Omar Gonzalez-Pagan L’10

Omar Gonzalez-Pagan is Counsel and Health Care Strategist in the New York office of Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and individuals living with HIV. His work spans all aspects of Lambda Legal’s impact litigation, policy advocacy, and public
education efforts.

As a member of the legal team in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges, Gonzalez-Pagan helped secure the freedom to marry for same-sex couples and their families across the United States. He also played an active role in the successful challenges to the marriage bans in Guam, Louisiana, and Puerto Rico. Among his current cases are: Smith v. Avanti, where he represents a
same-sex couple, one of whom is transgender, and their children in a federal housing discrimination case; Hamm v. City of New York, seeking to address the violation of the constitutional rights of a gay man brutally attacked while visiting his incarcerated partner at Rikers Island; and Evancho v. Pine-Richland School District, challenging a school’s discriminatory restroom policy on behalf of three transgender high school students.

Prior to joining Lambda Legal, Gonzalez-Pagan worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an Assistant Attorney General, a Special Assistant District Attorney, and an Associate General Counsel to the Massachusetts Inspector General. As an Assistant Attorney General, Gonzalez-Pagan was part of the team that successfully challenged the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in Massachusetts v. HHS.

He has been recognized as one of 2016’s Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 by the National LGBT Bar Association and a Public Interest Leader by the Boston Bar Association. In 2012, he was selected as a Fellow by the New Leaders Council in recognition for his commitment to the public interest and progressive values.

Gonzalez-Pagan received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was an editor of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law. He also possesses a Master’s in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science
in Biology from Cornell University