7th Annual Stonewall Lecture Series - The Battle for Pride: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
The 1969 Stonewall Riots marked a critical turn in the fight for LGBTQ rights, serving as the impetus for the formation of several gay, lesbian and bisexual civil rights organizations. Today we honor the numerous individuals who have fought for LGBTQ equality and justice and the many contributions they have made to advance this modern day civil rights movement.
This year's Annual Stonewall Lecture Series keynote address, The Battle for Pride: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow, will be presented by Professor Regina Hillman.
5:30 PM Lecture - School of Law 283
Reception immediately following the lecture.
Professor Regina Hillman joined the faculty at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in 2017. Her courses include Legal Methods, Professional Responsibility, and Gender & the Law. Professor Hillman's scholarship focuses on the progression of LGBTQ+ rights, the expansion of federal nondiscrimination protections to the LGBTQ+ community, and the ongoing challenges to full citizenship and equality for LGBTQ+ Americans. She serves as the Faculty Advisor to OUTLaw, the law school’s LGBTQ+ student organization and as immediate past-Chair of the University of Memphis Pride & Equity Alliance.
Professor Hillman earned her J.D. summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee College of Law and was inducted into the Order of the Coif in 2001. During law school, she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Tennessee Law Review. She earned her B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Memphis. Following law school, Professor Hillman’s legal practice focused on commercial business and healthcare litigation, commercial contract disputes, environmental matters, and labor/employment issues. She also taught legal analysis and writing as an adjunct professor at The University of Tennessee College of Law for almost a decade as well as Business Law and Employment/Labor Law undergraduate and graduate classes at Tusculum College.
In 2013, Professor Hillman was an organizing member of the Tennessee Marriage Equality Legal Team that challenged Tennessee’s constitutional and statutory bans on recognition of valid out-of-state same-sex marriages. Filed in the fall of 2013, the Tennessee case, Tanco v. Haslam, was consolidated in 2015 with Sixth Circuit cases from Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky to become Obergefell v. Hodges when the Supreme Court granted certiorari. The Obergefell case challenged both state prohibitions on same-sex marriages and recognition of valid out-of-state marriages. Obergefell v. Hodges was decided by the United States Supreme Court on June 26, 2015, resulting in nationwide marriage equality.
Special Accommodations
Persons who, because of a special need or condition, would like to request an accommodation for an event should contact the Office of the Dean - Programs & Initiatives, as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours before the event, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. lawevents@rwu.edu