At long last, LALU’s annual Gayla is back on!

On October 6, 2022, 5:00 pm at Church & State (370 S. 300 E. Salt Lake City, UT 84111) LALU will be hosting its Gayla to reconnect with all our amazing members.

We will have appetizers, drinks (including a specialty cocktail), and the best company the Utah State Bar has to offer.

LALU will be presenting its Pioneer Award to Utah Bar President Katie Woods and will also be holding officer elections with voting if necessary. We can't wait to see you!

October 6 at 5 p.m.

Church & State

370 South 300 East

Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Pioneer Award

Each Gay-la, LALU recognizes a member of our community with the Pioneer Award for their contributions to the visibility of LGBTQ lawyers within our state. This year, LALU is proud to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of Kristin K. (“Katie”) Woods, the current Utah Bar President. She is the first out member of the LGBTQ community to hold the office of Utah Bar President.

Katie is a native of St. George, Utah, having graduated as the Valedictorian of her Dixie High School class, and then moving on to receive her Bachelors of Science degree at Brigham Young University. Katie graduated from the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law in 2009. She’s been practicing law since her graduation from law school, and the focus of her practice has always been to assist families and individuals with the legal issues that arise in day-to-day life. She has represented multiple clients in their bankruptcy, guardianship, divorce, child custody, probate, and family law matters. Katie is licensed to practice law in the states of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado, and is a National Certified Guardian. In addition to being an attorney, Katie is a local high school basketball coach, dog lover, lake-goer, and Jeep owner.

Please join us in congratulating Katie! Although she won’t be on hand to accept the award at the Gay-la, we are expecting to hold a special event at this year’s Fall Forum to further honor Katie as this year’s Pioneer Award recipient. Congratulations, Katie!

Elections

Pursuant to LALU’s Bylaws, LALU will also hold an election of officers to coincide with the Gay-la. If necessary, voting will take place during the Gay-la. The current slate of board members running for two-year terms is set forth below. If you would like to nominate yourself to run for one of these positions, please email lgbtutahlawyers@gmail.com by 5:00 pm on September 30, 2022.

Please note that the board currently has an open officer position and invites any interested member to attend board meetings and get involved.

President: Allison Phillips Belnap
Vice-President: Eli McCann
Secretary: Rhiannon Mann
Treasurer: Katie Nichols
Communications Chair: Maya Anderson
CLE Chair: Neil Webster
Social Co-Chairs: Alexandra Sandvik and Bret Evans
Development Chair: Open

We are thrilled to invite you to a LGBTQ+ networking event at Encircle Provo sponsored by the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion (UCLI) and LALU. Please join us for a fabulous evening to network with and support LGBTQ+ and allied law students. Enjoy drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

Friday, March 11, 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Encircle Provo
91 West 200 South
Provo, Utah 84601

2021 Legislative Session Recap:

Free Virtual CLE on April 14th at 12 p.m. via Zoom
 
The LGBTQ & Allied Lawyers of Utah (LALU) invite you to our FREE annual legislative session recap on Wednesday, April 14th from noon to 1 p.m. held via Zoom.

This year’s panel will focus on the pair of anti-transgender bills that were considered by the Utah legislature. One bill sought to ban transgender girls from participating in sports and the other would have barred kids from accessing gender affirming health care.

Panelists will include activists and parents, along with attorneys specializing in transgender rights, including Equality Utah’s Troy Williams and Sue Robbins, Salt Lake City Councilperson and Attorney Chris Wharton, as well as Lucy Hansen, an MD focusing on pediatric ER medicine, and Rob Durham, a science teacher at East High School, who are parents of a transgender child.  The panel will provide an overview of the process that led to defeat of both bills, discuss the legal implications of the proposed changes to the law, and opine on what the future transgender legal issues may arise.

We invite you to submit questions in advance via email: lgbtutahlawyers@gmail.com
 

1 hour of CLE credit pending approval.

Register Here

This CLE, “Unpacking the Bostock Decision,” will educate members of Utah’s legal profession on the findings, significance, and implications of the recent US Supreme Court case, Bostock v. Clayton County and will raise their awareness of how to effectively contribute to LGBTQ+ equity and opportunity in their legal practice.

Please register online no later than October 4, 2020.

Please contact sectionsupport@utahbar.org or 801-297-7036 with questions.

Maya Violet Anderson is a special education advocate at the Utah Disability Law Center. Her work primarily involves helping parents of students with disabilities ensure that their children are receiving a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment from their local school district, with a particular focus on issues relating to segregation and restraint/seclusion. She has also spent a significant amount of time volunteering through the Rainbow Law pro bono clinic, contributing her own insight and personal experience with the process to guide other transgender people through the steps of legally changing their name and gender. In her free time, Maya enjoys drawing satirical cartoons, playing the piano and designing video games.

Kass Harstad is an associate at Strindberg and Scholnick. She attended law school at the University of Minnesota. During law school, she worked with migrant laborers and immigrants both in Minnesota and Michigan, and also had a stint working at the Minnesota Public Defender’s appellate division. Kass graduated from law school in 2000, and went to work at the large law firm of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal in Chicago. Kass practiced general litigation, and spent most of her time defending nation-wide class actions, doing white-collar criminal defense, and litigating other complex cases such as Multi-District Litigation. While at Sonnenschein, Kass also participated in a human rights fact-finding mission in Peru, where she and nine other attorneys from the Midwest monitored and wrote a report about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission there.

Although Kass enjoyed her job at Sonnenschein and had a beautiful office on the 81st floor of the Sears Tower overlooking Lake Michigan, living and working in Chicago just didn’t do it for her in the long run. After meeting a native of Salt Lake City in 2004 (her future husband), Kass moved to Utah in April 2005. She clerked for the Utah Court of Appeals for a year and a half, and started at Strindberg & Scholnick in October 2006. She serves on the Legal Panel of Equality Utah and is an officer of the Labor and Employment Section of the Utah State Bar. She continues to volunteer on a regular basis, and loves to ski, swim, bike, read, hike with her dog, and take advantage of all that Utah has to offer.

Clifford Rosky is Professor of Law at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, where he teaches courses on constitutional law, criminal law, sexuality and law, and mindfulness and law.  In recent years, Rosky has authored and advocated for SB 296 (2015), SB 196 (2017), R277-613 (2018), SB 103 (2019), R156-61 (2020), five Utah laws that protect LGBT people from conversion therapy, hate crimes, and discrimination in employment, housing, and education.  In addition, Rosky has served on the legal teams that brought Equality Utah v. Utah State Board of Education, Equality Arizona v. Hoffman, and Gender and Sexuality Alliance v. Spearman, the country's first lawsuits successfully challenging the constitutionality of state anti-gay curriculum laws.

Please join us at
LALU’s Spring Gay-La!!
 
 
We are celebrating another year of growth, visibility, and scholarship achievement, and we want you at the party!  Catch up with friends, network with the LGBT & Allied law community in Utah, and celebrate our scholarship recipient while enjoying signature cocktails and heavy appetizers.
 
Thursday, April 11, 5:30 - 8:30
at Jones Waldo
170 Main Street, Ste. 1500, Salt Lake City, UT
 
Please RSVP to jhurst@zbappeals.com
 

 

Transgender individuals face myriad legal issues yet they are disproportionately likely to face poverty, homelessness, and equal access to justice. This CLE, co-sponsored by the LGBT & Allied Lawyers of Utah and the Salt Lake County Bar Association, will start with an introduction on using inclusive language when representing transgender clients. Attorneys Christopher Wharton and Danielle Hawkes, who regularly represent transgender clients, will then survey some of the most common legal issues transgender clients face. Finally, Dr. Rixt Luikenaar, a local OB/GYN who focuses on transgender health, will provide input on the medical issues that impact transgender clients, including access to healthcare and insurance.

Presenter Bios:

Christopher Wharton is a Salt Lake City-based attorney who focuses on family law, criminal defense, and LGBTQ legal advocacy. Chris has serves on the board of the board of several non-profit LGBTQ organizations and was named “Best Advocate for LGBT Families” by Salt Lake City Weekly in 2015.

Danielle Hawkes is a partner at The Salt Lake Lawyers, a litigation firm that works in criminal, divorce, and civil litigation throughout Utah. In 2015, she spoke in front of approximately 200 Utah judges giving a legal update on LGBT issues at the Utah Judicial Institute.

Dr. Rixt Luikenaar, M.D., is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology, has been providing exceptional healthcare locally and abroad for over 15 years. She runs the Rebirth OB/GYN Clinic and has been given numerous awards and recognition for her work with people of color and the LGBTQ communities.

This event is free of charge.

You can register for this event here: Attend Event

Join us for a casual evening of drinks and appetizers at the Chris Wharton Law offices, 165 S Main, Suite 200. Drinks will start being poured at 5:30 and last call will be at 7:30. Besides wine and beer, we’ll have a signature cocktail that is sure to be a hit. So come on over after work and enjoy the patio overlooking Main Street or the atriums with their plants and fountains.

In addition to Chris Wharton, we want to thank Dorsey & Whitney for their generous support of this event.  

Presenters:
Dani Hawkers, The Salt Lake Lawyers
Shane Marx, Dolowitz Hunnicut

Location and Time:
Thursday, June 30, 2016 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM
Parsons Behle & Latimer
201 South Main Street, 15th Floor
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

One hour of CLE credit is anticipated
Lunch included in the cost of the CLE

$25 for members
$40 for non-members

RSVP at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/25983701952
Deadline to RSVP: June 27, 2016

Questions?  Call Russell G. Evans at 801-634-5860 or email us at
lgbtutahlawyers@gmail.com

FIRST ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP GAY-LA

Please join us on Thursday, May 26, 2016 from 5:30 to 8:30 at Zimmerman Jones Booher (341 Main Street, Fourth Floor) to celebrate two years of the LGBT & Allied Lawyers of Utah and to honor our first ever scholarship recipient, Gabby Zamora Munoz.  Appetizers and drinks will be provided.

We will also be having our annual elections at the Gay-la as well. See below for additional information.   

ELECTIONS

Election will be held at the annual Scholarship Gay-la on Thursday, May 26, at Zimmerman Jones Booher from 5:30 to 6:30.  Polls will close at 6:30 and board positions will be announced at 7:00.  Voting will occur in person and only members of LALU are eligible to vote.  If you would like to vote but are unable to attend the event, please contact Amy Fowler at lgbtutahlawyers@gmail.com

The following position sare up for election: President, Treasurer, and CLE Chair.  If you are interested in running for a position please email your statement of interest and a short bio to lgbtutahlawyers@gmail.com by May 12. 

Mark your calendars to join Stoel Rives, in connection with the Utah Minority Bar Association and the Women Lawyers of Utah, for an afternoon discussing diversity and its role in the legal world. 

When:  Thursday May 19, 2016
             1:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Where: The Leonardo
             Third Floor
             209 East 500 South
             Salt Lake City, UT 84111
             *Parking validations will be provided for those parking under the SLC City Library

Cost:    General Admission $25.00

            Young Lawyers, WLU, YLD, UACDL, and LGBT & Allied Lawyers Members $15.00

To Register, copy the following address into your browser or click this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stoel-rives-diversity-summit-tickets-24500613996

If you have questions or need additional information, please email aria.nejad@stoel.com or kelsey.koziar@stoel.com.