I’m honored to participate in the 10th anniversary celebration of the Williams Institute, at UCLA’s law school.

http://www2.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/programs/10thAnnualUpdate-Anniversary.html

The Williams Institute is an academic think tank focused on law and public policy regarding sexual orientation.  And academics celebrate achievements, like good work for a decade, by holding conferences.  (I understand that people in other fields celebrate in different ways.)

I’m slated to participate in a panel, “Beyond Gay Rights: Lessons from Other Social Movements,” and will post this weekend about what I learn.

Meantime, it’s worthwhile to note that GLBT activists have made extraordinary gains over the past few years in terms of public policy and social acceptance, but they see much more work to be done.  Note, for example, today’s LA Times, which reports on Rep. Michele Bachmann’s efforts to cultivate conservative support in Iowa for her presidential bid.  Bachmann calls the judges who ruled for a right to same sex marriage (who were turned out of office), “black-robed masters.” She’s not alone in seeing political gain in campaigning against gay rights.