It Gets Better Videos (page 2)
THERESE M. STEWART, Esq. Chief Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco
Led San Francisco's legal battle for marriage equality in the state and federal courts
Therese ("Terry") Stewart is one of five children raised by loving parents in San Francisco , California . Terry liked girls from as far back as she can remember, but didn't understand she could have a loving relationship with another woman until she was 24. There were few out lesbian role models then, but after years of failed relationships with men, it finally dawned on her that she was gay. Terry met her wife, Carole Scagnetti, in 1992, and they later became the parents of an adolescent girl who graduated with honors from Mt. Holyoke College . Terry graduated from UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law with top honors and joined a San Francisco law firm. She became the first openly gay President of the San Francisco Bar Association and later was appointed Chief Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco , overseeing the City's civil cases. As the City's highest ranking, Terry represents San Francisco in its legal battles in favor of marriage equality. She defended Mayor Gavin Newsom against lawsuits that attacked the marriage licenses he issued to same-sex couples in 2004; argued and won a state constitutional challenge to the California laws that excluded same-sex couples from marriage; and challenged Proposition 8 as an improper constitutional amendment. Most recently, she represented the City of San Francisco when it intervened in the federal challenge to Proposition 8. Terry not only played a major role in developing the evidence for the trial that led the federal district court to hold Proposition 8 unconstitutional, she also argued the case in the trial and appellate courts. Terry is recognized as one of the top lawyers in California , and has received numerous state and national awards. She was a Grand Marshall in both the San Francisco and L.A. Pride Parades.
JUDGE MARY MORGAN Retired Judge, San Francisco Superior Court
First Openly Lesbian Judge in the U.S. and Co-Founder of BALIF
Mary C. Morgan was the first open lesbian to be appointed a judge in the United States. Gov. Jerry Brown named her to the San Francisco Municipal Court in 1981. She had attended Smith College and New York University School of Law. Judge Morgan “came-out" in New York City during the heyday of the Stonewall riots, Gay Liberation Front, and Radicalesbians. Judge Morgan moved to San Francisco in 1972, where she worked in small storefront law offices until she was appointed a judge nine years later. While on the Municipal Court, Judge Morgan was elected Presiding Judge and was very active in judicial education in the fields of fairness, domestic violence, and new judge orientation. In 1980, Judge Morgan co-founded BALIF. In 1993, she took early retirement to go to Washington, D.C. to work in the Clinton Administration for Attorney General Janet Reno. Judge Morgan returned to San Francisco in 1996 and was appointed to the San Francisco Superior Court in 2003. Before retiring in 2011 (for the second and last time), she presided for several years over San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court – a nationally recognized criminal court program for severely mentally ill persons who are given treatment and supervision rather than being subjected to criminal prosecution. Mary has an adult son, Benjie, who is an educator in Oakland. She lives with her partner, Heather Furmidge, in San Francisco and Point Reyes Station.
JUDGE VICTORIA KOLAKOWSKI Alameda County Superior Court
First openly transgender trial court judge in the U.S.
Judge Victoria Kolakowski has received worldwide attention since winning her November 2010 election to become the first openly transgender trial court judge in the United States -- and possibly the world. Judge Kolakowski marched before the hundreds of thousands of people at the 2011 San Francisco Pride Parade as one of the Community Grand Marshals. And in October, she will be featured as one of the 2011 Icons during GLBT History Month organized by Equality Forum. Over the course of her 22-year legal career, Judge Kolakowski has encountered -- and overcome – significant discrimination for being transgender. After graduating from law school, she was denied permission to take the bar exam in Louisiana . Unwilling to accept second class citizenship, she appealed the rejection to the Louisiana Supreme Court – and won. Judge Kolakowski has also been passed-over for numerous jobs because she was "not a good fit for us." Yet despite overwhelming odds, she never gave up on her dreams. It was this fierce determination that enabled her to secure high profile positions in the private and public sector -- including senior government attorney; general counsel of a publicly traded company; and Administrative Law Judge for the California Department of Insurance and California Public Utilities Commission. Since coming out publicly in 1989, Judge Kolakowski has been a pioneer in numerous local, state and national LGBT legal, political and spiritual organizations. She has been an outspoken and passionate leader for marriage equality from 2004-2010, and co-authored Berkeley , California ’s domestic partner registration ordinance in 1991. Judge Kolakowski is the recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Award (2011) from the National Women’s Political Caucus, Alameda North; the Equality & Justice Award from Equality California (2011); and the Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award (nominated by BALIF) from the Bar Association of San Francisco (2010). She was also honored as an “Outstanding Woman of Berkeley” (1995) by the Berkeley Commission on the Status of Women. She and her wife, Cynthia Laird, were married on the first day same sex marriages were allowed in San Francisco in 2004, and again on the first day same sex marriages were allowed in Oakland in 2008. To LGBT teens worldwide, “Judge Vicky” has these words of encouragement: "Remember to always believe in yourself, and surround yourself with people who believe in you, and care about you, for who you really are. There really are people like that out there, but sometimes it just takes time to find them. Just don't give up hope."
PALOMA WU University of San Francisco School of Law
Law Student and Co-President of (LGBT) Pride Law Association at USF School of Law
Paloma grew up in Reno, Nevada and received her B.A. from Dartmouth College. She is currently a third year law student at the University of San Francisco School of Law and was recently elected to the BALIF Board as the Law Student Representative. While in law school, Paloma worked as a summer associate at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, and as a judicial extern for Judge Howard D. McKibben (United States District Court for the District of Nevada). She has conducted research for Professor Peter Jan Honigsberg's "Witness to Guantanamo" project and Professor Tim Iglesias's book, "The Legal Guide to Affordable Housing Development". Paloma is also a USF Law Review senior staff member and served as Co-President for USF's (LGBT) Pride Law Association. Outside of law school, Paloma served as Secretary on the Board of Directors of the California Wilderness Coalition, a statewide non-profit the lobbies state and federal government for wilderness legislation and protection. Prior to law school, Paloma worked as a Capital Habeas Investigator at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center, a state agency representing indigent people on California's death row. She also worked at Rosen, Bien & Glavan, LLP, on the "Coleman v. Schwarzenegger" case, a class action lawsuit representing 30,000+ prisoners receiving mental health care in California's Department of Corrections. Paloma lives in San Francisco with her wife; they have been together seven years. From Paloma to LGBT teens growing up today: "It gets better for two reasons. First, you will soon be able to choose your surroundings and the people you spend time with, and you will find a family of people who love and support you. Second, the rest of the world is growing up with you, and the arc of the universe truly does bend, though slowly, towards justice; in the meantime, it helps to be kind to yourself...even if others are not."
MOLLY B. MCKAY, Esq. Senior Counsel, Gordon & Reese LLP
Founder of Marriage Equality USA - Grassroots Organization for Marriage Equality
Since, 1998, Molly McKay, a senior attorney at
Gordon & Rees LLP, has been a pioneer and leader in the fight for marriage equality for same-sex couples through grassroots organizing. Molly and her former spouse, Davina Kotulski, have appeared on CNN,
CBS News, Hardball, People Magazine,
USA Today,
NPR,
The New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, and hundreds of other media outlets as marriage equality advocates. They were also featured in the documentary films,
“Pursuit of Equality”,
“Freedom to Marry”, and
“I Will, I Do, We Did”. Molly and Davina were the 17
th same-sex couple married in San Francisco in 2004 (later nullified by the California Supreme Court) and re-married on their 12th anniversary in September 2008. In 2001, Molly and Davina co-founded the
“Marriage Counter Actions” on National Freedom to Marry Day -- a national effort that encourages same-sex couples to request – and be rejected for – marriage licenses at their local marriage counters to raise awareness of the harms the inability to marry causes their families. As Field Director for
Equality California, Molly led the statewide field efforts responsible for passing the historic
"Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act" through both the California Senate and Assembly in 2005 (this bill was later vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger). Molly received the “Saints Alive Award” from the
Metropolitan Community Church (2004); the
Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club Community Service Award (2005); the Michael Switzer Leadership Award from New Leaf Counseling Center (2006); the
Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club Community Service Award (2008); the GLOBE Community Service Award (2008); the
Bar Association of San Francisco Pro Bono Hero Award; and served as Community Grand Marshal for the San Francisco Pride Parade in 2009. In the June 2010 edition of “California Lawyer” magazine, Molly authored a feature article on same-sex marriage equality entitled
"Bridal Advocacy."
PAUL DAVID HENDERSON, Esq. Deputy Chief of Staff, Mayor of the City of San Francisco Former Chief Deputy Attorney and Frequent CNN Contributor
Named the Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Safety for the Mayor of San Francisco in March 2011, Paul serves as a principle advisor to the Mayor and is responsible for the coordination and implementation of policy and administration among various supervisory officials of the government, particularly with respect to public safety and criminal justice. Paul graduated from UCLA and Tulane law school after being raised by his grandmother just down the block from the Alice Griffith Housing Project in Bayview-Hunters Point, one of San Francisco's most impoverished communities. Prior to joining the Mayor's office, Mr. Henderson served as Chief of Administration and Deputy District Attorney for San Francisco, where he began work as a prosecutor nearly two decades ago. At the time of his departure from the DA's office, Paul, who served under three elected District Attorneys, successfully prosecuted dozens of criminal cases, pioneered innovative community-based corrections policies, dramatically increased the diversity of managing lawyers in the office and was the highest ranking LGBT attorney and African American male attorney in the history of the Office. Voted by his peers in 2005 as one of California's "Super-Lawyers," Paul received the Charles Houston Bar Association's Benjamin Travis Community Service Award in 2008, has authored numerous published pieces on marriage equality and disproportionality, and has been the keynote speaker for dozens of national conventions on race, crime, justice and equality. Paul is also a nationally recognized prosecutor and champion of civil rights, having contributed frequently on CNN, Fox News and CBS.
DENNIS RAGLIN, Esq. Sedgwick LLP
BALIF Board Member in Charge of Young Lawyer and Law Student Programs
Dennis Raglin says, “If my personal experience proves anything, it’s that you have to be true to and believe in yourself, and then life gets so much better – even if it takes you a while to get there.” He’s a products liability lawyer and the proud father of two teenage children. For 11 years, Dennis was married to his high-school girlfriend and lived in the East Bay, where his most important role was “PT A soccer dad”. In 2004, and at the age of 33, Dennis came to terms with his sexuality and made the decision to come out of the closet. What followed was a contentious divorce that lasted three years. His ex-wife hired an anti-gay lawyer, and selected conservative Orange County as the venue for the proceedings. Dennis not only persevered through the painful experience, he also won full custody of his kids, now 14 and 17. The three of them live happily in Alameda, California. Dennis is Special Counsel at
Sedgwick LLP and works in its San Francisco office. He specializes in complex litigation, products liability and Proposition 65 toxic tort counseling and litigation. He tries cases in state and federal court and represents Fortune 500 corporations. Dennis is a member of Sedgwick’s LGBT Action Committee and the San Francisco office’s diversity committee. He has spoken on LGBT issues at events held by the
Bar Association of San Francisco and the
National LGBT Bar Association’s Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair. Dennis was elected to the
BALIF Board of Directors in 2010 and firmly believes in the group’s mission as a force for positive change in the Bay Area legal community. He is entering his second year as Chair of BALIF’s Young Lawyers and Students Committee, where he has initiated successful panel presentations such as the “Resume and Interview Workshop” for job seekers and “Navigating the Early Years” for new lawyers entering the practice. He also originated and manages “Connections” — the most successful mentoring program in BALIF’s 30-year history – which pairs LGBT law students and new lawyers with more experienced LGBT attorneys.
JUDGE DONNA HITCHENS (retired) San Francisco Superior Court
First Elected Lesbian Judge in the U.S. and Founder of BALIF and NCLR
In 1990, Donna Hitchens became the first lesbian to be elected to a judicial position in the country. She has recently retired after serving 20 years on the California Superior Court. Judge Hitchens was the founder, in 1977, of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), where she represented LGBT people in cases involving child custody, employment discrimination, access to public accommodations, and freedom of speech. She also co-founded BALIF in 1980. Judge Hitchens and her spouse Nancy, also a Superior Court Judge, have been together for 35 years and are the proud parents of two wonderful adult children. They were the first couple, in the country, to do a co-parent adoption. As a judge, she worked tirelessly on behalf of children and improving access to justice for those who had historically been denied such access.
SPENCER JONES, Esq. Attorney, O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Featured in "8: The Mormon Proposition" - Winner of GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary
Spencer is an associate attorney in the San Francisco office of
O'Melveny & Myers LLP, where his practice includes complex civil litigation and international commercial arbitration matters for clients such as AMD, Apple, Bank of America, and Google. Spencer was raised in a small town in Utah , and is the third of seven children in a conservative Mormon family. At the age of 19, he served a two-year mission for the Mormon Church in Tokyo, Japan . Spencer was the first student from his high school to attend an Ivy League college. He graduated from Dartmouth , and later from Stanford Law School . Spencer and his husband were among the first same-sex couples to receive a legal marriage certificate at
San Francisco City Hall in June 2008. Their pictures and story were carried by dozens of news outlets -- including the New York Times, USA Today, and
People Magazine. After California voters passed Proposition 8 -- which took away the right of same-sex couples to marry — Spencer was featured in a documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival titled "
8: The Mormon Proposition." The documentary chronicles the Mormon Church's substantial role in passing Proposition 8 and the resulting harm to LGBT couples. The documentary was released to theaters nationwide in Summer 2010 and subsequently won the
GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary. Through his experience with "8", Spencer repeatedly saw firsthand just how powerful
the simple act of sharing one's story can be in changing hearts and minds, and in advancing the fight for full LGBT equality. Please share yours — it's another way that things can and do get better.
JUDGE ANGELA BRADSTREET San Francisco Superior Court
Former Labor Commissioner for the State of California and Trailblazer for Equality
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Angela Bradstreet, the state's Labor Commissioner to the San Francisco Superior Court in September 2010. Judge Bradstreet obtained the equivalent of a J.D. in England , but left the UK after her mother threatened to commit suicide if Angela “came-out” of the closet. She came to the U.S. at the age of 24 with only a backpack and $1,000 in cash. Judge Bradstreet served as California 's Labor Commissioner for three years, where she managed a staff of 400 in the state's fight against the illegitimate working conditions. Prior to that, she worked in private practice for 25-years and served as the Managing Partner at Carroll, Burdick and McDonough LLP. Judge Bradstreet has received numerous professional distinctions, including the California State Bar Diversity Award for her leadership in advancing a local resolution stating that membership by Judges in organizations that exclude gays and lesbians is inappropriate. This remarkable resolution was the first of its kind in the nation, and was adopted unanimously by the San Francisco Superior Court bench. When she was elected President of the Bar Association of San Francisco in 2001, Judge Bradstreet took the resolution statewide. Her efforts culminated in the California Supreme Court amending the Commentary to the Judicial Cannons of Ethics to include disclosure requirements of membership in organizations that exclude gays and lesbians in appropriate cases. Judge Bradstreet is also the recipient of both the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award and the Anti-Defamation League’s Jurisprudence Award for her leadership in helping to eradicate the “glass ceiling” for women in the legal profession.
