Lambda Legal Announces New Co-Chair and Two New Members of Its Board of Directors

(New York, February 28, 2007) — Today, Lambda Legal announces a new co–chair, Roy Wesley of Chicago, and the addition of two members, Joan Garry and Lisa Linsky, to its Board of Directors.

“We are proud to have such talented people on our Board of Directors as Lambda Legal continues its pioneering civil rights work on behalf of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender (LGBT) people and people with HIV,” said Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda Legal.

Roy Wesley, who joined Lambda Legal’s Board of Directors in 2003, lives in Chicago and is the Chief Financial Officer of Fermalogic, Inc, a research–driven industrial biotechnology company that develops technology to improve pharmaceutical manufacturing. “As a third generation Japanese American, I experienced discrimination very early in my life. As an infant I was sent to an internment camp and have since struggled with prejudice because I am also a gay man. But as I look back, I can see clearly how things have gotten better, and I am honored to become a Co–Chair of Lambda Legal's Board of Directors because I know that with each day, Lambda Legal gets us one step closer to ending legal discrimination in our country,” said Wesley.

Joan Garry, former Executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), joins Lambda Legal’s board this year. During her eight–year tenure at GLAAD, Garry worked to ensure that LGBT people were fairly and accurately represented in the media. Garry lives in New Jersey with her partner of 24 years and their three children. She was a Lambda Legal plaintiff in a landmark 1993 lawsuit challenging the adoption law of the time, making her the first lesbian mom in New Jersey to be able to get a second–parent adoption. “Joining the Lambda Legal board is not only a privilege but is also a natural extension of my family's connection to and passion for the organization. I have been a Lambda Legal plaintiff, a movement colleague during my years at GLAAD and we have been major donors for years. I have long believed that it is the power of the real stories of our lives that will ultimately change hearts and minds, and it is Lambda Legal’s plaintiffs and their stories that I believe will change the world,” said Garry.

Lisa Linsky, a partner at the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP, also joins the board this year as well. She is the Chair of McDermott's LGBT Diversity Committee, an initiative that she spearheaded, and is involved in various pro bono projects. Linsky lives in Sleepy Hollow, NY with her long–time partner and their ten–year–old daughter. “Since its inception, Lambda Legal has been a trailblazer in the LGBT civil rights movement. The vitality of Lambda Legal is evidenced by its actions for over 30 years, gaining vital rights for individuals in LGBT and HIV communities throughout the country, and improving the lives of everyone. It is an honor to contribute to this pioneering organization to help further its mission of equality by serving on the Board of Directors,” Linsky said.

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Contact: Jackie Yodashkin T: 212–809–8585 ext. 229; E: jyodashkin@lambdalegal.org.

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.