The first openly gay or lesbian judge to be appointed to the federal bench told members and guests at QLaw's annual banquet last night that “significant diversity on the bench gives credibility to, and fosters faith in, the judicial system.”

Deborah Batts, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, addressed a sold-out ballroom last night at the annual banquet of QLaw, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Bar Association of Washington.

It was a glittering night of celebration and tribute at the Grand Hyatt Seattle for the LGBT legal group, which has become a significant voice in the local legal community during its relatively short three-plus years.

The group presented awards to Anne Levison, one of the Seattle business women who saved the Seattle Storm, and to Justice Bobbe Bridge (retired), who wrote a stinging dissent in the case known as "Andersen" -- the notorious Supreme Court decision that maintained special rights to marriage for only heterosexual couples.

In her keynote address, Batts, an African-American, recalled being considered for the bench by President George H.W. Bush, whose administration ultimately declined to nominate her because “her image does not match our image.”

She was re-nominated, confirmed, and sworn in by the administration of President Bill Clinton. Through the trials and tribulations of the confirmation process and subsequent assails on her character, Batts persevered, and as she remarked to the QLaw crowd, “I am still here.”

Batts praised her partner, Gwen, for her love and support during the trying process.

Outgoing QLaw President and co-founder Beth Barrett Bloom presented QLaw's Community Leadership Award to Anne Levinson who accepted the award on behalf of Force 10 Hoops, which she described as a group of four women committed to providing girls the opportunity to excel in sports, an opportunity some of the women never had.

Force 10 Hoops, LLC, a local company in which Levison is a partner, bought the Seattle Storm women’s professional basketball team from the Oklahoma owners of the Sonics, saving the team from a pending move to Sally Kern's hometown, Oklahoma City.

Levison has also been legal counsel to two Seattle mayors, former presiding judge for Seattle’s Mental Health Court, and former chairwoman of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

Honorable Bobbe Bridge, retired Justice of the Washington Supreme Court was honored as the 2008 QLaw Special Honoree. The audience rose to its feet in applause as Bridge approached the stage after a rousing introductions from King County Executive Ron Sims, and from her colleague and co-Andersen dissenter Justice Mary Fairhurst.

Fairhurst reflected on Bridge's many groundbreaking legal opinions affecting LGBT rights, and concluded with words echoing Justice Bridge's Andersen dissent: "Bobbe, we all look forward to that time when state-sanctioned discrimination toward our gay and lesbian citizens is erased from our state's law books."

Sims remarked that never before had he wanted to lose a case so much as he wanted to lose in Andersen, and he shared his hopes of a day when our bold Justices Bridge and Fairhurst’s words would appear not in the dissent, but leading a majority opinion.

Bridge engaged the audience to consider the unfulfilled promises it must address as a legal community, so that all persons can live “free of legal bias.”

“The obligation of lawyers,” she said, “is to pursue justice for all.” A longstanding advocate for children, Justice Bridge is now president of the board for the Center for Children and Youth Justice, where she will address the needs of at-risk youth, including GLBT youth who are homeless or struggling in the foster care system.

QLaw also welcomed new board members and introduced QLaw’s Public Interest Summer Grant recipient, Sarah White.

White, a first-year student at the University of Washington School of Law, will receive $5,000 in grant funds so that she may spend her summer as a legal intern with the Northwest Women’s Law Center in Seattle. She will engage in research and policy analysis to advance GLBT rights. Funding for the grant was made possible by the QLaw Foundation in conjunction with generous matching funds from the University of Washington School of Law.