The Global Marriage Equality Movement: lessons from and for Australia
Long-time lesbian/gay civil rights leader, Evan Wolfson, will address a seminar on his work as Executive Director of Freedom to Marry. Evan worked at Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, America’s preeminent lesbian/gay legal advocacy group, leading a growing movement for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. He was co-counsel in the historic Hawaii marriage case, Baehr v. Miike, that launched the ongoing global movement for the freedom to marry, and has participated in numerous gay rights and HIV/AIDS cases.
After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1983, and teaching political philosophy at Harvard College, Wolfson served as assistant district attorney for Kings County (Brooklyn), NY where 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). Evan is an adjunct professor of law at Columbia University and has taught at Rutgers University law school. He is a Senior Fellow at the New School’s Wolfson Center for National Affairs. Evan has published numerous articles on sexual orientation and civil rights. His first book, Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People’s Right to Marry, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2004.
In 2000, the National Law Journal honored Evan Wolfson’s civil rights leadership by naming him one of “the 100 most influential attorneys in America.”
Date: Tuesday, August 7th, 2012
Venue: Lecture Theatre, Chemical Sciences Mezzanine M17, Chemical Sciences Building (F10) (Next to the LAW Faculty), UNSW, Union Rd, Kensington
Time: 6pm – 8pm
RSVP: Registration Essential: RSVP to diane.macdonald@unsw.edu.au
Cost: free
Enquiries: 02 9385 1803
For more information and updates, please visit our website, www.ahrcentre.org.
This seminar is co-hosted by Australian Marriage Equality.
Evan Wolfson’s address will be followed by a short update on marriage equality in Australia from Australian Marriage Equality campaign director, Rodney Croome AM.