New York State Bar Association To Honor LGBTQ+ Attorney-Advocate
1.13.2026
The New York State Bar Association will honor M. Lettie Dickerson for his advocacy and activism for the LGBTQ+ community. Dickerson will receive the LGBTQ+ Vanguard Award from the association’s LGBTQ+ Law Section in a ceremony at the offices of Holland & Knight in New York City on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
“M. Lettie Dickerson is a champion for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Kathleen Sweet, president of the New York State Bar Association. “He has made sure that courtrooms and communities throughout New York State treat LGBTQ+ people with dignity and respect. We are proud to recognize his many achievements with this high honor.”
Dickerson is a supervising senior attorney at the Empire Justice Center in Albany, leading the LGBTQ Rights Project. He has represented numerous clients for name and gender-marker changes. In one case, Dickerson secured a name change for a transgender minor when a judge had previously refused to grant it and referred to the child in an offensive manner.
Thanks to Dickerson’s advocacy, New York State enacted protections for gender affirming and reproductive healthcare providers and repealed the “Walking While Trans” law – a loitering law that had been used to harass and arrest transgender people.
Dickerson also co-chaired the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on the Treatment of Transgender Youth in Sports. The report recommended that the association oppose banning transgender youth from K-12 school sports, and the association adopted that policy.
Honoring attorneys who render extraordinary service to the public and the profession is part of NYSBA’s Annual Meeting tradition. This year’s event promises to be dynamic and informative, featuring a wide range of sessions and activities tailored to the diverse interests and needs of lawyers practicing in New York. Annual Meeting runs through Jan. 16 at the New York Hilton Midtown.
Highlights of Annual Meeting include the Presidential Gala celebrating the association’s 150th Anniversary. The gala is on Thursday, Jan. 15, from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., at The Plaza Hotel. The association will honor Gov. Kathy Hochul – who is receiving the Gold Medal – and its past presidents at the gala.
The Presidential Summit, the marquee event of the New York State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting, is on Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Panelists will discuss “The Case for Constitutional Failure,” focusing on whether the three branches of government have fulfilled their Constitutional duties.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jack Rakove of Stanford University and Yale University Rule of Law Clinic Co-Director, former Assistant United States Attorney, and January 6 Prosecutor Sonia Mittal will lead this important, timely conversation. Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNOW television anchor and commentator, will moderate the discussion.
