(San Francisco, CA, November 7, 2014)—The National Center of Lesbian Rights is proud to announce that Greater Palm Springs Pride is honoring Legal Director Shannon Minter with the 2014 Spirit of Stonewall Lifetime Achievement Award. Minter is one of two award recipients this year. The other honoree is businesswoman and entrepreneur, Mariah Hanson.
Minter, who joined NCLR in 1993, is receiving the award for his work advancing LBGT equality through litigation, legislation, policy, and public education across the nation. He was also the lead counsel for some of the same-sex couples in the landmark California marriage equality case which held that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry and that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation are inherently discriminatory and subject to the highest level of constitutional scrutiny.
Minter was also NCLR’s lead attorney in Christian Legal Society v. Hastings, a U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding student group policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and rejecting the argument that such policies violated a student group’s rights to freedom of speech, religion, and association. In 2009, Minter was named a California Lawyer of the Year by California Lawyer. In 2008, he was named among six Lawyers of the Year by Lawyers USA and among California’s Top 100 Lawyers by the legal publication The Daily Journal.
“Minter is a national treasure,” said Greater Palm Springs Pride President Ron deHarte. “His legal career, work on behalf of and service to the LGBTQ community has been nothing but extraordinary.”
Said Minter: “It has been an extraordinary privilege to work alongside so many dedicated colleagues and advocates who have devoted their lives to winning justice, security, and freedom for LGBTQ people. I am very grateful to Palm Springs Pride and honored to be part of such a vibrant movement with so much energy and hope for the future. I know that we will not rest until every person is treated with fairness and respect and every young person grows up knowing they are loved and supported for who they are.”
The Award will be presented this weekend during the Palm Springs Pride Celebration.