2025 Annual Gala
Join us on May 20th at Hall des Lumières as we celebrate the LGBT Bar NY Foundation's 2025 Gala!
LGBT Bar NY's Annual Gala supports the charitable and educational activities of the LGBT Bar NY Foundation, including our pro bono legal clinics, LGBT Law Notes, Law Student Career Fair, Judicial Fellowship Program, and a host of additional activities benefiting the LGBTQ+ legal community and the public. As part of the Gala, LGBT Bar NY also honors individuals with a distinguished record of service to our community.
We're excited to announce that this year's gala will take place at the iconic Hall des Lumières in the heart of Lower Manhattan! The 30,000 sf venue features two levels, an upper mezzanine, 40-foot ceilings, and an exclusive bank vault space. Join us for a unique immersive experience, condensed programming, drinks, dinner, and dancing with colleagues and friends. Help us raise a toast to our community's accomplishments and support our Foundation's important charitable mission.
Join us in celebrating our Community Vision Awardees
Hon. Adam Silvera
Chase Strangio, Esq.
Hon. Adam Silvera
Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for the New York City Courts
The Honorable Adam Silvera was appointed as Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for the New York City Courts effective August 27, 2024. The appointment was made by Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas with the consultation and approval of Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson and in consultation with Appellate Division Presiding Justices Dianne T. Renwick and Hector D. LaSalle. Justice Silvera had been serving as Administrative Judge for the New York State Supreme Court - Civil Term in New York County (Manhattan) prior to his appointment as Deputy Chief Administrative Judge.
Justice Silvera was first elected to the New York City Civil Court in 2014, initially serving as a Family Court judge in Kings County (Brooklyn). He was subsequently assigned to the Civil Court bench in Kings County, where he presided over a dedicated consumer credit and self-represented part. He later served on the Civil Court in New York County, handling consumer credit and other matters. He was named an Acting Supreme Court Justice in 2017 and assigned to the Integrated Domestic Relations Part in Family Court in New York County, handling Family Court matters as well as matrimonial cases filed in New York County Supreme Court. In 2018, Justice Silvera was elected to New York County’s Supreme Court-Civil Term, presiding over a motor vehicle part and later serving as the New York City Asbestos Litigation Coordinating Judge. He was subsequently elevated to the Appellate Term, First Department, hearing appeals in cases originating in New York City’s Civil Court and Criminal Court, and in January 2022 was named Administrative Judge of the New York County Supreme Court’s Civil Term.
Justice Silvera has presented on Continuing Legal Education topics including child custody law, motor vehicle accidents, no fault, toxic tort asbestos, as well as settlement techniques for various bar associations.
Chase Strangio, Esq.
Co-Director of the ACLU's LGBT & HIV Project
Chase Strangio is Co-Director of the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project as well as a nationally recognized expert on transgender rights. Chase’s work includes impact litigation, as well as legislative and administrative advocacy, on behalf of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV across the United States.
Prior to joining the ACLU, Chase was an Equal Justice Works fellow and the Director of Prisoner Justice Initiatives at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, where he represented transgender and gender non-conforming individuals in confinement settings. In 2012, Chase co-founded the Lorena Borjas Community Fund, an organization that provides direct bail/bond assistance to LGBTQ immigrants in criminal and immigration cases. Chase is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and Grinnell College.
Chase was counsel in the ACLU’s challenge to North Carolina’s notorious HB2, Carcaño, et al. v. Cooper, et al, the ACLU’s challenge to Trump’s trans military ban, Stone v. Trump, and the case of Aimee Stephens, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v EEOC, which resulted in a landmark 6-3 ruling from the Supreme Court finding the 1964 Civil Rights Act's prohibition on sex discrimination in employment extended to discrimination against LGBTQ workers.
On December 4, 2024, Strangio presented oral arguments on behalf of the private plaintiffs in U.S. v. Skrmetti, a landmark Supreme Court challenge brought by three families and a medical provider against a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.
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