The National LGBT Bar Association recently announced that Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer Pritzker will receive the Frank Kameny Award during the organization’s 2014 Lavender Law Conference, held from August 21-23, 2014 in New York City. Pritzker is the Chair and Founder of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, President and Founder of the Tawani Foundation and President and CEO of Tawani Enterprises, Inc. Tawani Enterprises Inc., a private investment company that she organized in 1994, is involved in limited real estate partnerships, portfolio management and venture capitalization. Tawani’s projects include total restoration of the historic Monroe Building and the Emil Bach House in Chicago and investment in Squadron Capital LLC. Pritzker has also been a prominent supporter of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender military personnel.
Pritzker served a total of 27 years in three components of the U.S. Army, including service in the prestigious 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions as well over 14 years in the National Guard and 4 years in the U.S. Army Reserve. She has dedicated her post-military career to raising awareness of military history and honoring military service. In 2013, Pritzker announced a first-of-its-kind grant to research issues impacting transgender military personnel. She has also been a leader on LGBT equality issues in her home state of Illinois, and across the country.
“Colonel Pritzker embodies the values of duty, honor and country that remain the heart of our armed forces,” said D’Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of The LGBT Bar. “In addition to her service in uniform, Colonel Pritzker has continued to support our country’s veterans through generous philanthropic initiatives. Her work to ensure all Americans are treated as full and equal citizens is both inspiring and effective. We’re honored to present her with the Frank Kameny Award and know that Frank, himself a military veteran, would be thrilled that she is its recipient.”
The Frank Kameny Award is presented to a member of the LGBT community who has paved the way for important legal victories without a United States Juris Doctorate. The award was created to honor the memory of Frank Kameny, a tireless advocate for the LGBT community and the only recipient of the LGBT Bar’s Dan Bradley Award who did not have a law degree. Kameny served in the Army during World War II. Following his service, he was employed by the federal government, but subsequently fired once his superiors learned that he was gay. Kameny then filed the first petition to the Supreme Court arguing his firing based on his sexual orientation was a civil rights violation.
Lavender Law is the LGBT Bar’s premiere annual event, attracting more than 1,600 legal professionals including law firm practitioners, corporate counsel, academics, members of the judiciary and law students.
