FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JACKSON, Miss - The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi welcomes staff attorney McKenna Raney-Gray, who will coordinate the organization's newest effort to protect the rights of LGBTQ Mississippians. The LGBTQ Justice Project, which will officially launch in August 2021, is a free legal clinic offering service to LGBTQ identifying people in issues related to family law, civil rights, consumer law, housing, and employment discrimination.
Additionally, Raney-Gray and the LGBTQ Justice Project will connect attorneys across the state to expertise on LGBTQ issues and best practices in working with clients of all sexual orientations and genders; and advocate for laws and policy that expand civil rights to marginalized LGBTQ communities.
"Unfortunately, efforts to discriminate against and target LGBTQ Mississippians continue to emerge in legislation and practices. Most recently, the passing of Senate Bill 2536 presents us with the duty to ensure trans student-athletes are not further harmed by the unjust policy. This new clinic is one of our most substantial legal endeavors to date in fighting LGBTQ specific issues, and we're eager to have McKenna lead the way," said Jarvis Dortch, Executive Director of ACLU of Mississippi.
“We believe this clinic will fill a need in Mississippi, and be of great value to LGBTQ Mississippians and their families. We look forward to serving and hearing how we can be of service,” said Joshua Tom, Legal Director of the ACLU of Mississippi.
"Legal representation is often difficult for LGBTQ residents to obtain, due to various reasons. It is our goal to equip law offices statewide with tools that will cater to this oftentimes vulnerable community. This impactful venture by the ACLU of Mississippi is exactly the type of work to which I am committed," said Raney-Gray, who is a University of Mississippi School of Law graduate.
Before returning home to Oxford, Mississippi, Raney-Gray was an associate attorney at Griffith Barbee in Dallas, Texas. Her previous law experience also includes work with the University of Mississippi School of Law MacArthur Justice Clinic, U.S. District Court Northern District of Mississippi, Dunbar Davis, McDavid & Associates, and the University of the Western Cape Legal Aid Clinic.
