President's Message

I am so proud once again to have the opportunity to address you as president of this venerable association, this time as it enters its 15th year of operation. While we have always had international membership, we have never met outside the U.S. before. Well, in 2007 we took one more step towards becoming a truly international organisation by holding our annual general meeting in Vancouver.

For years now you have heard me going on and on about the international judges conference that I was primarily responsible for organising. Well, the conference went off without a hitch in Vancouver from September 23 to 29, 2007 and welcomed more than 500 judges and 300 guests from all across Canada and the United States. It was the largest judicial conference in Canadian history and the largest judicial conference that the AJA (American Judges Association) has ever sponsored. Indeed, the AJA lists this conference as “the largest gathering of judges ever held in North America.”

One of the things that made this conference so important to the LGBT judicial community is that our presence was not only accepted as an important part of this conference, but indeed our presence was counted upon. Attendance by IALGJ members was part of the budget planning and part of the attendance planning right from day one. Further, not only was I the main organiser, but our member, Judge Mary Celeste, was a prime education planner for the conference (more about Judge Celeste later).

Along with about 15 other judicial associations, the IALGJ held its annual general meeting in Vancouver in conjunction with this conference. The minutes of that meeting are available here, but let me highlight a few things. Firstly, membership is up. At the last count going into the 2007 meeting, we had 55 fully paid up members. Many thanks to Judge Arlene Bluth for her tireless efforts in improving our membership numbers.

I would also like to thank our past president, Judge Mark Leban, and Judge Mary Celeste for agreeing to set up a new education outreach committee.

Let me tell you a bit more about Judge Celeste. The first and most important thing I should mention is that Judge Celeste was, while in Vancouver, elected to the executive of the American Judges Association and will become that association’s president in due course. There was a time that the AJA was not seen as being inclusive of the LGBT community, but Judge Celeste (of Colorado) and Judge Gayle Nachtigal (of Oregon), who is a past president of the AJA, have made that view obsolete. Congratulations, Judge Celeste, on your new executive position, and many thanks to Judge Nachtigal for her work in helping to make the AJA a more inclusive association.

Each year in my president’s message, I inevitably comment on how great a time we all have at the formal dinner held in conjunction with our annual meeting. This year was no exception. The dinner, held at the Vancouver Club, was a bit different than usual in that Judge Celeste asked if she could bring Professor Whitebread (one of the guest speakers at the conference) and his guests, as well as Judge Nachtigal and her husband, to our annual IALGJ dinner. We canvassed those attending and all agreed this would be fine. This turned out, as always, to be a fine evening with good food and great company.

I would like to thank Judge Biderman for his term as vice president and Judge Zeidler for his term as treasurer. Judge Biderman is taking some time away from the executive of the IALGJ, and Judge Zeidler, while no longer staying on as our treasurer, has agreed to act as our liaison with the NLGLA. He has agreed to attend their meetings and represent our interests there, as well as take responsibility for any courses we intend to set up for the Lavender Law Conferences.

I am pleased to report that Judge Bluth will now be our vice president, and that Judge Paul Feinman has come back onto the board and will be our secretary this year. I would like to welcome Judge Theodore Weathers of San Diego, who is newly elected to our board and will act as our treasurer for 2007-2008.

For my part, at the annual meeting I was able to report on our contribution to Tulane University Journal of Law and Sexuality, which helped produce a copy of their journal dedicated to marriage issues. I also moderated a symposium at Tulane on marriage issues in early 2007, and was the only person present able to comment on the difference it makes to be able to be legally married to one’s same-sex spouse (Bruce and I having just been legally married under Canadian law some seven months earlier). Our association’s presence for the symposium and our contribution to the journal were both greatly appreciated.

2008 is going to be a wonderful year for us. We have lots of new plans in the works, new education initiatives, new membership recruitment plans, and we have agreed to hold our 2008 annual general meeting in San Francisco in conjunction with the NLGLA Lavender Law Conference. Our meeting will be held on September 5, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero. Start making your plans to be there. Please remember to renew your membership, or join now if you qualify and you’re not already a member. I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco.

Judge JG (Gary) Cohen
President, IALGJ