OutLaw X PILS | Countering the Executive Threat to the LGBTQIA+ Community

President Trump’s executive orders threaten the health, safety, and lives of vulnerable peoples in the country, with one of them targeting in particular the queer and transgender community. It is a critical time to hear the perspectives and reassurance of those demonstrably committed against the bigotry his reelection has emboldened, and we are grateful to have Professor Linda McClain and Professor Heron Greenesmith lend their voices to this discussion.

The Panelists:
Heron Greenesmith is the Senior Research Analyst for LGBTQI+ Justice at Political Research Associates. Heron has worked in LGBTQ advocacy for over a decade with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, the Movement Advancement Project, Family Equality Council, and the National LGBTQ Task Force. They specialize in advocacy for bisexual and pansexual people. Heron is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and American University, Washington College of Law. Heron is admitted to the New York and Massachusetts bars. They are a former board member of the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, a former board member of the National LGBT Bar Association, a former Rockwood Leadership Institute Fellow, and a returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

Professor Linda McClain is known for her work in family law, gender and law, and feminist legal theory. Her most recent book, Who’s the Bigot? Learning from Conflicts over Marriage and Civil Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2020), argues that, although denouncing and preventing bigotry is a shared political value with a long history, people disagree over who is a bigot and what makes a belief, attitude, or action bigoted. Her scholarship addresses the respective roles of families, other institutions of civil society, and of government in fostering citizens’ capacities for democratic and personal self-government. Professor McClain has been a visiting professor of law at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia. Before joining the faculty of Boston University School of Law in fall 2007, Professor McClain was the Rivkin Radler Distinguished Professor of Law at Hofstra Law School, where she was also co-director of the Institute for the Study of Gender, Law, and Policy. Prior to entering the legal academy, she practiced litigation at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Chester Eduardo Fernández teaches Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, and a seminar on Sentencing, Prisons and Reentry. Chester's research and writing focuses on some of the most marginalized communities impacted by the criminal legal system, specifically Transgender and Latinx defendants that don't speak English. Chester serves as the Director of the Quinnipiac Law school's Criminal Law and Advocacy Concentration, and as Faculty Adviser to the Muslim Law Student Association. Prior to joining the Quinnipiac Law faculty, Chester worked for the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) as their Director of Learning and Innovation. His work at NLADA focused on integrating the voice of those impacted by the American legal system, which disparately impacts BIPOC and other marginalized folks, in trainings to legal aid and public defender attorneys. To this end, Chester is a certified racial justice trainer by the Black Public Defender Association.

Otto's Pizza will be provided!

It's abolition week! In addition to local community events, make sure to get out and connect with fellow law students dedicated to abolition.

ICE WATCH AND SURVEILLANCE TECH TEACH-IN
Join NLG, MLSA, HOMES, ILPS, and PILS for a training/teach-in combo:
We will first have a discussion about identifying ICE and providing accurate information when we suspect ICE’s presence. Then we will participate in a nation-wide teach-in on zoom with many other law schools to learn about the work of the End the Contract Coalition (ECC).

ECC is a nation-wide group of law students trying to bring awareness to the relationship between ICE and LexisNexis’s parent company RELX, along with Westlaw’s parent company, Thomson-Reuters. RELX owns a software called Accurint, which aggregates public and private information creating a person search database that is used to find and deport immigrants. You’ll hear from law professor & librarian Beth Jennings from Widener University Delaware Law, organizer Cinthya Rodriguez from Mijente, and staff attorney Dinesh McCoy from Just Futures Law, on how this legal research duopoly contributes to mass deportation.

Dinner of Palestinian food will be provided! For our friends who are fasting for Ramadan, we will set aside food to make sure some are available for iftar. Meal will include halal, vegan, gluten-free, and vegetarian options.)

BOSTON DEMANDS: RELEASE MAHMOUD KHALIL
"This past week, Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil was detained and threatened with deportation as part of the Trump administration’s attack on immigrants across the country. Since then yet another Columbia student, Leqaa Kordia has been detained by DHS. Join us this Saturday 4PM to join the nationwide fight back against this political repression and learn how all these different movements for social change are linked!" Click here for more information and the locations of different events.

GREATER BOSTON TENANTS UNION: ALLSTON-BRIGHTON MEETING
"Attention Allston-Brighton tenants! The GBTU Allston/Brighton neighborhood local is having its General Meeting on the 27th at 6:30 pm at the Presentation School Foundation. All are welcome!" There will be free pizza! Click here for more information.

LEGAL OBSERVER TRAINING
"Join us on Saturday, March 29 at 3pm on Zoom for a Legal Observer Training hosted by the National Lawyers Guild in collaboration with BU PLC and Jamaica Plain for Palestine. With ICE raids and fascist aggression on full display as we have seen with the recent kidnapping of Mahmoud Khalil, empowering and supporting activists on the ground is important now more than ever. Legal Observers are volunteers trained by the National Lawyers Guild who shows up at protests, marches or other actions to:
🔸Monitor and document law enforcement behavior toward activists.
🔸Provide arrest support for activists on the ground and help jail support groups track arrested folks
🔸Empower activists and serve as a deterrent to unconstitutional behavior by law enforcement

Let's continue to be vigilant and learn as much as we can to protect one another as we stand in solidarity with Palestine, undocumented community members and all victims of U.S. imperialism. Registration with confidentiality agreement is required to attend this virtual training: http://bit.ly/NLGLOTraining" Also, click here for more information.

MAURA HEALEY: MAKE MASSACHUSETTS A SANCTUARY STATE
"Gov. Maura Healy said in December that Mass. is 'not a sanctuary state.' She doubled down on these comments the week of Donald Trump’s Inauguration after intensified ICE raids had already begun across the country, including in Mass. Healey has done nothing but parrot Trump and his racist anti-immigrant agenda while cutting housing access for all working-class families. These are pro-billionaire attacks on the whole working class — and Healey is siding with the billionaires.

It is up to us, as working people of Massachusetts, immigrant and non-immigrant alike, to stand together to demand the governor does everything in her power to protect our communities.
We Demand:
❌ No state or local law enforcement collaboration with ICE!
❌ Stop the racist demonization of immigrants!
❌ No new restrictions on housing assistance!
❌ No ICE in Massachusetts public schools or other public institutions!
Add your name, or endorse as an organization.
SIGN THE PETITION: SanctuaryStateMA.org"