Playing with Pride: LGBT Inclusion in Sports
Athletics plays an important role in American life. At its best, athletic competition represents the struggle to create a fair playing field, to forge teams greater than the sum of the contributions of their members, and to include all parts of the community in endeavors that tests the ability and limits of the individual. In these many senses, athletics is a central arena for the determination of the meaning of equality. Jackie Robinson’s role in shattering professional baseball’s racial line stands alongside Brown v. Board of Education as iconic an image of the Civil Rights Era. Today, the inclusion of LGBT individuals in professional and collegiate sports, the definition of gender that sets the terms of elite athletic competitions, and the ability of gender non-conforming athletes to participate at any level of competition will determine the strength of our commitment to equality. Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice will host a symposium exploring athletics and LGBT inclusion, with particular emphasis on the integration of openly gay and lesbian athletics into professional and collegiate sports, the definition of gender underlying athletic competitions, and the challenges of inclusion at every level of competition.
Our keynote speaker is Helen Carroll, the Executive Director of the Sport's Project at the National Center for Lesbian Rights. She will discuss her work across the country on behalf of LGBT athletes. Additionally, Professor Alfred Mathewson at University of New Mexico School of Law, Professor Deborah Brake at University of Pittsburgh Law School, Professor Erin Buzuvis, Director of Center for Gender & Sexuality Studies and professor of law at Western New England University School of Law, and Charles "Chuck" Samuelson of the ALCU of Minnesota will all be addressing various legal and practical concerns facing LGBT athletes.
We are requesting 5 CLE credits including 1 Elimination of Bias Credit. The CLE credits and the lunch will both be provided FREE of charge.
A reception will immediately follow the Symposium in Auerbach Commons.
Pay parking is available in a variety of surface lots and ramps within walking distance of the Law School. For those taking public transportation, Mondale Hall is conveniently located close to the West Bank Station on the Green Line Light Rail.