Legal Happenings
LGBTQ+ Bar Association Honors Pioneer Paul Smith
June 27, 2023
D.C. Bar President Ellen Jakovic with Paul Smith.
On June 21, the District of Columbia LGBTQ+ Bar Association presented a lifetime achievement award to Paul Smith, appellate litigator and senior vice president for litigation and strategy at the Campaign Legal Center, during its Pride Reception at Steptoe & Johnson LLP. Twenty years ago, Smith argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of John Geddes Lawrence in Lawrence v. Texas, which resulted in the landmark decision to decriminalize sexual activity between consenting adults of the same gender.
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, gave rousing opening remarks, in which she said that the LGBTQ community must get comfortable living with both “grief and joy.” She commented on the mounting anti-LGBTQ state bills, many of which target the trans community. She noted that on June 20, U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. struck down Arkansas’ law banning gender-affirming care for minors.
Robinson applauded the efforts of lawyers such as Smith in fighting against anti-LGBTQ bills, reminding attendees that “we are everywhere.”
D.C. Bar President Ellen Jakovic reiterated Robinson’s praise by calling Smith a “steadfast champion for LGBTQ rights during [his] entire career,” noting that he argued 21 cases before the Supreme Court. “Paul has that rare quality of being the smartest person in the room, but not telling you that,” Jakovic said. “But it’s evident.”
In his acceptance speech, Smith shied away from being hailed as a “legend,” saying, “I’m very much a real person.” He also reminded attendees that it was five days until the actual 20th anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas.
“June 26 was also the [Supreme Court decision] day of United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges,” Smith said. “It should be a national holiday.”
Smith commented that many young attendees possibly could not conceive of a time when the U.S. had sodomy laws that basically criminalized gay sex. “The [sodomy laws] were really exquisite tools of oppression because to be “out and proud” was to admit on a regular basis that you were engaging in criminal activities,” he recalled. “That meant if you were a school teacher, you lost your job; if you were a federal employee, you lost your job. If you were at a [gay] bar, you might get arrested for simply being in a place dedicated to criminal activities. The bar raids were all justified based upon the sodomy laws. They wanted to keep gay people invisible.”
He reflected on Bowers v. Hardwick, in which the Supreme Court upheld the sodomy laws. “The decision came at the height of the AIDS epidemic,” Smith said.
While also noting the historic impact of Obergefell v. Hodges, which provided same-sex couples the legal right to marry, Smith commented on the current state of LGBTQ rights.
“What’s happening now is appalling,” Smith said. “This raft of laws targeting the trans community — people showing up with guns at Pride celebrations and drag shows, harassment of people for just being a part of our community — is terrible. I think it’s important to put this in perspective. The large majority of Americans are on our side. If you take a poll about marriage equality now, the numbers continue to go up. The numbers are up in the low 70 percent now for support of marriage equality. And they are going to continue to go up.”
