Dear John,

As we approach GivingTuesday tomorrow, I hope you will consider a gift to the Williams Institute to support our mission. 

Our research is needed now more than ever. Over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were considered by state legislatures in 2023. Past years tell us that this trend will continue, and we are expecting even more efforts to harm LGBTQ+ people and undermine LGBTQ+ rights in 2024. 

We realized early on that we couldn’t do this work alone. That’s why, this GivingTuesday, we are celebrating our past fellows and everything they have done to change LGBTQ+ lives.  

Since our founding, it has been part of our mission to invest in the next generation of researchers and lawyers who will continue to impact LGBTQ+ law and policy for decades to come. Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen our fellows grow into leaders—including those who shape law and policy on LGBTQ+ rights nationwide.

Our fellows have become law professors, bringing courses on law and sexuality to law schools in Arkansas, Arizona, and beyond. Others have gone on to lead LGBTQ+ organizations, draft policies in the federal government, and become the deans of law schools throughout the country. Their work pushes the envelope to imagine a better world for LGBTQ+ communities. Take a look at the successes of two of our law teaching fellows:

I like to think that I had the kind of career that Chuck Williams was envisioning when he created the program. I left UCLA in 2006, and I joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where I taught one of the first law and sexuality courses in the state. And I think it was important for that community in particular—it was a highlight of my career to be able to do that.  

Tomorrow, on GivingTuesday, we will publicly kick off our Legacy Campaign, inspired by our founder, Chuck Williams, who passed away this past April. Chuck understood that fostering the knowledge and skills of the next generation would be an essential strategy for a protecting the lives and future of LGBTQ+ people.  

Over this past year, I’ve been able to visit with several of our donors and friends—and I am personally grateful to everyone for their support and advocacy. Every dollar matters in our commitment to educating the next generation of leaders in sexual orientation and gender identity law and policy.

l hope you’ll kindly join me in making a gift meaningful to you today.  

With gratitude,  

Jason Rizzi 
Senior Director of Development

The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law is an academic research institute dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.

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