2005-2006 Board

Chair:
Emil Ray

Education and Publicity:
Annisah Umrani

Treasurer:
Tabitha Lindberg

Fellowships:
Lisa Cisneros

1L Representative:
Brien Bell

We are a student organization at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). The Queer Caucus is comprised of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender variant, and queer law students and our friends, families, and allies. We strive to provide social opportunities and support for our members, to develop an academic environment that supports queer scholarship, and to organize events relating to political, social, and legal issues affecting the queer and transgender communities.

In addition, it is important to maintain a strong and visible community of LGBT law students, to develop resources and support for LGBT attorneys in public interest or public sector work and in private practice, and to develop an academic environment that fosters LGBT legal scholarship.

Since its founding in 1978, the Boalt Hall Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Caucus has worked to eradicate the legal, political and social oppression of LGBT people, and to provide an affirming, supportive base for students of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. The Caucus is comprised of a diverse group of individuals. Ultimately, the true mission of the Caucus is drawn from the interests, concerns, and passions of its membership. Our membership has risen to over 50 students and our work has been increasingly instrumental, effective, and visible in the hallways of Boalt and the wider legal community.

Activism
The Caucus has spearheaded a number of legal and awareness events of interest to the Queer community. The Caucus organizes a week of awareness activities each Fall during National Coming Out Week, and also participates in commemorating the annual Transgneder Day of Rembrance .The Caucus has actively protested against on-campus recruitment by the U.S. military's Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. In recent years, various forms of political action have received coverage in several Bay Area newspapers and magazines, including the East Bay Express, the San Jose Mercury News, and Frontiers.

Public Service
The Ken Bryan Fund was established approximately 12 years ago in memory of a student who died of complications from AIDS in his second year at Boalt. The fund provides grants for Boalt students doing AIDS/HIV-related legal work over the summer.

The Mary C. Dunlap fellowship was established in honor of Mary Dunlap, a Boalt alum who made significant contributions as a civil rights attorney. Mary helped found the civil rights firm, Equal Rights Advocates. In 1989 Mary helped Professor Swift win tenure at Boalt Hall. Included in the settlement agreement was a tenure review provision that ended discriminatory treatment of female faculty at Boalt. The fellowship supports work targeting under-served LGBT communities.

The Caucus has hosted countless fundraisers to support both fellowships, ranging from Bowl-A-Thons to campus dances. These fellowships make possible opportunities for Boalt students to involve themselves directly in supporting essential LGBT and AIDS/HIV legal work, either as contributors to the fellowship or as summer fellows. In the spring of 2002 the Caucus raised over $7000 that went to directly support the summer non-profit work of three law students.

If you would like to contribute to our public services fellowships, please contact the fellowship chair, Lisa Cisneros at lisa_cisneros@berkeley.edu. All contributions, financial or otherwise, provide critical and meaningful support.

Education
The Caucus regularly organizes educational programming including panel talks on legal issues germane to LGBT communities. Panels have addressed topics including Second Parent Adoption, Domestic Violence in LGBT Communities and Asylum Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity.

Community
Besides creating a vibrant, intellectually stimulating arena for dialogue, education, public service, and political activism concerning sexual orientation, gender identity, and the law, the Caucus provides a welcoming social network for LGBT Boalt students and their allies. Events such as the Queer-BBQ held at the beginning of the fall semester, and regular socials provide a welcoming environment for students to meet other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. These social events, along with our more structured 1L mentorship program, help incoming students smoothly transition into life as a Boalt law student.