National LGBT Bar to bestow association's highest honor

Washington, DC – The National LGBT Bar Association, the world’s largest organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and allied legal professionals, announced this week that “Freedom to Marry” founder Evan Wolfson will receive the organization’s 2014 Dan Bradley Award. The award, presented during The Bar’s Lavender Law Conference, is the highest honor it bestows. Wolfson will receive the award during the 2014 Awards Brunch, on Friday, August 22, in New York City.

“Great lawyers don’t just win cases; they change lives,” said D’Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the association. “Evan is a true visionary in the movement to expand marriage equality to LGBT couples.

His extraordinary work is moving our country forward in ensuring all families have full recognition, rights and protections under the law. When few others thought marriage was even possible, Evan pioneered and persevered. His hard work and dedication are key reasons marriage equality is sweeping the nation.”

In 1983, Wolfson wrote his first paper on marriage and the LGBT community. Twenty years later, he turned his vision into one of the most respected LGBT organizations in the country. Today, thanks to his work with “Freedom to Marry,” a clear majority of Americans support marriage equality and marriage restrictions are falling at a previously unimaginable speed. His steadfast commitment to the
marriage equality movement prompted Newsweek to name him “the godfather of gay marriage.”

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Pittsburgh, Wolfson graduated from Yale College in 1978. For two years after graduation, he worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in a village in Togo, West Africa. Upon returning, he attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1983 and moving on to teach political philosophy at Harvard College. He then served as assistant district attorney for Kings County in Brooklyn, NY. There, he wrote amicus briefs that helped win the U.S. Supreme Court’s ban on race discrimination in jury selection (Batson v. Kentucky) and the New York State high court’s elimination of the marital rape exemption (People v. Liberta).

The Bar will also honor the memory of David Rosenblum, an attorney and advocate who spearheaded Lavender Law’s signature Career Fair. Rosenblum, who was most recently Legal Director of the Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia, an organization that provides direct legal services and health care for the LGBT community, was also a past member of the Bar’s Board of Directors. Rosenblum passed away earlier this year. His partner, Stephan Stoeckl will accept the honorary award.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that countless LGBT people found a home in the legal profession because of David Rosenblum,” Kemnitz said. “The LGBT Bar’s Career Fair, held each year at Lavender Law, is a signature component of The Bar’s work to connect LGBT law students with meaningful careers in the legal field. David left behind a legacy of opportunity that is reflected both in his distinguished legal career and in the vibrant, and growing, career fair he created and loved. We’re honored to pay tribute to his remarkable life and work.”