Lambda Legal Welcomes Dru Levasseur: New Transgender Rights Attorney

(New York, December 22, 2009) - Today, Lambda Legal announces that M. Dru Levasseur has joined Lambda Legal as its Transgender Rights Attorney.

"I am very excited to be joining the team here at Lambda Legal and to have the opportunity to be part of the amazing work they do," said Dru Levasseur, Transgender Rights Attorney at Lambda Legal.

Prior to joining Lambda Legal, Levasseur was a staff attorney at Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, an organization committed to ending discrimination based upon gender identity and expression and to achieving equality for transgender people. Prior to that, Levasseur served for two years as a law clerk in the Massachusetts Superior Court.

"Dru brings a wealth of knowledge and we are delighted to have him join us," said Lambda Legal's Legal Director, Jon W. Davidson. "We look forward to his significant contributions as Lambda Legal continues to make the case for transgender equality."

In 2007, Levasseur co-founded the Jim Collins Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money to fund gender-confirming surgeries. That same year, he initiated and co-organized New England's first-ever Transgender Pride March and Rally. During law school at Western New England College School of Law, Levasseur worked at Western Massachusetts Legal Services, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut and served as a law fellow for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's Transgender Civil Rights Project.

He is a former Foundation Board Member of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York (LeGaL) and initiated its Transgender Committee. Levasseur is also an active member of the LGBT Rights Committee of the City Bar of New York, as well as the Legal Issues Committee of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).

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Contact: Lisa Hardaway T: 212-809-8585 ext. 266; E: lhardaway@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.