July 16 - LGBT Summer Brown-Bag Series Welcomes Lisa Mottet

You are cordially invited to attend the LGBT Summer Brown-Bag Speaker Series featuring prominent lawyers and legal scholars active in the LGBT legal movement. Throughout the summer, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will host one speaker each Thursday to address a timely topic affecting the LGBT community. All legal interns in the DC area are invited to attend.

 On Thursday, July 16th, at noon, the Task Force will be welcoming Lisa Mottet, Transgender Civil Rights Project Director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The Transgender Civil RIghts Project provides legislative, policy, and strategy assistance, including evaluation of legislation and policy language, to activists and organizations working to pass trans-inclusive or transgender-friendly laws and policies.

If you’re interested in attending and receiving further emails please contact Heron Greenesmith at hgreenesmith@thetaskforce.org.

July 25 - Annual GAYLAW Pool Party

When: Saturday, July 25, 2-6 pm

Where: Home of GAYLAW members Stuart Kurlander and David Martin, 2601 Foxhall Road, NW, Washington, DC 20007.

Parking: Street parking available. Please be considerate of the neighbors and don't block any driveways.

Public Transporation: Although the party is not near a Metro station, the D3 and D6 Metrobus lines run to the corner of Reservoir Road and Foxhall Road. From there, walk north on Foxhall Road approximately 1 mile to #2601.

Everyone including guests is welcome!

Free drinks and light hors d’oeuvres!

Contact Matt Rudolphi for more information.

Fundraiser to Support LGBT Iraqi Refugees

WILL YOU HELP RESETTLE LGBT IRAQI REFUGEES WHO ESCAPED TORTURE AND VIOLENCE?

Hear From Iraqi Refugees Personally . . . and Find Out How You Can Help

Join the Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch and the National LGBT Bar Association for a unique event in Washington DC to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Iraqis who have fled their home country.

On Friday, July 24, spokesmen for a group of twenty LGBT Iraqi refugees undergoing their resettlement process will be in Washington, DC to bring attention to their struggle and raise money to support LGBT Iraqi refugees still in the Middle East.

Since the U.S. invasion, sectarian violence and fundamentalist religious leaders have filled a power vacuum left by the war that has made life for LGBT Iraqis increasingly unbearable. In recent months, international media have reported that LGBT Iraqis face kidnapping, torture, horrific sexual violence, death threats and murder.

Start your weekend off with a reception that may save lives. All proceeds from the fundraiser go to support Helem, a Lebanese LGBT organization that has provided food, shelter and clothing to LGBT Iraqi refugees currently undergoing their resettlement process.

What:  Fundraiser to Support LGBT Iraqi Refugees

When:  Friday, July 24, 2009
             6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Where:  Human Rights Campaign Equality Center
               1640 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20036,
               (at the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue and 17th Street)

Cost:  Please bring your checkbook or credit card and donate as you can.

For questions or more information, please contact Eric Wingerter at iraqrefugeelgbt@gmail.com.