Tara Borelli is working in the Los Angeles Lambda Legal organization. Lambda Legal is an impact litigation office. Lambda Legal has been molded after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (“NAACP”) and other historic associations dedicated to equality. Lambda Legal is committed to achieving full recognition of civil rights regardless of a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status. Additionally, Lambda Legal works in coalition with a number of reproductive rights groups and women's equality groups. The Western Regional Office of Lambda Legal oversees litigation in 11 western states. Lambda Legal has five different regional offices located in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
Tara received her political science degree from UC Davis, and then she went on to graduate from Boalt Hall, which has now been named the School of Law at UC Berkeley. During her internship with Lambda, Tara discovered she was “hooked” on the work. As an intern, she dreamed of working with Lambda Legal full-time. She said she was inspired by her internship to “work as hard as I could so that I could bring more to the table.”Although Tara loves her work, initially, she wanted to be a journalist to bring injustices to light. Luckily, for our legal community and the many disadvantaged individuals Tara represents, Tara found her true calling. “I realized I could really make a difference working in the law, and I could be a part of this dynamic movement.”
One of Tara's most memorable moments in school was protesting federal government recruitment on campus. The students protested the recruitment because at that time the “Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy” violated the anti-discrimination policies of the campus. The campus recruitment continued for years despite numerous lawsuits filed by multiple lawschools. However, those days are behind us now.
Tara's main mentor is Jon Davidson. Jon is the legal director at Lambda Legal. He has “worked in this movement for decades.”According to Tara, Jon Davidson is a great man to work for. His legal skill, knowledge, and dedication are unparalleled in this field.
Tara discussed some of her personal experience with sexual orientation prejudice. In 2004, Tara and her wife Susan were married in San Francisco thanks to the efforts of Gavin Newsom. “Although I knew there would be a question as to the legal validity of the marriage, it meant so much for us to be acknowledged as a married couple. I was incredibly hurt when our marriage was invalidated.”Tara, Susan, and Bailey (the Pomeranian) are a family.
Tara is driven to work hard and make a difference. Each case and heartbreaking client story provides more fuel for her fight for equality. For instance, one such case is Diaz v. Brewer (formerly Collins v. Brewer). In 2009, Arizona enacted a law to strip gay and lesbian state employees of domestic partner benefits including healthcare. The argument was that if the state stripped domestic partners of health benefits, they violated the federal constitution because the government would not be upholding the promise of equality. Further, by stripping these rights the law would be punishing people for exercising their right to private relationships with a same-sex partner. Through the work of Tara and Lambda Legal, these healthcare rights were upheld through a preliminary injunction during the case.
Tara found being lead counsel on Diaz v. Brewer to be incredibly gratifying.“I believe access to healthcare is incredibly important. It was incredibly frightening for these clients to be faced with the loss of healthcare. The clients in this case included those whose partners were suffering from glaucoma, hypertension, and even a stay at home foster parent suffering from a torn carotid artery. Right as the state was about to yank coverage, leaving thousands of people without health coverage, we intervened.”
Tara is working with Lambda Legal on the ground breaking case, Golinski v. United States Office of Personnel Management. On February 22, 2012 the U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White declared the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) unconstitutional as applied to Karen Golinski. Here, Lambda Legal and co-counsel at Morrison & Foerster represent Karen, who was denied spousal health benefits by her employer, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. This unique and pivotal case will be heard by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Lambda Legal will seek to uphold Judge White's historic ruling to ensure that Karen, and others like her, will receive equal benefits. In addition, Tara is serving as co-counsel in Sevcik v Sandoval, a federal challenge seeking the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in Nevada.
For her advocacy, Tara has received a number of awards including all of the following: the Best Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Lawyers (LGBT) Under 40 Award, Certificates of Recognition presented by the California State Assembly, the 2012 Legal Service Award, and the Top Women Lawyers of 2012 Award. Tara has a great deal of public speaking experience working with various firms, volunteer associations, and schools. Additionally, she also taught a number of mandatory continuing legal education seminars.
In the past, Tara served on the Board of Directors and was Program Committee Chair for LifeWorks Mentoring, now part of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. This program is an incredibly important mentoring program providing a positive support system and mentoring services for LGBT youth. Tara admires a number of other non-profits such as the LGBT Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”), the National Center for Lesbian Rights (“NCLR”), and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (“GLAD”). Each organization provides “a chance to work with brilliant people in the field.”
In five years, Tara sees herself working with Lambda Legal. “I want to stay right here. There is so much left to do.” Tara will continue to pour her heart and soul into the movement. “I want to help establish principles upon which we can build future work. Each new precedent is a building block to the next step of progress” she said. Perhaps she summed it up best when she said “I love my work.” This is an area of the law that is constantly changing and providing new and rewarding challenges.
For more information about Tara Borelli or Lambda Legal, visit Lambda Legal's website at www.lambdalegal.org.
