The Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce & GALLA presents its monthly networking program tailored for attorneys, judges, and legal professionals.  This free webinar will be conducted via Zoom and is open to both GALLA members and to the community at large.  Participate and network with fellow legal and business professionals as well as people interested in the topic of discussion.  Our guest speaker will be attorney Simone Chriss, Director of Transgender Rights Initiative at Southern Legal Counsel.  She will be speaking to the wave of anti-trans legislation.  



Simone Chriss is a civil rights attorney who began working for the non-profit public interest organization Southern Legal Counsel (SLC) after graduating from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where she received her J.D. with honors. Ms. Chriss is the director of the organizations' Transgender Rights Initiative, developed by SLC to fill a gap in access to justice by systemically providing assistance to the transgender community in areas such as access to name and gender marker changes, obtaining accurate IDs, representation in educational proceedings, protection from discriminatory policies, and more. She conducts LGBTQ+ cultural competency trainings and transgender rights trainings statewide and nationally, and presents transgender name and gender marker change workshops throughout Florida. She is currently lead counsel on a federal lawsuit challenging the discriminatory exclusion of gender-affirming healthcare coverage for all transgender state of Florida employees.

Ms. Chriss works collaboratively with the Equality Florida Safe and Health Schools Project to ensure all LGBTQ+ students in Florida have access to a safe and affirming learning environment. Ms. Chriss has authored a series of “Legal Notes” which are distributed by Equality Florida to leadership in all 67 school districts to inform the districts of their legal obligations to protect and support LGBTQ+ students, and to empower youth and parents to self-advocate. The collaboration has resulted in tremendous success for students across the state in obtaining access to bathrooms aligned with their gender identity, consistent use of affirmed name and pronouns, and much more. Ms. Chriss also works with the UF Health Youth Gender Program through a Medical Legal Partnership ("MLP") to screen TGNC youth and families for health harming legal needs and provide assistance to address social determinants of health.

Ms. Chriss utilizes federal impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community education/training to bring about systemic reform in the areas of LGBTQ+ rights, child welfare, implementing trauma-informed services, ending the criminalization of homelessness, and special education. Ms. Chriss serves as an Attorney ad Litem for the Eighth Judicial Circuit's registry for dependent children with special needs. She is a member of The Florida Bar, and the bars of the U.S. Middle and Northern District Courts of Florida. Ms. Chriss is a member of the Executive Council of the Public Interest Law Section of the Florida Bar, she serves as Chair of the section's Children's Rights Committee, and was appointed to the Florida Bar's Standing Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.