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Pride Law Fund Seeks New Board Members

2008-02-25T07:33:00Z

Pride Law Fund empowers the next generation of civil rights lawyers to advocate for the under served members of our diverse queer community. We do this through our fellowship programs, which provide much-needed funding to law students and new lawyers working on critical cutting-edge issues on behalf of the LGBT community and people living with HIV and AIDS.

Previous fellowship recipients include Chris Daley, founder of the Transgender Law Center, and our current Steel Fellow Lisa Cisneros, who is working with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and California Rural Legal Assistance to provide legal services to LGBT immigrant farm workers.

The Pride Law Fund is currently accepting applications from individuals wishing to serve on our Board of Directors. We would very much like to diversify our Board in order to better achieve our goal of service to the LGBT community. To that end, we are soliciting applications from lawyers in all areas of practice, law students, and non-lawyers in all professions. People of color, of all ages, gender identities, races and religions, and individuals who do not necessarily identify as LGBT are also encouraged to apply. Pride Law Fund will gladly make reasonable accommodation for disabled applicants and Board Members. Applicants with disabilities may request accommodations by contacting Board Secretary Elizabeth Kristen at secretary@pridelawfund.org.

Board members should be able to commit to attending monthly meetings, typically on the third Tuesday of the month. Board members must also be prepared to lead one or more projects in the areas of fundraising, outreach, and event planning.

To apply, please send a resume and a one page statement of interest to info@pridelawfund.org no later than March 15, 2008.

Statements of Interest should discuss what applicants feel they can bring to the Board, including but not limited to fundraising, program development, community outreach, documentation (film, audio, publications), and event planning.

Pride Law Fund 2006 Summer Fellow Testimonials

2008-02-24T07:59:00Z

David Brown

Santa Clara University School of Law

HIV/AIDS Living Will Outreach Project

My summer clerkship at AIDS Legal Services (ALS) was a rewarding experience. The attorneys I met were direct, understanding, and compassionate. HIV/AIDS affects so many people around the globe, including hundreds of people in the Bay Area. Many of our clients face debt as they try to cover exorbitant medical expenses. Debt collectors harass them and we help to end the harassment. A number of our clients cannot work, so we help them get disability payments. The discrimination people with HIV/AIDS face on a daily basis from employers, coworkers and landlords is startling. A stigma still accompanies HIV/AIDS that does not extend to other life-threatening conditions.

I want to thank the Pride Law Fund for giving me the opportunity to work with AIDS Legal Services this past summer. The Richter Fellowship enabled me to help clients create living wills and advanced health care directives.

Becca Levin

American University School of Law

Policing the Transgender Community

In Pennsylvania, the safety of transgender individuals is constantly at risk. With the exception of the existence of a handful of local ordinances in Pennsylvania (that specifically protect against discrimination based on gender identity) transgender Pennsylvanians are generally unprotected by anti-discrimination laws. The transgender community is also more likely to be victimized by hate crimes. Discrimination against transgender people by the law enforcement community compounds the problem.

My project investigated police relations with the LGBT community in Philadelphia and specifically focused on the experience of transgender people. I analyzed crime statistics and found that arrests under “quality of life” crimes are disproportionately high in areas with a high concentration of LGBT establishments. I then designed and implemented a survey and collected anecdotal evidence about LGBT individuals’ experience with the police. The findings will be used to work with the Police Advisory Commission and the Philadelphia Police Department to improve relations between the LGBT community and the police.

Erin Riechenbach

UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall

Transgender Employees Project

SF Human Rights Commission

I am working on a section of a five-year report that will address how to remove discrimination in the administration of health benefits in one’s own place of work. I have also been making phone calls to HMOs trying to access relevant information. Finally, I have been working on a number of direct services cases, and revived some older cases that have been waiting for attention.

Harper Jean Tobin

Case Western University School of Law

Building a Transgender Rights Practice

I went to law school to do civil rights work, so a summer at Lambda Legal was my dream job. Given my strong interest in transgender rights work, it was a very special opportunity to work in Lambda’s Southern Regional Office with their national Transgender Civil Rights Project attorney. Every day I was working on something different and interesting: First Amendment, employment discrimination, adoption, probation, and civil procedure. Not only did I do more legal research and writing than ever before, I got to see how impact litigation works from the inside: the legal strategy, the media strategy, choosing cases or plaintiffs etc. It was an invaluable and professional experience, and one that wouldn’t have been possible without financial support.

Meredith Wallis

UC Davis School of Law, King Hall

Transgender Immigrants’ Rights Project

The U.S. may grant asylum to people who have a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The persecution must come from the government or a person or group that the government is unable or unwilling to control. Some transgender applicants have been granted asylum based on their membership in the particular social group “transgender” and/or as imputed homosexuals. (Homosexuality has a longer case history as a particular social group.) Deciding whether or not to apply for asylum can be tough, especially if you are undocumented. If you win, you can stay in the US and be eligible for public benefits. If you lose, you can be deported, and your asylum application can be used in proceedings against you.

The Pride Law Fund Fellowship helped me to assist with two clients’ asylum applications. I helped the supervising attorney explain their chances for obtaining asylum and various alternatives. For asylum claims, applicants must fill out the application in English and submit a declaration to supplement the form. After meeting with my clients, I drafted their declarations and translated them into Spanish so they could review them before signing the English version. I also prepared a legal memo of points and authorities in support of both clients as well as country condition information.

Celebrate Pride Law Fund's 2007 Tom Steel Fellow, Lisa Cisneros

2007-05-08T05:39:00Z

Location: Office of Morrison & Foerster
425 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
When: Tuesday, May 15, 6:30 – 8:00pm
Phone: 415-865-0176

It’s that time of the year again! Come have a drink, eat some light food, mingle, and help us recognize PLF’s summer grantees and 2007 Tom Steel Fellow, Lisa Cisneros. Morrison & Foerster have generously opened up their offices so that you, we, and Lisa’s sponsoring organizations, California Rural Legal Assistance and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, can celebrate Lisa’s LGBT worker’s rights project starting up in Salinas, CA this fall.

Due to building security, we need your full name in your RSVP! You can RSVP by e-mail chris at_ transgenderlawcenter _dot org.

As you know, PLF was created in 1979 and since 1984 has funded more than 100 summer grantees working around the country to forward LGBT civil rights. Many of these 100 people have gone on to be active participants in the civil rights movement.

Inaugurated in 2001, the Tom Steel Fellowship is the nation’s only one-year fellowship devoted solely to providing support to a new attorney working on behalf of underserved LGBT clients in the U.S. Lisa is our sixth Fellow.

While this event is FREE, PLF relies on your financial partnership in order to fund our grantees and fellows. Pledge cards will be available at the event or donations can be made on-line at pridelawfund.org.

Pride Law Fund fundraiser at BALiF dinner

2007-02-06T05:15:00Z

Meet Pride Law Fund board members at the BALiF’s annual dinner. They’ll be happy to tell you about the work that the Fund does, and also offer to sell you a raffle ticket to help raise money for fellowships.

This year, Pride Law Fund offers two amazing travel prizes, one domestic and one international.

Round-trip tickets from American Airlines

The first, from long-time Pride Law Fund supporter American Airlines, is two round-trip domestic airline tickets. American Airlines is the only airline in the nation to earn a perfect 100% score four years in a row by the Human Rights Campaign for its Corporate Equality Index (CEI). American Airlines has a a comprehensive new page on its award-winning Web site designed especially for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) travelers. The new http://www.aa.com/rainbow page provides LGBT visitors with all of the rich content and features of AA.com - like Lowest Fare Guarantee, up to 1,000 AAdvantage(r) mile booking bonus, and no booking fees - plus new content of interest to LGBT travelers, including a comprehensive community events calendar listing available special discounts, an e-newsletter with LGBT travel tips and deals, and more.

Cruise on the Danube River from Venture Out

The second, from Venture Out is a cruise on the Danube River …

You’re invited on an unforgettable journey along Europe’s most legendary river — the beautiful Danube — as it winds from the captivating city of Budapest, along the Hungarian-Slovakian border, into imperial Vienna, through charming Austrian towns like Melk and Linz, and then into Germany, calling at Passau, the Danube Gorge, and finally Nuremburg. You’ll enter a world of natural wonders, like the beautiful Wachau Valley, and engineering marvels, such as the Main-Danube Canal. You’ll cruise through a world of hilltop castles, lush vineyards and gorgeous countryside. And you’ll discover wonderful art, grand cathedrals and a rich cultural heritage along the way.

During your 7-night journey aboard the MS Viking Europe, you call on grand cities and quaint villages. Explore both sides of Hungary’s capital, traditional “Buda” and modern “Pest,” and see how the river divides the city from atop Fishermen’s Bastion. Discover the imperial architecture and time-honored culture of Vienna, see hilltop castles, and tour riverside towns in Austria’s UNESCO-listed Wachau Valley. And in Germany, you explore baroque abbeys, magnificent cathedrals and stroll narrow cobbled streets lined with half-timbered houses. Savor the tastes of authentic dishes, learn the legends of this unique part of the world, and you’ll understand why Strauss immortalized the romantic Danube in his famous Blue Danube waltz.

Escorted cruise-tour on Danube River from Budapest to Prague for gay & lesbian travelers

ALL THIS INCLUDED!

8-day/7-night cruise with river-view, outside cabin onboard the deluxe 74-cabin Viking Europe

All meals: 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches and 7 dinners

7 sightseeing tours with private, English-speaking guides: Budapest; Vienna; Melk/Benedictine abbey; Passau/organ concert; Regensburg; Kelheim/Weltenburg Abbey/Danube Gorge by boat; Nuremberg

Welcome and Farewell champagne receptions

Cocktail party during the week with open bar and hot and cold hors d’oeuvres

Private motorcoach for all coach excursions

Old World Highlights: Port lectures by your knowledgeable Cruise Manager, apple strudel making demonstration, and the baroque grandeur and great art of the Benedictine Abbey at Melk

Individual port guides for on-your-own exploring

Onboard currency exchange services (transaction fees apply)

Welcome to the Pride Law Fund

2007-01-18T01:02:00Z

News item: PLF Steel Fellow Lisa Cisneros featured in the Advocate

March 25, 2008 The Advocate has an article about Tom Steel Fellow Lisa Cisneros’ Proyecto Poderoso. Here’s an excerpt:

Lisa Cisneros, a 28-year-old attorney, is one of those sources of help. A graduate of the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, Cisneros grew up in Salinas and now practices law for a special kind of client in her hometown: LGBT farmworkers.

“They’re very brave,” says Cisneros from her office in East Salinas, a heavily Latino neighborhood with a large farmworker population. “Imagine being a transgender woman working in the middle of a broccoli field. It takes a lot of courage.”

About the Pride Law Fund

Pride Law Fund promotes the legal rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community, and people living with HIV and AIDS, by funding legal services and projects and by sponsoring education and outreach. Pride Law Fund has been the fiscal agent for fledgling grass-roots, community based, non-profit organizations, assisted innovative academic programs, supported the development and distribution of legal and educational materials, and financed independent and documentary film projects to educate the public. Now in its twenty-ninth year, Pride Law Fund is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit, charitable organization.

The most visible activities of Pride Law Fund are its Post-Graduate and Summer Fellowship Programs. Since 1984, Pride Law Fund has funded over 100 summer fellowships to law students working for non-profit organizations across the country. In 1999, Pride Law Fund created the Steel Fellowship, a first of its kind annual award for an individual to complete full-time work on a qualifying project for twelve months.

Pride Law Fund’s fellowship program is made possible through the generous donations and support of our endowment by numerous individuals, organizations and companies. For information on joining Pride Law Fund, click on “Contributors” at the left.