The Alliance
-- the Gay-Straight Alliance of the New York State Courts
Next Meeting
The next regular meeting will be in the fall. In the meantime, please join us at our LGBT Pride Events.
Manhattan Pride Event
Our Annual Manhattan Pride Event will be taking place at
Manhattan Supreme Court, Civil Division, 60 Centre Street in the beautiful Rotunda.
Friday, July 27 at 1:00 PM
Our speakers:
Judge Ann Pfau, the Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Courts
Justice Jacqueline Silbermann, the Administrative Judge of Supreme Court, Civil Division
Manhattan Surrogate Judge Renee Roth
and our honorees:
Judge Fern Fisher, the Administrative Judge of the NYC Civil Courts
Gilbert Rodriguez, the Assistant Deputy Chief Clerk in Bronx Family Court in charge of the Office for the Self-Represented.
All are welcome!
Brooklyn Pride Event
Our Brooklyn Pride Event, co-hosted with LeGaL -- the LGBT Law Association of Greater New York, was an enourmous success. It took place at Brooklyn Supreme Court, Civil Division (360 Adams Street). The turnout was so huge that people had to stand in the hall to listen in. The mood was positive and very warm. You could hear a pin drop as people spoke. Most amazing was the list -- it was a virtual who's who of the Brooklyn Courts.
Justice Abe Gerges, the administrative Judge of that court, gave the opening speech with a compelling statement on the need for diversity. We also heard from Justice Priscilla Hall, the Administrative Judge of Brooklyn Supreme, Criminal Division. Also in attendance were Judge Ellen Spodek, the Supervising Judge of Brooklyn Civil Court and honoree Judge Paula Hepner, the Supervising Judge of Brooklyn Family Court -- we had the head judges of four of the five Brooklyn trial courts! Clerk of the County Nancy Sunshine was there as well. We had another25-30 judges in attendance and the Chief Clerk of Family Court. Plus, the Chief Clerk of Civil Supreme Tom Kilfoyle presented one of the awards. A more impressive gathering, I cannot recall.
We honored our Brooklyn Trail Blazers: Judge Debra Silber, the first out LGBT judge elected in Brooklyn and the first out LGBT candidate ever elected to any paid position in Brooklyn at all; Judge Paula Hepner, the first out LGBT judge appointed to be the Supervising Judge in a Brooklyn court; and Justice Jack Battaglia, the first out LGBT judge ever elected to Supreme Court in Brooklyn. These are the people who opened the doors for others, and we sincerely hope there will be many more following in their footsteps. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes gave the keynote speech discussing his great progress in prosecuting hate crimes.
Pride in Brooklyn (from left to right): Alliance President Marc Levine, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, Judge Debra Silber, Judge Abraham Gerges, Judge Paula Hepner, Justice Jack Battaglia and Alliance Vice President Lois Robb. Not pictured is Laurie Marin, Esq., first vice president of LeGaL. Eagle photo by Mario Belluomo
Click Here to Read the Article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle: