November 14, 2007

Contact:
Alan Hancock
NSU Office of Public Affairs
954-262-5385
hancocka@nova.edu

The Rev. Gene Robinson to Conclude NSU Law Center’s Goodwin Symposium on Legal Rights for Sexual Minorities
First openly gay bishop to hold public lecture on Nov. 27

FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. – The Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop elected to the episcopate, will speak at the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center on Nov. 27. His talk concludes the law school’s 2007 Goodwin Symposium on sexuality, morality and the law.

Titled “30 Years After Anita Bryant’s Crusade: The Continuing Role of Morality in the Development of Legal Rights for Sexual Minorities,” the 2007 Goodwin Symposium is addressing how views about morality have developed since Anita Bryant’s crusade in 1977 and to what extent morality still influences the laws impacting sexual minorities in the United States and around the world.

Robinson was elected Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003 and invested as the Ninth Bishop of New Hampshire the following year. His election has been at the center of the worldwide Anglican Communion’s debate over the full inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the life and ministry of the church. Robinson is also co-author of three AIDS education curricula for children and adults and has done AIDS prevention education in the United States and Africa.

Robinson’s free public lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the Large Lecture Hall at the Shepard Broad Law Center on NSU’s main campus (3305 College Avenue). Space is limited and RSVPs must be made online at http://www.nsulaw.nova.edu/events/rsvp.cfm or by calling (954) 262-6295.

Robinson will be the fourth and final visiting Goodwin professor to speak at the law school as part of this year’s Goodwin Symposium. Other visiting Goodwin professors were National Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director Matt Foreman, activist and political advisor David Mixner, and Suzanne Goldberg, director of the Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic at Columbia Law School.

The Leo Goodwin Sr. Chair in Law Symposium is dedicated to the memory of Leo Goodwin Sr., an entrepreneur and visionary who was committed to the advancement of education and research and a generous benefactor of the Shepard Broad Law Center. More information on the 2007 Goodwin Symposium is available at www.nsulaw.nova.edu.

About Nova Southeastern University: Situated on 300 beautiful acres in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University is a dynamic fully accredited institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 26,000 students and is the sixth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The university awards associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, doctoral, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences. For more information, visit www.nova.edu.