2022 Virtual Stonewall Awards Celebration Program Video
February 11, 2022 | ABA Virtual Midyear Meeting
COMMISSION ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION & GENDER IDENTITY
2022 Stonewall Awards
2022 Awardees
Justice G. Helen Whitener
Shannon Minter
Jordan Blisk
Awardee Video Interviews
Justice G. Helen Whitener
WASHINGTON STATE SUPREME COURT
Shannon Minter
NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS
Jordan Blisk
COLORADO
Video not available
Program Slideshow
View program slideshow here, which highlights:
- The 2022 Stonewall Award Honorees
- Our generous supporters
- Photos from past reception programs
Bios
Justice G. Helen Whitener
Justice Whitener was appointed to the Washington State Supreme Court in April 2020 and was elected by the voters to retain her position in November 2020. Prior to that, Whitener served as a Pierce County Superior Court judge, as a judge on the Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals and as a pro-tem judge in Pierce County District Court and the City of Tacoma Municipal Court. Before becoming a judge, Whitener litigated civil and criminal cases for 14 years as first a prosecutor and defense attorney and later as a managing partner of the law firm of Whitener Rainey Writt PS in Tacoma. She is well recognized by the legal community for her commitment to justice and equity. In January 2021, Whitener received the Western Region of the National Black Law Students Association Judge of the Year Award. The 400 Years of African American History Commission has also honored Justice Whitener, naming her a 2020 Distinguished 400 Awardee. She is the former co-chair of the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission. Whitener serves on the board of the International Association of LGBT Judges as well as on the Washington State Office of Civil Legal Aid Oversight Committee.
Justice Whitener, who received her J.D. from Seattle University School of Law, is the first Black woman to serve on the Washington Supreme Court, the fourth immigrant-born justice and the first Black LGBT judge in the State of Washington.
Shannon Minter
Shannon Minter is the Legal Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), one of the nation’s leading advocacy organizations for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Minter was lead counsel for same-sex couples in the landmark California marriage equality case which held that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry and that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation are inherently discriminatory and subject to the highest level of constitutional scrutiny.
In 2009, Minter was named a California Lawyer of the Year by California Lawyer. Minter serves on the boards of Faith in America and the Transgender Law & Policy Institute. He has previously served on the American Bar Association Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Minter was also NCLR’s lead attorney in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding student group policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and rejecting the argument that such policies violated a student group’s rights to freedom of speech, religion and association.
Jordan Blisk
Jordan Blisk (he/him) is a queer, transgender man of color and an LGBTQ+ speaker, author, and advocate. He is an Associate Director of Chapters at the American Constitution Society, the Executive Director and Board Chair for the Colorado Name Change Project the Colorado Name Change Project, the President-Elect for the Colorado LGBT Bar Association, and a Board Member-At-Large for the Minority Veterans of America. He received his undergraduate degree from Ball State University and became the first out transgender student to earn a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado Law School in 2018. In 2021, the National LGBT Bar Association selected him as one of the "40 Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40". Prior to joining ACS, Jordan was an associate attorney specializing in family law and estate planning, and before his legal career, he served as a Senior Airman in the United States Air Force as an Aircraft Fuel Systems Journeyman on the KC-135(R) Stratotanker.
Become a Supporter
Your charitable sponsorship of the Stonewall Awards funds the annual projects and programs implemented by the ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) that advance the policy, advocacy, and diversity initiatives for LGBT members of the legal profession and the greater LGBT Community.