Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I write to reiterate Cardozo School of Law’s long history and ongoing support for LGBTQ+ rights. As you may know, our parent Yeshiva University has successfully petitioned the Supreme Court for a temporary stay of a state trial court’s preliminary injunction requiring it to allow a Pride Alliance student organization at its undergraduate religious school. Unlike Yeshiva University’s undergraduate division, which has a religious educational program, the law school has a secular curriculum and a diverse population, and the University’s policy has no bearing on the law school or on our vibrant student OUTLaw or LGBTQ+ alumni organizations. Cardozo’s faculty, staff and leadership are proud of our school’s long history of support in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. We have a deep and steadfast commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We recognize that LGTBQ+ students and alumni play a critical role in our community and believe that inclusion and equality are cornerstones of legal education.

Following YU’s application to the Supreme Court, 54 Cardozo faculty members signed a letter to the University president.

We are also pleased to announce the launch of a weekly pop-up class starting on Wednesday, September 21st at noon EST exploring LGBTQ+ law, policy, history and civil rights challenges past, present and future with prominent scholars, researchers and movement leaders. The first class will cover the evolution of LGBTQ+ family law in the United States and will be presented by Cardozo’s former Vice Dean Edward Stein, author of The Mismeasure of Desire, The Science, Theory and Ethics of Sexual Orientation and other scholarly works on sexual identity and the law.

Other lecturers include Cardozo Professors Deborah Pearlstein and Kate Shaw; Assistant Professors of Clinical Psychology Kailey Roberts and Jennifer Cooper, the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology; and civil rights leader Rachel B. Tiven, former Head of Lambda Legal. Stay tuned for additional guest lecturers and topics.

Classes are open to everyone and will be held on-site at Cardozo and simultaneously on Zoom. No academic credit will be available, but CLE approval is pending. 

We hope you can join us. 

Melanie Leslie
Dean and Dr. Samuel Belkin Professor of Law

Cardozo School of Law