Dallas, Tex. (October 16, 2020) — The Board of Directors of the Dallas Bar Association (DBA) has unanimously voted to recognize the Dallas LGBT Bar Association (Dallas LGBT Bar) as a “sister bar association.” The vote came at DBA’s board meeting on October 15. Sister-bar status recognizes the work that the Dallas LGBT Bar has done since its predecessor formed nearly 30 years ago.
“This is a historic moment for our community,” said Mario Nguyen, president of the Dallas LGBT Bar and attorney at Locke Lord LLP in Dallas. “When our predecessor organization was first formed in 1993, the group met in secret,” he continued. “Ten years later the Supreme Court decided Lawrence v. Texas, and another dozen years after that, it assured marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges.” But until now, no general bar association in Texas has recognized its local LGBT+ bar association as a “sister bar.”
Robert Tobey, president of the DBA and shareholder at Johnston Tobey & Baruch in Dallas, said “We are excited to celebrate this historic day with the Dallas LGBT Bar Association and look forward to a long partnership that benefits the members of both Associations!”
According to Nadia Haghighatian, board member of the Dallas LGBT Bar and associate at Thompson & Knight LLP in Dallas, “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, ‘Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.’” Haghighatian continued: “The Dallas Bar Association’s recognition is not only a historic step forward for LGBTQ+ legal professionals in North Texas, but also a symbolic step toward enduring change across our great state. We look forward to seeing Texas’s other general and LGBTQ+ bar associations soon share in similar celebration as they join us on this journey!”
Dallas LGBT Bar Association 