The idea for the Section originated with Patrick Wiseman, the lead attorney in Morales v. State. In 1996 Wiseman voiced his wish that gay and lesbian lawyers branch off from the State Bar Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section and form their own section. Mitchell Katine, then an associate at the firm of Wiseman’s friend, Gerry Birnberg, collected the 50 signatures then needed to form a new State Bar section. Katine asked Connie Moore—the president of the Bar Association for Human Rights of Greater Houston (BAHR, now Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston)—and BAHR board member Charles A. Spain to join him in presenting the petition at the October 4, 1996 State Bar board of directors meeting in Fort Worth. Phyllis R. Frye wrote a letter to the board to protest the proposed name, the Gay and Lesbian Issues Section, because it was not transgender inclusive.
The board of directors defeated the proposal with 19 voting against and 17 voting for, marking the first time the board had voted against the creation of a new section. The Honorable Norman W. Black, judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and the federal judiciary’s liaison to the State Bar board of directors, publicly criticized the board. Judge Black was quoted in the Texas Lawyer, "I’ve always learned a lot about my fellow members from these meetings . . . . Today’s the first time I wasn’t real proud.” Over the next year the board of directors revised the process of proposing a new section, including raising the minimum number of signatures from 50 to 200.
1997–1998 BAHR president Anne M. Pike led the process to create a new transgender-inclusive State Bar section. BAHR recognized Judge Black at its April 8, 1997 annual meeting for his role as an outspoken guardian of human rights, where he exhorted the BAHR members to continue the fight for an LGBT law section. The judge concluded with words attributed to Winston Churchill: “Never give up.” Judge Black died on July 23, 1997.
Pike collected the 200 signatures needed and a new petition was presented to the State Bar. On April 17, 1998 in Austin, Katine and Spain spoke in favor of the new petition, joined by Larry Sauer, who spoke on behalf of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section, The board of directors voted to provisionally approve the creation of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification Issues Section. Judge Black’s 1996 comments were republished in the Texas Lawyer days before the board meeting.
The organizational meeting of the Section was held on June 17, 1998 at the State Bar annual meeting in Corpus Christi. Bylaws were approved and the first officers elected were: Mitchell Katine, chair, Anne M. Pike, vice-chair; Charles A. Spain, secretary; Wm. Rick Thompson, treasurer; and at-large council members Matthew P. Eastus, Martha A. Fitzwater, and Connie Moore.
During Spain's term as chair the Section completed its provisional status and was finally approved by the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors in San Antonio on June 21, 2000.
As a part of the Section's 10th anniversary, Phyllis R. Frye, Mitchell Katine, Connie Moore, Anne M. Pike, and Charles A. Spain were recognized on June 26, 2009 with the Founders Award.
More information about the Section's early history available in articles in The BAHR Reporter and The Houston Lawyer.
The Section's formation was featured by the State Bar of Texas in its 2014 timeline showing key points in the Bar's 75-year history. The Section was the first of its kind in any mandatory state bar association in the nation.
In 2010 the Section changed its name to the LGBT Law Section. In 2023 the Section again changed its name to the LGBTQ+ Law Section. The terms "LGBT" and "LGBTQ+" are are now part of mainstream speech but were not when the Section was founded.