Since graduating from George Mason University-Antonin Scalia Law School in 2011, Cathryn M. Oakley has been busy fighting on the front lines of LGBTQ+ legal advocacy.
She will now be doing so as the Deputy Legal Director of Policy for Lambda Legal.
Oakley is also an adjunct professor at George Washington University in the school’s Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Program.
Before joining Lambda Legal, Oakley fought for LGBTQ+ rights at the Human Rights Campaign in a variety of roles, including Senior Director for Legal Policy, State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel.
She has also appeared as a commentator and spokesperson on PBS NewsHour, CNN, Al-Jazeera and NBC. Her analysis and opinions have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other major print news outlets.
Oakley is the force behind the HRC Municipal Equality Index, which uses a number of data points to assess the inclusivity of various municipalities. For example, out of a possible 100, Charlotte scores an acceptable 80. Winston-Salem comes in with an impressive 96.
According to Douglas Curtis, Chief Legal Officer at Lambda Legal, Oakley has “spent her career turning legal expertise into real wins for LGBTQ+ people at every level of government, and I could not be more excited to have her alongside us in this fight.”
Oakley knows how fragile the status of LGBTQ+ people in the USA can be. “Freedom and equality are hanging in the balance in America, and LGBTQ+ people are on the front lines,” she said in a Lambda Legal press release.