University Recognizes Seven Attorneys for Outstanding Leadership
(San Francisco,CA, January 7, 2008) — The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) today announced that Legal Director Shannon Price Minter will receive Cornell Law School and Cornell Law Association’s Annual Exemplary Public Service Awards. Seven outstanding alumni were chosen from nominations submitted by fellow alumni, and will be honored in New York City on February 7, 2008.
Fellow alumni selected Minter “for his work in advancing the human rights and safety of all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families. Mr. Minter has litigated many impact cases across the country on issues relating to employment discrimination, marriage rights, parental rights and relationship rights.”
Minter has guided NCLR’s litigation and program work for over 10 years. Currently, he represents same- sex couples seeking the freedom to marry in the California marriage case pending before the California Supreme Court. He has been lead counsel in dozens of groundbreaking legal victories including Sharon Smith’s unprecedented victory in her wrongful death In 2005, Minter was one of 18 people to receive the Ford Foundation’s “Leadership for a Changing World” award. In 2004, Minter was awarded an Honorary Degree from the City University of New York School of Law for his advocacy on behalf of same-sex couples and their families. He has also received the Anderson Prize Foundation Creating Change Award by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and the distinguished national service award from GAYLAW, the bar association for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender lawyers, law students, and legal professionals in Washington, D.C. Minter serves on the boards of Equality California and the Transgender Law & Policy Institute. He is co-editor of Transgender Rights, the first comprehensive book on the transgender civil rights movement.
He received a J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1993.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.