PRESS RELEASE

For More Information contact:

Katie Carlson

balif@balif.org

415-865-5620

www.balif.org

BALIF LGBT Bar Marks Equality Milestones at MOMA on March 11

Join BALIF, the nation’s oldest LGBT Bar Association, as we celebrate the “Art of Equality” at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Friday evening, March 11 at 7:00p.m.  Freed from the tables of a typical dinner, we will mix, mingle, and honor this year’s award winners, UC Hastings College of the Law, The Trevor Project, and J.Robert Garcia, this year’s BALIF/La Raza Summer Fellow working on LGBT issues in communities of color.  After the program, we’ll tour art galleries, sip cocktails, socialize with old and new friends, and dance the night away while the DJ spins tunes.

BALIF honors UC Hastings College of the Law with the BALIF Legal Services Award in recognition of the school’s United States Supreme Court victory in CLS v. Martinez, affirming its right to require recognized student groups to honor and equal access, non-discrimination policy. BALIF Co-Chair David Tsai remarked, “UC Hastings College of the Law’s victory will have nationwide impact.  The United States Supreme Court clearly articulated a principle of equal access for all students, something we knew in our hearts that is now supported by law.”

BALIF also honors the Trevor Project, the nation’s only 24-Hour national suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ youth.  Sadly, this year, our country witnessed that the Trevor Project’s mission is more critical than ever, as the national news reported several youth who took their own lives when they felt they had nowhere else to turn.  BALIF Co-Chair Liz Noteware noted that “The Trevor Project has mobilized America to focus on the issues facing LGBTQ Youth, and created a way for all people to get involved, help, and truly make things better.  We look forward to welcoming The Trevor Project’s call center to the Castro very soon!”

BALIF/La Raza Fellow J. Robert Garcia is the recipient of the innovative La Raza/BALIF Summer Fellowship designed to support a student working on LGBT issues that affect communities of color.  Mr. Garcia is a Stanford Law School student and former White House Intern who served the LGBTQ/Latino community by working on a range of projects advocating on behalf of  LGBT transnational couples and families, and providing LGBT resources to legal service agencies serving the Latina/o community.

Tickets are available here!