BOSTON- Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is pleased to announce that two of its outstanding attorneys are being honored with prestigious awards in the coming weeks. GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project Director, Jennifer Levi, is receiving the National LGBT Bar’s highest honor, the Dan Bradley award. GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Vickie L. Henry is being honored by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as one of their 2012 Top Women of the Law.

“We are so lucky to have such incredible attorneys here at GLAD,” says GLAD Executive Director Lee Swislow. “These awards provide well-deserved recognition for both Vickie and Jennifer’s outstanding work.”

Jennifer L. Levi is the director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project and a nationally recognized expert on transgender legal issues. She co-edited Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy, the first book to address legal issues facing transgender people in the family law context and provide practitioners the tools to effectively represent transgender clients.

The Dan Bradley award recognizes the efforts of a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender legal community whose work has led the way in our struggle for equality under the law. Levi will receive her award this Friday at the National LGBT Bar Association’s 2012 Lavender Law Conference in Washington, D.C.

Vickie L. Henry is GLAD’s Youth Initiative Coordinator and has been visiting students across the Commonwealth to promote the Got Rights? Campaign – a collaboration between GLAD and BAGLY (The Boston Alliance of GLBT Youth) – meant to educate LGBTQ youth about their legal rights. Henry advocates for LGBTQ students, homeless youth, and children in the foster care system.

The Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly award celebrates legal educators, trailblazers and role models who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in their chosen fields.  More than 100 nominations were submitted for consideration of the award. The Honorees will be celebrated at a luncheon on Friday, October 12, 2012. The event will be held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston and will feature State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump as the keynote speaker.