In the wake of Supreme Court victories striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act and restoring marriage equality to California, the LGBT rights movement faces the challenge of how to achieve marriage equality nationwide while also addressing the many other issues facing LGBT people, such as widespread homelessness among LGBT youth, astronomically high rates of violence and discrimination against transgender people, and the absence of legal protections for same-sex parents in most states. 

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, will address these issues in a talk titled “Marriage and More: The Future of the LGBT Rights Movement" in Portland and Eugene.  The Portland event will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, in the White Stag Building, 70 NW Couch St. The Eugene event takes place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, in 175 Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St.

"Shannon Minter is a giant in the LGBT equal rights movement. Over the past two decades he has worked tirelessly not only to achieve justice for LGBT individuals and their families, but to change the legal landscape of the nation,” said Rebecca Flynn, associate director of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, which is sponsoring both events.

Minter was lead counsel for same-sex couples in the California marriage equality case which held that same-sex couples have the right to marry and that laws that limit rights. He serves on the boards of Faith in America and the Transgender Law & Policy Institute. He has previously served on the American Bar Association Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

Beatrice Dohrn, former legal director for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and current director of Oregon Law's Nonprofit Clinic, will give introductory remarks.

The events are cosponsored by the UO Department of Political Science; OGALLA: The LGBT Bar Association of Oregon; UO OUTLaws; UO Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Education & Support Services Program; Basic Rights Oregon; and National Center for Lesbian Rights.

- from the UO School of Law