Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, announces today that the New York State Bar Association selected human rights advocate Evan Wolfson, a senior counsel at Dentons, for the 2022 John E. Higgins Diversity Trailblazer Award. An internationally acclaimed civil rights lawyer and strategist, Wolfson was recognized for his efforts to promote the full and equal participation of diverse people at all levels of the legal profession.

After many years at Lambda Legal working on the range of LGBT and AIDS cases, Wolfson founded and led Freedom to Marry, the pioneering campaign that drove the successful strategy to win same-sex couples the right to marry throughout the United States. Wolfson was also involved in winning the freedom to marry in Canada, South Africa, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Costa Rica and several other countries, as well as Taiwan. He now coaches similar efforts in diverse countries, including the Czech Republic, Japan, Panama, Peru and Vietnam. In the US, he actively advises and assists diverse organizations and causes, including advocacy for immigrants, women’s rights, racial justice, the environment, health care, gun control, animal rights and defending our democracy. He has also taught and mentored students at Yale, Georgetown Law, Columbia Law and Rutgers Law School. As a senior counsel at Dentons, Wolfson has worked with colleagues on Supreme Court briefs in several pro bono cases over the last several years, as well as on the firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Wolfson authored the landmark work Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry and was named one of "the 100 most influential lawyers in America" by the National Law Journal. Newsweek/The Daily Beast dubbed Wolfson "the godfather of gay marriage" and Time Magazine named him one of "the 100 most influential people in the world." Earlier this year, Wolfson was recognized by Crain’s New York Business in its Notable LGBTQ Leaders and Executives list.