The idea for the Section originated with J. Patrick Wiseman, the lead attorney in Morales v. State. That case was a post-Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986), declaratory-judgment challenge brought by Linda Morales, Tom Doyal, Patricia Cramer, Charlotte Taft, and John Thomas to the Texas homosexual conduct statute, Penal Code section 21.06. See Morales v. State, 826 S.W.2d 201 (Tex. App.—Austin 1992), rev’d on jurisdictional grounds, 869 S.W.2d 941 (Tex. 1994).

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 signatures from 72 Texas lawyers on a petition to create a Gay and Lesbian Issues Section (22 more than the required 50). 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 section’s name because it was not transgender inclusive. Other than the name, the proposed section was transgender inclusive, e.g., the proposed bylaws stated a purpose of the section was to “promote the study of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and HIV Iaw.”

After a discussion that was at times pointed and emotional, the State Bar Board of Directors denied the petition with 19 voting against and 17 voting for, marking the first time the Board had voted against the creation of a new section (audio 1 & audio 2). The Honorable Norman W. Black, Chief 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.” Janet Elliott, Bar Denies Gay Issues Section, Texas Lawyer, Oct. 14, 1996, at 1. Judge Black privately told Katine, Moore, and Spain that he was very disappointed by the vote. One of the consequences of this controversial decision was that 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 State Bar section with a transgender-inclusive name. 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 the Section. The judge concluded with words attributed to Winston Churchill: “Never give up.” Judge Black died on July 23, 1997.

Pike collected signatures from 247 Texas lawyers on a new petition to create a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification Issues (SOGII) Section (47 more than the newly required 200). Responding to comments made at the 1996 Board meeting that a separate section was unnecessary because of the existence of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities (IRR} Section, the IRR Section voted to support the establishment of the SOGII Section.

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 IRR Section. Rejecting an effort to delay the final vote and refer the matter to a committee, the Board approved the creation of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification Issues Section, placing it on provisional status, a standard practice for all new sections after the 1996 denial of the Gay and Lesbian Issues Section (audio). Judge Black’s 1996 comments were republished in the Texas Lawyer days before the Board meeting and were doubtless on the minds of the directors. Janet Elliott, Two New Bar Sections Garner Support, Texas Lawyer, Apr. 13, 1998, at 1.

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 1998–1999 officers elected were: Mitchell Katine, chair, Anne M. Pike, vice-chair; Charles A. Spain, secretary; W. Richard Thompson II, treasurer; and at-large council members Suzanne Bryant, Matthew P. Eastus, Martha A. Fitzwater, and Connie Moore.

More information about the Section’s early history available in articles in The BAHR Reporter and The Houston Lawyer.

Notable “firsts” and events (the absence of these certainly does not imply that the chair and council were not busy!):

1999–2000 (Charles A. Spain, chair)

  • Creating the Judge Norman W. Black Award, presented by the Section in Judge Black’s memory to a past or present member of the State Bar of Texas for a signification contribution to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer legal issues
  • Amending bylaws (effective September 24, 1999)
  • Changing the Section’s provisional status to regular status by a June 21, 2000 vote of the State Bar Board of Directors

2000–2001 (Phyllis R. Frye, chair)

  • Amending bylaws (effective September 22, 2000)
  • Adding sexual orientation to the Bar’s nondiscrimination-in-employment policy by a June 14, 2021 vote of the State Bar Board of Directors (although not specifically enumerated in the revised policy, the Board’s discussion before the vote on the motion included an understanding that transgender status was encompassed withing the meaning of sexual orientation)
  • Launching the website sogiitx.org
  • Presenting award of merit to 1999–2001 State Bar Board of Directors advisor Daniel D. Hu

2001–2002 (Richard J. Clarkson, chair)

  • Seeing the need for a separate foundation to compliment the Section’s work
  • Amending bylaws (effective September 20, 2002)

2002–2003 (John A. Nechman, chair)

  • Submitting for considered by the State Bar Annual Meeting a resolution to expand the class of eligible insureds for health insurance offered through the State Bar of Texas Insurance Trust to include any person who resides in the same household with a member of the State Bar of Texas. This was led by Judge Steven E. Kirkland. On July 29, 2009, the State Bar Insurance Trust board of directors voted unanimously to approve making available, to the extent possible, insurance benefits for domestic partners of State Bar members, and domestic partner benefits were first available in 2010. See 66 Tex. B.J. 419 (2003), 67 Tex. B.J. 392 (2004).
  • Amending bylaws (effective January 23, 2004)

2003–2004 (W. Richard Thompson II, chair)

2004–2005 (Jerry W. Simoneaux Jr, chair)

  • Submitting proposed legislation for the State Bar’s proposed legislative package regarding the repeal of Penal Code section 21.06, which was declared facially unconstitutional by Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003). This was led by Charles A. Spain and involved many people—both Section members and friends of the Section—over 16 years from the 79th Legislature (2005) to the 87th Legislature (2021), later including amendments to the Family Code and Texas Constitution after Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015) and De Leon v. Perry, 975 F. Supp. 2d 632, 665 (W.D. Tex. 2014), aff’d, 791 F.3d 619 (5th Cir. 2015). Such proposed legislation is now prohibited by McDonald v. Longley,4 F.4th 229 (5th Cir. 2021).

2007–2008 (Karen J. Langsley, chair)

  • Celebrating the Section’s 10th anniversary; some of the initial opponents attended, with one State Bar Board of Directors past chair who originally opposed the Section’s creation expressing his admiration for the professionalism of the Section and its contributions to the Bar
  • Presenting the Founders Award to
    • Phyllis R. Frye
    • Mitchell Katine
    • Connie Moore
    • Anne M. Pike
    • Charles A. Spain
  • Recognizing the late J. Patrick Wiseman for suggesting the creation of the Section
  • Recognizing the strong moral support that the late U.S. District Judge Norman W. Black gave to the Section’s Founders
  • Recognizing the Section’s allies who helped in its creation and early success, Daniel D. Hu, Wes Jurey, Chief Justice David E. Keltner, Lynne Liberato, and Texas Tech School of Law Dean Frank H. Newton

2009 (Christopher K. Walter, chair)

  • Recognized and thanking Kathy Cásarez for all her work for the Section since its creation in 1998 in her role as the State Bar sections coordinator; she moved to a new position at the State Bar
  • Launching the website txsogii.org

2009–2010 (Christopher K. Walter, chair)

  • Amending bylaws, including changing the name from Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification Issues Section to LGBT Law Section (effective June 11, 2010)
  • Launching the website lgbtlawtx.com

2010–2011 (Eduardo Juarez, chair)

  • Introducing Section logo
  • Joining Facebook

2012–2013 (Jacqueline M. Houlette, chair)

  • Working with the State Bar of Texas, established bereavement leave for State Bar employees with same-sex partners
  • Joining Texas Minority Counsel Program (TMCP) to present LGBT Law CLE

2013–2014 (Shelly L. Skeen, chair)

  • Increasing number of CLE programs and webcasts

.2014–2015 (John V. Treviño Jr, chair)

  • Increasing partnerships with other Sections in providing CLE

.2015–2016 (Frederick W. Sultan IV, chair)

  • Providing CLE on marriage equality after Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015) and De Leon v. Perry, 975 F. Supp. 2d 632, 665 (W.D. Tex. 2014), aff’d, 791 F.3d 619 (5th Cir. 2015)

.2016–2017 (Gary N. Schumann, chair)

  • Increasing CLE on transgender issues

2017–2018 (Claire M. Bow, chair)

  • Hosting local LGBT bar affiliates congress

2018–2019 (Nicole T. LeBoeuf, chair)

  • First annual LGBTQ Legal Issues in Changing Times: What Every Texas Practitioner Needs to Know CLE
  • Presenting Judicial Service Award to Justice Charles A. Spain, first out Texas appellate judge

2019–2020 (R. Elliott Beck, chair)

  • Attending and financially supporting LQBTQ+ organizations across the state
  • Chair was attending a CLE at The Montrose Center in Houston when news of the COVID-19 pandemic broke and public events began to be cancelled
  • Submitting draft legislation for the State Bar’s proposed legislative package regarding repeal and amendment of facially unconstitutonal laws for the last time due to decision in McDonald v. Longley,4 F.4th 229 (5th Cir. 2021)
  • State Bar annual meeting in Dallas cancelled
  • Section annual meeting held virtually (the show must go on!)

2020–2021 (Michael Debnam, chair)

  • Holding CLE and Section annual meeting virtually (the show must still go on!)

2022–2023 (Michael Debnam, chair)

  • Returning to “normal” with in-person events
  • Requesting State Bar to allow lawyers to self-identify as LGBTQ+ and include voluntarily self-reported demographic information in future surveys and statistical profiles

2023–2024 (Brian P. Klosterboer, chair)

  • Celebrating 25th anniversary with a full-day CLE program, dinner, and reception in Dallas on April 15
  • Presenting Lifetime Achievement Award to Hon. Christopher K. Walter for service to the Section
  • Amending bylaws, including changing the name from LGBT Law Section to LGBTQ+ Law Section (effective September 29, 2023)
  • Receiving a State Bar presidential commendation honoring the Section’s first quarter century

2023–2024 (Derek L. Mergele-Rusk, chair)

  • Holding council planning retreat in El Paso
  • Holding multiple CLE events around the state

 

Section logo (2010-2025)

 

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.

 

 

Section 25th anniversary celebration

 

 

Presidential Commendation

Presented to

State Bar of Texas LGBT Law Section

On the occasion of the LGBT Law Section’s 25th anniversary, the State Bar of Texas celebrates the section’s tireless work on behalf of all Texas attorneys and the public. The first section of its kind in any state bar in the nation, the LGBT Law Section is a vital part of the State Bar of Texas as the go-to resource for networking opportunities, continuing legal education programs, caselaw updates, newsletters, and other sources of information on laws pertaining to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender persons, as well as persons living with HIV. With this commendation, the Stare Bar of Texas honors the section’s first quarter century and looks forward to many more years of service.

Presented this 22nd day of June 2023.

Laura Gibson,
President, 2022-2023