The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

It's another beautiful summer, and time for our third annual Transgender Law institute at the National LGBT Bar Association's Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair. The Lavender Law Conference, which first met in 1988, draws over 1,500 attendees and features over 35 workshops and panel discussions.

It's being held on Thursday, August 23, 2012 at the Washington, D.C. Hilton Hotel.

I'm pleased to announce that our keynote speaker is Diana K. Flynn, Chief of the Appellate Section of the United States Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division since October 1986. In this capacity, she is responsible for the direction and management of the Division's litigation program in the United States Courts of Appeals and, under supervision of the Solicitor General, in the Supreme Court. Prior to her appointment as Appellate Chief, Ms. Flynn served in the Division as counsel to the Assistant Attorney General and as an appellate attorney. Before that, she spent several years engaged in the private practice of law. She is a 1979 graduate of Yale Law School and a 1976 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Rochester.

More importantly, it's a great deal of fun getting together with colleagues once a year to make air kisses and compare notes.

Our morning panel is entitled "Beyond Bullying: Trans Youth and Education. Our panelists are Joseph Wardenski (U.S. DOJ, Civil Rights Division) Sharon McGowan (U.S. DOJ, Civil Rights Division, Appellate Section), Janson Wu (GLAD) and Asaf Orr (Los Angeles Attorney specializing in Education Law)

Our afternoon panel is called "Trans Marriage and Parenting," and is a joint session with the Family Law Institute. Our panelists are Jennifer Levi (GLAD), Shannon Minter (NCLR), and Spencer Bergstedt (Washington State Attorney specializing in Family Law).

We'll also be hosting a discussion with local activists Ruby Corado and Jason Terry, of the D.C. Trans Coalition.

The Institute is designed for experienced practitioners and academics focusing on forwarding legal issues affecting the transgender community. Attendees may apply for admission to the Institute at http://www.lgbtbar.org/annual/program/transgender-law-institute/ All applicants must be registered for the Lavender Law Conference. More information may be obtained from Jillian T. Weiss, Chair of the TLI 2012 Planning Committee (that's me) at jweiss@ramapo.edu.