The Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit legal and educational organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, seeks an experienced attorney to join our LGBT litigation and advocacy work focused in the Deep South. The Law Center was founded in 1971. Its mission is the advancement and protection of the rights of minorities, the poor, and victims of injustice in significant civil rights and social justice matters.

Staff Attorney – LGBT Rights Project (Montgomery or Atlanta)

The LGBT Rights Project litigates some of the most compelling cases in the country. We currently represent victims of fraudulent “conversion therapy” practices in New Jersey, a child born with an intersex condition and required to undergo needless sex-reassignment surgery by the State of South Carolina, a 55-year-old lesbian trying to open a gay bar in small-town Mississippi, a transgender high school student in a Texas border town fighting to wear a tuxedo in his school portrait, a lesbian high-school student standing up to small-town school administrators who told her they don’t want a “dyke” in their school, and a widower seeking to overturn his state’s refusal to recognize his marriage to his late husband. Recently, we obtained a significant victory establishing the right of same-sex married veterans to equal treatment, and secured a landmark settlement in a school bullying case in Minnesota that has served as the model for subsequent litigation and federal enforcement actions around the country. Our focus is on the Deep South and on the most vulnerable LGBT populations, but our work includes several strategic national campaigns seeking justice for LGBT people.

The Staff Attorney will be expected to bring strategic vision to our work; work collaboratively with our staff; help lead SPLC’s LGBT-rights litigation; and serve as a public face of the project. The Staff Attorney will help the project develop and carry out multifaceted campaigns – which may include complex federal court litigation, policy work, community organizing, and communications efforts – to achieve our strategic goals. Substantial travel will be required. Applicants should have a strong commitment to advancing the rights of LGBT people, excellent writing skills, and at least three years’ experience of relevant litigation and/or policy advocacy. Spanish proficiency is encouraged but not required.

Ideally, this position will be based in our central office in Montgomery, Alabama, but we will consider having the right candidate work in Atlanta. SPLC will pay reasonable relocation costs. We offer compensation that is quite competitive for public interest jobs, depending upon experience, and excellent benefits. Please apply by submitting your cover letter, resume, and writing sample as one document to https://home.eease.com/recruit/?id=7675271.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, or status with regard to public assistance.

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