Amy Williams '05 Speaks on LGBT Issues in Mabie-Apallas Series
Amy Williams '05 of Legal Services of Northern California spoke on "The Nexus between LGBT Issues and Poverty Law" at King Hall on April 20. The lecture was part of the Mabie-Apallas Chair Public Interest Speaker Series sponsored by the Mabie-Apallas Chair of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies held by Dean Kevin R. Johnson.
Williams discussed the role of Legal Services of Northern California in the community and her work serving as liaison between the public service law organization and the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center, where she has helped to further ties with the LGBT community.
"As a student I realized that there was no connection funneling people in the queer community to Legal Services, and that they were seeing basically zero LGBT folk," said Williams. She realized that as someone who already had connections within the Gay & Lesbian Center, she would be an ideal person to take on the project of furthering connections with the LGBT community. Williams stressed the need to build long-term relationships with minority communities, which tend to be suspicious of outsiders.
The LGBT community faces a number of legal challenges, Williams said, as gays and lesbians are more likely to be subjected to housing and employment discrimination than the population at large. Transgender people, in particular, encounter these problems on a regular basis, and also frequently have to deal with insurance companies withholding payment for medical therapies. Because LGBT people are disproportionately represented among the poor, there is a real need for Legal Services' help, she said.
Williams encouraged students interested in public service law to get involved with Legal Services, no matter what their particular area of interest. "If you think you're interested in contract law, we do that at Legal Services," she said. "If you're interested in poverty law, or homelessness, there are great opportunities."