Gonzaga to Host With Pride: 2024 LGBTQ+ Rights and Advocacy in Legal Education Summit

Rainbow pride graphic stating "With Pride: LGBTQ+ Rights and Advocacy in Legal Education Summit."
February 22, 2024
Gonzaga University News Service

Gonzaga University School of Law and its Center for Civil & Human Rights are thrilled to announce a first-of-its-kind gathering, the highly anticipated With Pride: 2024 LGBTQ+ Rights & Advocacy in Legal Education Summit, scheduled to take place on Friday, April 19, 2024, at Gonzaga University School of Law.

This extraordinary event aims to facilitate space for reflection, discussion, and growth on topics related to LGBTQ+ legal rights, issues, and advocacy efforts in legal education. The Summit will gather scholars, practitioners, students and change-makers who are engaged in the work of educating the next generation of legal advocates to better serve and support those in the LGBTQ+ community, which has for too long faced invidious discrimination.

With three diverse panels of faculty members from a variety of law schools – including UCLA, Loyola Marymount University, University of New Mexico, University of Denver and the University of Florida – and keynote speaker Kellye Testy, president and executive officer of the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and the incoming executive director and CEO of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) effective July 2024, the With Pride Summit promises to be an exceptional gathering for all LGBTQ+ legal and community professionals and advocates. 

Attendees also will have the chance to network and earn 5.0 CLE credits focusing on ethics, equity, inclusion, and the mitigation of implicit and explicit bias in the legal profession and practice of law.

Sarah N. Harmon, staff director of the Center for Civil & Human Rights and the supervising attorney for the Lincoln LGBTQ+ Rights Clinic, shared, "We want to make a concerted and intentional effort to move the law forward in protection and advocacy of LGBTQ+ rights and access to justice.”

With Pride: 2024 LGBTQ+ Rights & Advocacy in Legal Education Summit will create a platform for participants to engage in meaningful discussions, exchange ideas, and forge valuable connections to continue this work. Harmon noted, “A diverse spectrum of attendees will leave the Summit knowing more about the legal and systemic issues and barricades facing the LGBTQ+ community.”

"Given our institution’s long history of being a leader in clinical legal education, we are thrilled to host this unique gathering of courageous advocates and educators from across the nation,” said Jacob H. Rooksby, Smithmoore P. Myers Dean of Gonzaga University School of Law. 

“We believe the With Pride Summit reflects our mission of providing an excellent legal education informed by our humanistic, Jesuit, and Catholic traditions and values.”

Gonzaga University School of Law has been steadfast in serving and advocating for LGBTQ+ individuals for the last several years, having created the Lincoln LGBTQ+ Rights Clinic in 2020, which is one of only a few such clinics at law schools across the nation that directly and exclusively serves LGBTQ+ clients. The University’s commitment has been unwavering, and efforts are expanding to provide students with opportunities in legal education to serve and learn about advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. The next step for Gonzaga University School of Law is the launch of With Pride: 2024 LGBTQ+ Rights & Advocacy in Legal Education Summit.

Gonzaga University School of Law is excited to invite all who are interested in learning more about LGBTQ+ rights, issues, and advocacy efforts, or simply want more exposure to the community to help you better serve and represent LGBTQ+ clients. Please visit the event information site to learn more.

Register for the event here!
With Pride Summit Registration