Paul C. Burke, the Firm’s General Counsel, has been recognized as a “Utah Hero” for his legal work defending the rights of gay and lesbian teens and for his public advocacy of equality for Utah’s LGBT citizens. The award citation states that “his tenacity, zeal, and compassion have made him a champion of the underserved and most disadvantaged in our community.”
Mr. Burke will receive the “Utah Hero” award at the Grand Marshal’s Reception at the Utah Pride Festival on Friday, June 5th at 7:00 PM at Washington Square in Salt Lake City. Burke will also be honored on Sunday, June 7th at 10:00 AM during the Utah Pride Parade, the state’s second largest annual parade.
In addition to representing abused LGBT teens, Mr. Burke led a team of RQN attorneys, including former U.S. Attorney Brett L. Tolman, John W. Mackay, and Mica McKinney, in filing an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Utah Pride Center and a national coalition of equality groups in the cases addressing the Defense of Marriage Act and California Proposition No. 8.
Mr. Burke was also recognized for co-authoring with Mr. Tolman and Mr. Mackay a series of columns in the Salt Lake Tribune advocating equal rights for LGBT Utahns. Below are links to these columns, which correctly predicted the arrival of marriage equality in Utah.
- An Overview of Utah’s System of De Jure Denigration Against LGBT Citizens. (June 1, 2013)
- Utah Will Have Marriage Equality Soon (October 12, 2013)
- Utah Relies on Pre-Civil War Notions To Oppose Marriage Equality (December 7, 2013)
- Utah’s Stance on Existing Marriages Exposes Amendment 3’s Original Sin (January 11, 2014)
- A Failing Grade for Utah’s Opening Brief: Utah Cannot Justify Its Marital Apartheid (February 10, 2014)
- A Preview of the Tenth Circuit Argument: A Test of Integrity for Utah’s Attorney General’s Office (April 5, 2014)
- Pride 2014: Progress Made and Equality Ahead (June 6, 2014)
- Utah’s Same-Sex Marriage Case Headed Toward the History Books (August 8, 2014)
- Legal “Dream Teams” Make Utah the Best Marriage Case (September 18, 2014)
- Let Justice Guide the Revision of Anti-LGBT Laws (October 10, 2014)
- Protester Case May Reveal Legislators’ True Animus Towards Gays (November 8, 2014)
- Marriage Equality is Constitutional Destiny (April 26, 2015)
- This Pride Day: All Utahns Have Reason to Be Proud (June 7, 2015)