On November 14th, at 4pm, join the Hargrett Library for a discussion centered around LGBTQ+ advocacy in the legal field with guest panelists Michael Shutt, Nneka Ewulonu, and Patricia Thomas. Moderated by OUTLaw, the guest speakers will discuss their experiences negotiating legal and policy issues that impact LGBTQ+ communities, and the intersection of advocacy and law. A Q&A segment will follow the panel discussion.
A light reception with food and drink will follow. Parking is available in the Hull Street Deck, across the street from the Special Collections Libraries Building. Accessibility parking for visitors with disabilities is available on the 3rd floor of the deck. For further information, please contact meredithbyoung@uga.edu.
This event is co-sponsored by the Insititute for Women's Studies.
About the speakers:
Michael Shutt is the Southern Regional Director of Lambda Legal, a civil rights organization that focuses on LGBT communities as well as people living with HIV/AIDS through impact litigation, societal education, and public policy work. Shutt was the founder of UGA’s very own LGBT Resource Center, now known as the Pride Center. UGA is where he began his career in higher education, and since then, he has worked with institutions such as Emory University, New York University, Princeton, and Spelman College to develop and assess LGBT support services for faculty, staff, students, and beyond.
Nneka Ewulonu is a staff attorney for the Georgia ACLU. They define themselves as a “life-long Georgian committed to elevating the voices of marginalized communities.” Ewulonu graduated from UGA’s Law School in May of 2021, and has been working on cases regarding reproductive freedom, LGBTQ rights, racial justice, and First Amendment rights ever since. They were a part of the negotiation settlement that fought to include gender-affirming care in Medicaid coverage. They have also appeared as counsel on several reproductive healthcare lawsuits and cases.
Patricia Thomas is the author of Big Shot: Passion, Politics, and the Struggle for an AIDS Vaccine. She conducted 175 interviews with individuals in the world of AIDS vaccine development, and along the way found that the obstacles of developing this vaccine were more about political timidity and hesitancy from corporations than technical difficulties in a lab. For her work in Big Shot, Thomas received awards such as the Ralph A. Deterling Award of Distinction. Before this publication in 2001, Thomas was a writer and editor for many health publications such as American Health Consultants, Medical World News, and Harvard Health Letter.