The Transgender Law Institute is a space for the leading legal minds involved with the transgender community to share ideas and network. The Institute will host experienced practitioners and academics focusing on legal issues affecting the transgender community. Participants will share their collective wisdom and discuss cutting-edge legal strategies. To create an environment that encourages the free flow of information, registration is limited. The meeting will be closed and the proceedings will not be recorded. The Transgender Law Institute is open to all approved attorneys and law students.
The LGBT Bar is no longer requiring Institute registration forms for interested attendees. You will be able to apply for this Institute on the 2021 Lavender Law® advance registration form.
Please check back next year for the 2021 schedule. The Institute’s 2020 schedule is available below for reference.
2020 Program and Schedule
First half: Friday, August 14, 2020 starting at 11am ET/10am CT/8am PT
Please note that the schedule below is listed in Eastern Time.
| Time | Program |
|---|---|
| 11:00am-11:15am | Welcome |
| 11:15am-12:30pm | Capitalize Black: Centering Racial and Economic Justice in Sex Work Decriminalization in DC This workshop will feature a panel of organizers and lawyers in Washington, DC working to reform the laws criminalizing sex work. Sex work criminalization disproportionately victimizes and incarcerates Black LGBTQ people, and Washington, DC’s movement to decriminalize sex work has been led by trans and cis Black and brown women. Our panelists will discuss how organizers and lawyers worked together to practice racial and economic justice in crafting a decriminalization bill and tactics for building a diverse community-driven movement. Issues to be discussed include decriminalization of crimes of poverty, bodily autonomy, community accountability, and alternatives to policing. Download CLE Materials. Speakers: Puneet Cheema, Preston Mitchum, Tamika Spellman, Emmelia Talarico |
| 12:30pm-12:45pm | Break |
| 12:45pm-2:00pm | Legislative Advocacy Roleplay Session – Trans Youth Health Care Bills This panel will focus on the dangerous new wave of proposed legislation seeking to criminalize the provision of health care for transgender minors. While no state has yet enacted such a bill, last year’s battles to defeat them were fierce and closely fought. This panel focuses on the narrow defeat of House Bill 1057 in South Dakota, which would have made it a felony to provide transgender health care to minors. The panel includes the advocates who led the way in defeating that bill and will include a role play to dramatize some of the key conversations with legislators that ultimately stopped the bill from going forward. Download CLE Materials. Speakers: Taylor Brown, Heron Greenesmith, Dr. Keith Hansen, Dr. Izzy Lowell, Shannon Minter, Susan Williams |
| 2:00pm-2:15pm | Break |
| 2:15pm-3:30pm | Working with Medical Experts This panel will feature medical providers discussing their experiences working with attorneys as expert witnesses in cases involving trans issues, as well as attorneys with experience working with providers in these cases. The panel will share advice on best practices for working with medical experts, including finding experts, developing expert reports, and how to prepare providers for expert testimony. Download CLE Materials. Speakers: Alexander Chen, Randi Ettner, Dr. Izzy Lowell, Dr. Elyse Pine, Amy Whelan |
Second half: Saturday, August 15, 2020 starting at 12pm ET/11am CT/9am PT
Please note that the schedule below is listed in Eastern Time.
| Time | Program |
|---|---|
| 12:00pm-1:15pm | Trans Law Student Panel This Plenary will discuss the law school experiences of current trans and/or nonbinary law students. Topics will include challenges and difficulties faced by trans and/or nonbinary law students as well as what the individual panelists view as successes in their law school career. Discussion will also include recommendations as to what law schools could do better to support trans and/or nonbinary law students, as well as ideas for how the legal community can show up for students. Not for CLE credit. Speakers: Yuliya “Jay” Brodska, Bryanna Jenkins, Ryan Rasdall, Emily Walpole |
| 1:15pm-1:30pm | Break |
| 1:30pm-2:45pm | Career Pathways in the Law In this small group session, attendees will have the opportunity to interact in facilitated conversations about career pathways in the law. Each group will be moderated by seasoned attorneys who are openly trans or nonbinary and who have practiced in government, nonprofit, BigLaw, and the judiciary. This is an opportunity to build community, network, and build mentorship connections regardless of where you are in your legal career. Not for CLE credit. Speakers: Maddy Dwertman, Jay Larry, Jill Rose Quinn, Ethan Rice, Rachel See, Ray Wendell |
| 2:45pm-3:00pm | Closing Remarks |
| 3:00pm-4:00pm | Post-TLI Social Hour |