Brian Castro is an attorney, advocate, and entrepreneur based in Washington, DC. His passion is helping businesses innovate and succeed in heavily regulated environments. Serving as a regulator, policy maker, Obama Administration official, and counsel to diverse businesses of all sizes, Congress, and the Judiciary, Brian has developed a lasting appreciation for the unintended burdens […]

Chase Strangio is a Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project. Chase’s work includes impact litigation, as well as legislative and administrative advocacy, on behalf of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV across the United States. Chase has particular expertise on the treatment of transgender and gender non-conforming people in police custody, […]

Judge Tara Flanagan joined the Alameda County Superior Court in January of 2013 after winning election in June 2012, and is now in her seventh (7th) year of service to Alameda County, California. After serving her first two years as a judge in Family Law and four years in the Criminal Law Division, she now […]

Judge John S. Arrowood was the first openly LGBTQ person to win a state-wide race in the South when he won his race to remain on the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2018. Judge Arrowood is a North Carolina native. After obtaining his law degree at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, he […]

Judge Lee received his J.D. with honors from the University of Florida where he was a Senior Editor on the Law Review and was awarded a teaching fellowship.  Although his practice primarily involved commercial litigation, he received the Individual Attorney Support Award from Legal Aid of Broward County for pro bono work involving mental health […]

The Honorable Javier E. Vargas has been a Judge of the Family Court of the State of New York, Kings County, since December 2015.  Prior thereto, Judge Vargas served with distinction for the New York State Unified Court System since 1993 in various capacities, including as Senior Court Attorney at the New York State Court […]

Justice Shannon Frison was appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court in March of 2013 at age 42.  She took that seat after serving for more than 3 years on the Boston Municipal Court in from 2009-2013, beginning her tenure on the bench at age 39.  Before her appointment, Justice Frison practiced locally and abroad as […]

Danielle (DJ) Healey has been litigating complex cases in federal and state courts and handling arbitration and mediation proceedings for over thirty years. She has focused on patent and trade secret litigation as well as related antitrust and tort claims. Ms. Healey has tried cases in the federal courts, state courts, International Trade Commission, International […]

Hoping is a lawyer from Suzhou in South China who practiced corporate law and founded an LGBTIQ organization before coming the United States for additional legal training. She plans eventually to work helping corporations become better human rights advocates, and currently serves as Global Public Service Fellow at OutRight Action International. Before joining the staff […]

Professor William N. Eskridge, Jr. is the John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School. His primary legal academic interest has been statutory interpretation. Together with Professor Philip Frickey, he developed an innovative casebook on Legislation. In 1990-95, Professor Eskridge represented a gay couple suing for recognition of their same-sex marriage. Since then, he has published […]