Shannon Minter

Shannon Price Minter (born February 14, 1961) is an American civil rights attorney and the legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco.

A 1993 graduate of Cornell Law School, Minter has been lead counsel in dozens of groundbreaking legal victories for the LGBT community. A transman who spent his first 35 years as a female, Minter grew up in East Texas. Minter did not change his name when he transitioned from female to male, although he later added the middle name Price in honor of his uncle who died in 2003. He has a step daughter and wife whom he married in 2001. Minter says he is pained "by the injustice" that transgendered individuals may be legally married in California while gay and lesbian couples cannot.

Minter also has taught law at Stanford University, Golden Gate University and Santa Clara University.

Professional legal career
Minter first gained national attention in the United States in 2001 representing the lesbian partner of Diane Whipple, in a wrongful death case due to a dog mauling; which resulted in a landmark decision in California that extended tort claims to same-sex domestic partners; previously it was a right limited only to married couples.

In 2003, Minter gained national attention again when CourtTV aired the entire case of Kantaras v. Kantaras, where Minter represented Michael Kantaras, a transgender man who was trying to keep custody of his children.

Minter was the lead attorney arguing on March 5, 2009 before the California Supreme Court to overturn California Proposition 8. He was opposed in the courtroom by Ken Starr.

Awards
Minter won a Ford Foundation "Leadership for a Changing World" award in October 2005.