Explanation
Title
To honor Rhonda R. Rivera, a true pioneer in the struggle for GLBT rights; an icon to the GLBT community in Columbus and the State of Ohio.
Body
WHEREAS, Rhonda Rivera created a new field of law called "sexual orientation law." Her pioneering, 175-page, 1000-footnote, 1979 law review article: "Our Straight-Laced Judges: The Legal Position of Homosexual Persons in the United States" became the national bible for all lawyers and legal scholars wishing to study gay and lesbian law; and
WHEREAS, In 1985, Rhonda Rivera became one of the first national legal scholars to write about AIDS and the Law. Her article "Some Notes from the Trenches," reflected both her extraordinary scholarship and her pro bono legal services to over 200 persons with HIV and AIDS. To this day, the article is used to train lawyers and legal workers providing services to persons with HIV; and
WHEREAS, Rivera has been a member of the Board of Directors of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the national GLBT law firm. Lambda has published some of her work, and she helped write its "AIDS Legal Guide." She and Professor Pat Cain also wrote the Lambda publication on gay family estate planning. Rivera also co-founded the Gay and Lesbian Legal Issues Section of the American Association of Law Schools; and
WHEREAS, In the mid-1980s, she led the effort for the issuance of Governor's Executive Order 83-64, protecting gay and lesbian state employees from discrimination. She twice led the effort to pass a sexual orientation nondiscrimination ordinance in the City of Columbus, seeing its passage in 1990. She founded the Ohio Human Rights Bar Association, and she co-founded the AIDS Legal Panel for the Columbus AIDS Task Force; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That this Council does hereby acknowledge and celebrate all of the significant accomplishments and contributions of Rhonda R. Rivera - your lea...
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