September 2016 – Laura Brill, a founder of KBK, and her spouse, Ellen Evans, were honored for their many contributions to the fight for LGBT equality. They received the State Farm Good Neighbor Award, which honors those who have made a lasting contribution to the health, well-being, and equality of their local LGBT community, from Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBT civil rights organization.
Among her many accomplishments, Ms. Brill has been a leader in pro bono efforts on behalf of the LGBT community. She served as co-counsel with Lambda Legal and People for the American Way Foundation on a landmark case that opened the door for LGBT student groups to be welcomed into thousands of high schools across the nation.
Ms. Brill has filed numerous amicus briefs in state and federal marriage equality cases around the country, including on behalf of the Speaker of the California Assembly, national, and local women’s rights organizations, and leading law professors in the successful defense of the constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry. In 2002, she filed an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas, developing arguments not then recognized in federal court that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation also constitute gender discrimination under the Fourteenth Amendment. These arguments are gaining recognition today in courts around the country. Ms. Brill serves on the Board of Directors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and is a past board member of Lambda Legal, a national leader in LBGT civil rights work.
For more information, please see Equality California’s press release.