The audacity to fight for justice. The perseverance to win.

That is the tag line for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), one of several non-profit organizations we support. We first learned about NCLR a couple years ago and have become more and more involved with the organization.

NCLR is a non-profit, public interest law firm which litigates precedent-setting cases at the trial and appellate court levels; advocates for equitable public policies affecting the LGBT community; provides free legal assistance to LGBT people and their legal advocates; and conducts community education on LGBT legal issues.

Last Sunday we invited 45 of our gay and lesbian friends to a wine and appetizer party we hosted at a neighborhood wine bar, Vino Locale, to learn more about the organization, its history, the cases it takes on and the people who run it. It was fun to see our gay and lesbian friends from our Jewish activities, FrontRunners group, theatre acquaintances and work associates meeting and mingling with each other. Even though the purpose for the event was informational, we still help to fundraise over $11,000.

NCLR is lead counsel in a lawsuit seeking marriage equality on behalf of eleven same-sex couples pending before the California Supreme Court. One of the gay couples in that case came to talk about their experience. Their other cases have focused on elder law, employment, family law, healthcare, immigration, marriage, relationship protections, transgender law, youth, and other civil rights.