(L-R) Henry M. Greenberg, of Greenberg Traurig and vice chair, Historical Society of the New York Courts; Christopher R. Riano, president, Center for Civic Education and Lecturer, Constitutional Law & Government, Columbia University and of counsel, Holland & Knight; Rosalyn Richter, former associate justice, Appellate Division, First Department and Senior Counsel, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer; Stephen P. Younger, partner at Foley Hoag and chair of the board, Historical Society of the New York Courts; Roberta A. Kaplan, partner, Kaplan Hecker & Fink and trustee, Historical Society of the New York Courts; Matthew J. Titone, surrogate, Surrogate’s Court, Richmond County; and Marilyn Marcus, executive director, Historical Society of the New York Courts. Courtesy photo
Lawyers and judges who played a role in New York’s path to legal rights for LGBTQ people shared stories of progress at an event hosted by the Historical Society of the New York Courts on Wednesday—but they expressed a cautionary outlook for the future of LGBTQ rights across the country, including restrictions on gender-affirming health care and Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.
While the leaked draft of the U.S. Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization included an assertion by Associate Justice Samuel Alito that the ruling “concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right,” the attorneys warned that similar reasoning could be used to strike down LGBTQ rights.
