School of Law
Room 1357
9:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public. See full schedule below.
To RSVP, please email williamsinstitute@law.ucla.edu or call (310) 267-4382.
Click here to purchase MCLE ($250 or $150 non-profit rate. Includes one ticket to Gala Reception).
Gala Reception & Awards Ceremony
Friday, April 13, 2012
Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library
UCLA School of Law
6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $125 (non-profit rate is $75)
Click here to purchase tickets.
Founders Dinner*
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Los Angeles, CA
7:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Click here to purchase tickets.
*Sponsorship opportunities begin at $5,000.
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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
UCLA School of Law
Room 1357
6.5 Units of MCLE Credit Available
We participate in our democracy by voting, having issues we care about voted upon, running for office, serving on juries, and being counted in the Census. This year’s conference will explore whether, in 2012, LGBT people are equal participants in the political process or still relegated to second class citizenship by discrimination and bias.
8:00 a.m. Registration & Breakfast
9:00 a.m.-9:10 .a.m. Welcome
Rachel Moran, Dean and Michael J. Connell Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
Brad Sears, Assistant Dean, Executive Director, Roberta A. Conroy Scholar of Law and Policy, The Williams Institute
9:10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. EMERGING TRENDS IN PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT LGBT PEOPLE AND ISSUES
This session will examine emerging trends in public opinion about issues affecting LGBT people, such as employment discrimination, marriage and adoption. Panelists will discuss why these trends exist, how proponents and opponents of LGBT rights are trying to impact them, and what current public opinion suggests about the political power, or relative lack of power, of LGBT people.
Panelists:
June Carbone, Edward A. Smith/Missouri Chair of Law, the Constitution and Society, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Gregory B. Lewis, Professor, Public Management and Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University
Brian Powell, James H. Rudy Professor, Department of Sociology, Indiana University Bloomington
Moderated by M.V. Lee Badgett, Research Director, The Williams Institute
10:30 a.m.-10:40 a.m. Break
10:40 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ACCESSING JUSTICE: LGBT PEOPLE AS JUDGES, JURORS, AND PARTICIPANTS IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
As LGBT visibility increases in courthouses—with more openly identified judges, lawyers, and litigants—are we seeing changes in how judges and jurors decide cases? Panelists will explore questions such as whether LGBT judges should recuse themselves from deciding legal issues affecting LGBT people; whether LGBT people still experience discrimination in the courtroom; and whether it is permissible to strike potential jurors on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity during voir dire.
Panelists:
Todd Brower, Judicial Training Director, The Williams Institute, Professor of Law, Western State University College of Law
Rebecca Brown, Newton Professor of Constitutional Law, USC Gould School of Law
Drury Sherrod, Ph.D., Mattson & Sherrod, Inc.
Moderated by Nan D. Hunter, Legal Scholarship Director, The Williams Institute
12:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Lunch Break
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m. KEYNOTE ADDRESS: THE BIG COUNT: LGBT PEOPLE AND THE U.S. CENSUS
U.S. Census Director Robert Groves initiated a research program designed to improve the accuracy and validity of data collected about same-sex couples. As a result, the Census Bureau did unprecedented outreach to the LGBT community during the 2010 Census count, and for the first time ever, reported same-sex couples who identified as spouses. The Williams Institute collaborated with the Census Bureau in doing this outreach and provided research and analysis that supported the reporting of same-sex spouses, and continues to be the leading research center in the country analyzing Census data about same-sex couples.
Featuring:
Robert M. Groves, Director, U.S. Census Bureau
Introduction by Gary J. Gates, The Williams Distinguished Scholar, The Williams Institute
Moderated by Vicki Schultz, Ford Foundation Professor of Law, Yale Law School
1:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Break
2:00 p.m.-3:20 p.m. MAJORITY RULE: LGBT ISSUES AT THE BALLOT BOX
For decades, ballot measures to restrict LGBT rights have played dominant roles in the LGBT movement. More recently, those opposing LGBT rights have sought to use the ballot box while limiting public information about their supporters and funders, and LGBT advocates are starting to use proactive ballot campaigns to secure equality. Considering Perry v. Brown, the federal Prop 8 challenge, as a case study, how does it affect litigation when the antigay law being tested was enacted by popular vote? Looking ahead to the coming elections, is public understanding shifting sufficiently to allow campaigns to succeed on questions of LGBT equality? This panel will explore these and other emerging issues when LGBT rights are determined at the ballot box.
Panelists:
Therese Stewart, Chief Deputy City Attorney, San Francisco City Attorney’s Office
Patrick Guerriero, Founding Partner, Civitas Public Affairs Group LLC
Jon W. Davidson, Legal Director, Lambda Legal
Moderated by Jennifer C. Pizer, Legal Director and Arnold D. Kassoy Senior Scholar of Law, The Williams Institute
3:20 p.m.-3:40 p.m. Break
3:40 p.m.-5:00 p.m. FINAL ROUND: NATIONAL SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY LAW MOOT COURT COMPETITION
The two final teams from preliminary rounds of thirty-eight teams from law schools across the country will argue privacy versus disclosure issues in ballot issue campaigns, and claims of judicial bias based on gay identity.
Featuring:
The Honorable Christine Durham, Chief Justice, Utah Supreme Court
The Honorable Phyllis R. Frye, Associate Judge, City of Houston Municipal Courts, Municipal Courts Department
The Honorable George P. Schiavelli, Former Judge, United States District Court, Central District of California
5:10 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Break
5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. CLOSING KEYNOTE: ARE LGBT PEOPLE POLITICALLY POWERLESS TODAY?
The closing keynote address will address the question of whether LGBT individuals are still a politically powerless minority deserving of judicial protection in this country. In both granting and withholding such protection, the Court has often focused on political powerlessness as a precondition for heightened scrutiny. In the context of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, how should we assess relative political power and vulnerability for heightened scrutiny purposes?
Featuring:
Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University School of Law
With Introduction by Brad Sears, Executive Director, Roberta A. Conroy Scholar of Law and Policy, The Williams Institute
6:30-8:00pm GALA RECEPTION & AWARDS CEREMONY
Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library, UCLA School of Law
Tickets: $125 (non-profit rate is $75)
Click here to RSVP or purchase tickets.
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Oh man, what a wonderful collection of interesting people, powerful minds, and fascinating questions. I’d love to be there.