BY SARAH N. HARMON
It was an uncharacteristically warm Spokane spring morning on Friday, April 19, as over 150 attendees—local judges, attorneys, community members, and Gonzaga University undergraduate and law school students, faculty, and staff—filtered into Gonzaga University School of Law. These members of the legal, Gonzaga, and LGBTQ+ communities gathered together for Gonzaga Law School’s first LGBTQ+ Rights & Advocacy in Legal Education Summit, entitled “With Pride.”
It was with pride that law school Dean Jacob H. Rooksby and University Board of Trustees member Joe Lincoln (class of ’88) welcomed attendees and panelists to kick off the summit. The full-day event included three moderated panels focusing on LGBTQ+ rights and advocacy in (1) legal education; (2) current litigation, legislative reform, and community work; and (3) advancing LGBTQ+ rights in the future. Twelve panelists participated in the summit, including legal experts and scholars from law schools across the country, practicing attorneys and LGBTQ+ advocates; Justice Mary Yu of the Washington Supreme Court; and Ashlyn Hannus (class of ’24), a recent Gonzaga Law School graduate who interned in the Lincoln LGBTQ+ Rights Clinic. The day was highlighted by keynote speaker Kellye Testy, president and CEO of the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), who remarked on both the progress and the continued importance and urgency of this work for the LGBTQ+ community.
Although the panel topics and the panelists’ areas of expertise varied, there were two related themes that consistently came through over the course of the With Pride Summit. First, this is a critical time when progress for LGBTQ+ rights and equality is being attacked at an unprecedented rate. It is in this very moment that we can recommit to the fight to maintain and continue progress for LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion or see the nation slip back into the legacy of discrimination, violence, and exclusion. Justice Yu resoundingly and powerfully stated that not everything can be reformed and systems that continue to oppress “must fall.” This first theme yielded to the second underlying theme of the day: This important work must go on. We must continue to move it forward.
Ultimately, the day was both heavy and hopeful. It was unequivocally a call to action and an empowering reminder that no one is alone in this very important and meaningful work.
The With Pride Summit was developed to create and facilitate a space for scholars and legal experts to discuss ongoing legal challenges and efforts to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, starting in legal education and moving into the practice of law. What transpired over the course of the day was so much more. The summit provided attendees and panelists alike a space for community, a sense of belonging, and renewed energy and dedication to this work.
It is with pride that we continue our efforts to advocate for and represent the LGBTQ+ community at Gonzaga University School of Law. It is with pride that we continue to move forward with this work, starting in the law school classroom. Although this summit was the first of its kind hosted by a legal education institution, it will not be the last. Gonzaga University School of Law plans to host its next LGBTQ+ Rights Summit in the spring of 2026, and many times thereafter.
About the author
Sarah N. Harmon, J.D., is staff director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights at Gonzaga University School of Law.