LGBT Rights & the Civil Rights
Division of the U.S. Dept. of Justice
Monday, March 26
6:30 – 8:30 pm
Room 127
Dinner provided
Diana K. Flynn
1979 graduate of Yale Law School and Chief of the Appellate Section of the United States
Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division since 1986
Sharon McGowan
Attorney in the Appellate Section of the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights
Division since 2010 and Co-Chair of the Civil Rights Divisionʼs LGBT Working Group;
previously Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & AIDS Project
Please join us for a discussion with two attorneys from the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division of
the United States Department of Justice. Diana Flynn will offer some reflections on her 25 years as the
Chief of the Appellate Section, and on the rewards and challenges of working for civil rights as a career
government attorney. Sharon McGowan, who joined the Civil Rights Division in 2010, will share her
perspectives on transitioning from the ACLU to the Department of Justice, and will also speak about her
work on Schroer v. Billington, a successful Title VII sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a transgender
woman that Ms. McGowan litigated prior to joining DOJ. Finally, Ms. Flynn and Ms. McGowan will also
discuss the Civil Rights Divisionʼs efforts to build on cases like Schroer and the Attorney Generalʼs
February 2011 announcement regarding sexual orientation and heightened scrutiny to advance the civil
rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.
For more information, email megan.wulff@yale.edu.