SCCBA Rainbow Committee

In 1993, the SCCBA was the first voluntary bar association in California and in the Country to establish a committee to address gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered attorneys' issues in the legal profession, in the administration of justice and within society generally. These efforts have resulted in greater participation of gay and lesbian attorneys on the SCCBA Board of Trustees, including an openly lesbian president of the SCCBA in 2005 and an openly gay secretary of the SCCBA in 2006. As an aside, 17 years ago, the SCCBA was the first voluntary bar association in the country to hire an open lesbian as its executive director.

The Committee's efforts over the past fourteen years have also resulted in increased awareness with Silicon Valley law firms of the issues faced by these attorneys. In addition, the SCCBA has been in the forefront in taking positions on such civil rights issues as gays in the military; same sex marriage; and the right of a city to consider support of a gay pride resolution. The SCCBA participated in an amicus brief encouraging the California Supreme Court to uphold second parent adoptions. Most recently, the SCCBA Board of Trustees approved the SCCBA preparing and filing an amicus brief in support of the right to marry in the currently pending California Supreme Court same-sex marriage cases, In Re Marriage Cases. In addition, the SCCBA established a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered attorneys committee in 1993. Again, this was the first such committee established by a bar association in California. Subsequent to that, the Bar Association of San Francisco established a similar committee as did the State Bar of California. In addition, as noted previously, in 1999, the Board approved a trustee position for this committee.

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