First ever cohort of attorneys who are transgender to be admitted to U.S. Supreme Court Bar

On Wednesday November 30, 2022, the National Trans Bar Association ("NTBA") Co-Chair Kristen Browde will step to the podium at the United States Supreme Court and move the admission of a group of ten attorneys to the group of those admitted to practice before the Supreme Court. Then ten, all members of the NTBA, will be the first ever cohort of ten openly transgender attorneys ever admitted to practice before the nation's highest Court.

The NTBA group spans the entire gamut of legal practitioners, from a senior prosecutor from California to a partner in a big law firm, to civil rights attorneys, private practitioners and those working in public advocacy work. "We put together this group wanting to showcase to the Court the spectrum of legal talent that happens to be transgender," said Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, Co-Chair of the NTBA. "The message this will deliver is that attorneys who are transgender are just like every other group of attorneys: talented, dedicated and working for clients across the nation," Mr. Cameron-Vaughn said.

The idea for the ceremony arose in October of 2019 during oral argument in the seminal civil rights case, R.G. Harris Funeral Homes v. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, when Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested that banning employment discrimination against individuals who are transgender would lead to "massive social upheaval."

Kristen Browde, Co-Chair of the NTBA, who attended the oral argument in person, was surprised when it appeared that the Court was unaware that there were at least a half dozen out transgender attorneys in the courtroom, including two-Chase Strangio and Gabriel Arkles-who were part of the team of ACLU attorneys arguing the case.

The Supreme Court admission ceremony was initially planned for two years ago, but due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic the NTBA opted to delay the ceremony so that the group could be presented to the full Supreme Court bench.

"It is vital that we demonstrate to this group of justices, and to the nation, that one's gender and presentation in no way affects the abilities or performance of that individual," said Ms. Browde, "and, particularly for those justices who have expressed views hostile to people who are transgender, I think it is important to show that we are fully prepared to continue the battle for equality at all levels of the law. Without equality there can be no justice."

The ten attorneys being admitted as part of the Supreme Court ceremony are:

• Rook Elizabeth Ringer, a private practitioner from Florida,
• Jesse Lee Ann McGrath, a senior Assistant District Attorney in California
• Harper Jean Tobin, a public policy attorney and consultant from the District of Columbia
• Ames Barton Simmons, a public policy attorney from Georgia
• Zsea Ofure Bowmani, a professor of law from Illinois
• Sandy Evan James, a public policy attorney from Maryland
• Carl Solomon Charles, a public policy attorney from New York
• Alexander Luo Chen, a law professor from Massachusetts
• Gene Michael Wissinger, a partner at a New York law firm
• James Christopher Knapp, a private practitioner from Ohio

The National Trans Bar Association ("NTBA") is a national bar association of transgender and gender nonconforming legal professionals, law school students and allies dedicated to transgender equality. The National Trans Bar Association's core mission is to support transgender and gender nonconforming people in the legal profession and to increase the community's access to affordable and culturally competent legal services. We also strive to secure formal legal protections for transgender and gender nonconforming people to meaningfully address issues of equity