O'melveny Pride: Celebrating Pride Month Our DNA Our Firm Our History Alumni Annual Review Careers CSR + ESG = Susta

    THE BOARDROOM RACIAL JUSTICE CORONAVIRUS MOMENTUM NEWS CAREERS ALUMNI LANGUAGE

O’Melveny Pride: Celebrating Pride Month

This June, we celebrate Pride Month tradition by centering and uplifting the voices of the Our DNA LGBTQ+ community, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community’s resilience in the fight toward equality, and raising awareness about the ongoing fight against discrimination and anti LGBTQ+ violence. Our Southern California LGBTQ+ Employee Network, one of several Our Firm diversity and inclusion networks at O’Melveny, is pleased to share a series of spotlights on important figures and events in LGBTQ+ history throughout Pride Month. Pride Month Spotlight: Dr. Rachel Levine Our History Dr. Rachel Levine is the first openly transgender individual to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. From private practice to government office, Dr. Levine has centered her Alumni advocacy on education and visibility, and continues to fight for LGBTQ+ rights at the national level. Dr. Rachel Levine made history on March 24, 2021 when she became the first openly Annual Review transgender individual to be confirmed by the Senate. As Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. Levine is now the highest ranking transgender official to ever serve in the federal government—a feat that is just one of many in a career and life defined by advocacy, public service, and Careers trailblazing firsts. A graduate of Harvard College and Tulane University School of Medicine, Dr. Levine began her career at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, training in Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Following CSR + ESG = her residency, Dr. Levine moved to Pennsylvania, where she started what would be a twentyyear Sustainability at tenure at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

O’Melveny Dr. Levine served as an advocate for children and LGBTQ+ individuals throughout her career in private practice. As a physician, she spearheaded the creation of Penn State medical center’s adolescent medicine division and eating disorders clinic, crafting an intersectional care program Diversity & Inclusion that addressed patients’ physical and mental health needs. As an educator at Penn State College of Medicine, she taught medical professionals about issues concerning transgender medicine. And in her administrative capacity, she served as a liaison for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing a faculty and staff affinity group and serving as a facilitator for the LGBTQ+ student group. In each role, Dr. Levine worked to “create an environment for differences, including diversity from a LGBTQ perspective.”

Education and advocacy have continued to be a central tenet of Dr. Levine’s public service. In the runup to her nomination as Pennsylvania’s health secretary in 2017, Dr. Levine met oneon one with elected officials to talk about medicine and health. Even at a time when only several transgender people served in public office, Dr. Levine was unanimously confirmed as Pennsylvania’s top doctor—a testament to her belief that overcoming ignorance and hostility requires visibility, representation, and acquainting people with the stories and realties of trans lives. As the top doctor in Pennsylvania, Dr. Levine used her position to improve access to healthcare for LGBTQ+ people, and was a frequent speaker on diversity and healthcare access in Pennsylvania and across the nation.

Now, as Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. Levine is an advocate for all Americans, focusing primarily on mental health and health equity. However, she recognizes the special import of her role for the LGBTQ+ community: her agency has already announced that individuals in covered health programs cannot be discriminated against based on sexual orientation or gender identity, one of many changes to come that will increase access to quality healthcare for LGBTQ+ Americans.

Dr. Levine acknowledges the limitations of her role, and, consistent with her lifetime focus on education and visibility, advocates for a local approach to making lives better for LGBTQ+ Americans: “True change happens when we all work together, from the local level to the state level all the way to the federal level. Remember that acceptance starts at home, among your own community. That’s the key to the future.”

Stonewall was undoubtedly a critical inflection point in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights. But it was not the beginning. Members of the LGBTQ+ community had been resisting for years by the time Stonewall took place, and at least two of those important early protests took place in Southern California. Pride Month Spotlight: Justice Martin J. Jenkins Justice Martin J. Jenkins is the third African American and first openly gay man to sit on the California Supreme Court. A humanitarian as well as a judge, Justice Jenkins focuses much of his time outside work on mentoring and funding education for inner city youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. He advocates that authenticity is the greatest gift a person can give themselves. Justice Jenkins started his postcollege career as a rookie cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks in 1977. But shortly into this stint in the NFL, he knew it wasn’t his destiny; he wanted to further his education and give back to the community. So he left football to pursue the law, enrolling at the University of San Francisco three weeks into the semester. Justice Jenkins was drawn towards law partly because of the “competent, humble, and compassionate” attorney who had helped his mother many years before, taking her case for free. The son of a janitor and a nurse, Justice Jenkins described himself as a hard working law student but not confident in the world of lawyers, which was entirely new to him. Through diligent work, however, he graduated with honors and awards. And he immediately sought to apply his ethics and passion to his legal career, becoming a prosecutor at the Alameda County District Attorney’s office and later at the civil rights division of the U.S. Justice Department, where he handled racial violence and police misconduct cases. Even before his appointment to California’s highest court, Justice Jenkins had a storied judicial career. He served on the Oakland Municipal Court from 1989 to 1992 when he was elevated to the Alameda County Superior Court, where he eventually became the presiding judge of the juvenile division. In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed Justice Jenkins to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, before he was appointed as an associate justice on the California Court of Appeal for the First District in San Francisco in 2008. In late 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom nominated Justice Jenkins to the California Supreme Court. Following a unanimous confirmation, he became the third African American man (the first in 29 years) and first openly gay man to serve on the Court. During his career, Justice Jenkins has been involved in numerous civic, religious, and charitable organizations serving youth in the San Francisco Bay Area, including starting a charter school in West Oakland, serving as a mentor to black high school students in San Francisco, and speaking regularly to inner city high school and middle school students.

Throughout college, the NFL, and law school, Jenkins “compartmentalized” his identity as a gay man, “pressing it down” until it felt nonexistent—but the truth never went away. In ascending to California’s highest court as an openly gay man, Justice Jenkins noted that there were others who blazed this trail for him: some were qualified for this position but were passed over because of their open identity; others were selected, but could only embody their true selves behind closed doors. When Justice Jenkins accepted the American Bar Association’s Stonewall Award this past February, he implored young people to learn from him: describing his identity as a gay man as perhaps the greatest challenge of his life, Jenkins asked that young people understand that his achievements were not made in spite of his struggles, but because of them—“living a life of authenticity is the greatest gift you can give yourself.

Disclaimer Privacy Policy Contact Us Employee Portal Subscribe Quick links +     Attorney Advertising © 2021 O'Melveny & Myers LLP. All Rights Reserved.     THE BOARDROOM RACIAL JUSTICE CORONAVIRUS MOMENTUM NEWS CAREERS ALUMNI LANGUAGE

O’Melveny Pride: Celebrating Pride Month

Justice Jenkins started his postcollege career as a rookie cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks in 1977. But shortly into this stint in the NFL, he knew it wasn’t his destiny; he wanted to further his education and give back to the community. So he left football to pursue the law, enrolling at the University of San Francisco three weeks into the semester. Justice Jenkins was drawn towards law partly because of the “competent, humble, and compassionate” attorney who had helped his mother many years before, taking her case for free. The son of a janitor and a nurse, Justice Jenkins described himself as a hard working law student but not confident in the world of lawyers, which was entirely new to him. Through diligent work, however, he graduated with honors and awards. And he immediately sought to apply his ethics and passion to his legal career, becoming a prosecutor at the Alameda County District Attorney’s office and later at the civil rights division of the U.S. Justice Department, where he handled racial violence and police misconduct cases. Even before his appointment to California’s highest court, Justice Jenkins had a storied judicial career. He served on the Oakland Municipal Court from 1989 to 1992 when he was elevated to the Alameda County Superior Court, where he eventually became the presiding judge of the juvenile division. In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed Justice Jenkins to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, before he was appointed as an associate justice on the California Court of Appeal for the First District in San Francisco in 2008. In late 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom nominated Justice Jenkins to the California Supreme Court. Following a unanimous confirmation, he became the third African American man (the first in 29 years) and first openly gay man to serve on the Court.

During his career, Justice Jenkins has been involved in numerous civic, religious, and charitable organizations serving youth in the San Francisco Bay Area, including starting a charter school in West Oakland, serving as a mentor to black high school students in San Francisco, and speaking regularly to inner city high school and middle school students. Throughout college, the NFL, and law school, Jenkins “compartmentalized” his identity as a gay man, “pressing it down” until it felt nonexistent—but the truth never went away. In ascending to California’s highest court as an openly gay man, Justice Jenkins noted that there were others who blazed this trail for him: some were qualified for this position but were passed over because of their open identity; others were selected, but could only embody their true selves behind closed doors. When Justice Jenkins accepted the American Bar Association’s Stonewall Award this past February, he implored young people to learn from him: describing his identity as a gay man as perhaps the greatest challenge of his life, Jenkins asked that young people understand that his achievements were not made in spite of his struggles, but because of them—“living a life of authenticity is the greatest gift you can give yourself.

O’Melveny Pride: Celebrating Pride Month

Pride Month Spotlight: The Cooper Donuts and Black Cat Protests The Cooper Donuts and Black Cat protests are two of the nation’s first demonstrations in support of LGBTQ+ rights. We are all familiar with the 1969 Stonewall Riots: a crowd fought back against a violent and dehumanizing police raid at a gay bar, leading to days of protests in New York City’s Greenwich Village. But did you know that Los Angeles was the site of two earlier protests against police harassment of the LGBTQ+ community? The first—which predated Stonewall by more than a decade—happened at Cooper Donuts on Main Street in Downtown. The donut store was located between two gay bars and was a popular gathering spot for members of the transgender community. One evening in May 1959, police officers entered the store and attempted to arrest patrons whose gender did not match their identification. Onlookers threw donuts, coffee, and trash at the officers, forcing them to flee. The resistance grew and back up was called. Main Street was shut down for the day and several arrests were made. The Cooper Donuts Riot is considered by many to be the first major uprising of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Eight years later, at the Black Cat in Silver Lake, another protest took place. This one was peaceful, organized in February 1967, following a New Year’s Eve police raid on the popular gay bar. About 500 people gathered, making it the largest demonstration for LGBTQ+ rights at the time. In 2008, the City of Los Angeles designated the Black Cat Historic Cultural Monument No. 939. Though the Black Cat Protest was not the first demonstration for LGBTQ+ rights, it was an important event that helped push the movement both in Los Angeles and around the country. Stonewall was undoubtedly a critical inflection point in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights. But it was not the beginning. Members of the LGBTQ+ community had been resisting for years by the time Stonewall took place, and at least two of those important early protests took place in Southern California. Pride Month Spotlight: Justice Martin J. Jenkins Justice Martin J. Jenkins is the third African American and first openly gay man to sit on the California Supreme Court. A humanitarian as well as a judge, Justice Jenkins focuses much of his time outside work on mentoring and funding education for inner city youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. He advocates that authenticity is the greatest gift a person can give themselves. Justice Jenkins started his postcollege career as a rookie cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks in 1977. But shortly into this stint in the NFL, he knew it wasn’t his destiny; he wanted to further his education and give back to the community. So he left football to pursue the law, enrolling at the University of San Francisco three weeks into the semester. Justice Jenkins was drawn towards law partly because of the “competent, humble, and compassionate” attorney who had helped his mother many years before, taking her case for free. The son of a janitor and a nurse, Justice Jenkins described himself as a hard working law student but not confident in the world of lawyers, which was entirely new to him. Through diligent work, however, he graduated with honors and awards. And he immediately sought to apply his ethics and passion to his legal career, becoming a prosecutor at the Alameda County District Attorney’s office and later at the civil rights division of the U.S. Justice Department, where he handled racial violence and police misconduct cases. Even before his appointment to California’s highest court, Justice Jenkins had a storied judicial career. He served on the Oakland Municipal Court from 1989 to 1992 when he was elevated to the Alameda County Superior Court, where he eventually became the presiding judge of the juvenile division. In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed Justice Jenkins to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, before he was appointed as an associate justice on the California Court of Appeal for the First District in San Francisco in 2008. In late 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom nominated Justice Jenkins to the California Supreme Court. Following a unanimous confirmation, he became the third African American man (the first in 29 years) and first openly gay man to serve on the Court.