LGBTQIA+ Youth, Parental Acceptance, and Family Law
Registration Fee
SCBA Members: $75 | Barristers Club (1st 5 yrs of practice): $55 | Public: $90 | Students: $20
For the comfort of our guests, a limited number of in-person seats are available. If you wish to attend in-person, we suggest notifying our office at your earliest convenience to reserve your seat. Walk-ins will be admitted as space allows. In-person registrations expire at the start of the presentation. We do ask that you arrive promptly; otherwise your reserved seat may be given to a walk-in attendee. In-person reservations are non-refundable unless cancelled prior to 3 pm one business day prior to the presentation. All registrations are assumed to be remote unless otherwise stated. To reserve your seat for the in-person option, please contact Ann Horn at Ann@SonomaCountyBar.org or (707) 542-1190 ext. 100 to transfer your remote registration to in-person.
Speakers
Chelsea Kurnick (she/her/hers)
Chair
Positive Images LGBTQIA+ Center
Chelsea Kurnick (she/her) is the chair of Positive Images LGBTQIA+ Center where she co-founded a weekly peer support group for queer and trans adults in 2018. Chelsea is a freelance journalist reporting on queer and trans community and mental health.
She also dedicates her time to creating accessible arts and culture events. Chelsea co-produces Santa Rosa Zine Fest, a free weeklong celebration in collaboration with the Sonoma County Library. In 2020-2022, she programmed LGBTQIA+ films for Sonoma County’s AVfest.
She completed a 60-hour training in crisis intervention and emotional support at Seattle’s Crisis Connections where she spent two years as a volunteer for their 24-hour crisis hotline. She is endorsed as a sex educator through San Francisco Sex Information and has provided sex education to teens and adults. Chelsea received a BA in Linguistics from UC Riverside in 2010.
Nesta Johnson (she/her)
Family Law Staff Attorney
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Nesta joined NCLR in 2020, continuing a career focused on advocating for the rights of children and families, particularly in the child welfare arena. As an LGBTQ+ family law attorney, her practice areas include assisted reproduction, parentage, custody/visitation, family violence, family regulation, and parenting LGBQ+ youth. Before joining NCLR, Nesta served as a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, and later with the Children’s Law Center, in Brooklyn, New York.
Nesta graduated in 2008 with a BA from Stony Brook University, where she majored in Philosophy, and served as the Distinguished Alumni speaker at the 2016 departmental graduation ceremony. She was awarded her JD from the George Washington University Law School in 2013. While attending law school, Nesta did clinical work in medical torts, domestic violence advocacy, and family law.
During her five-year tenure as a staff attorney with The Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice, Nesta represented over seven hundred children in primarily child welfare matters. Subsequently, as a writing/appellate staff attorney with The Children’s Law Center, she advocated for youth at the trial and appellate levels in primarily custody and visitation matters.
Nesta believes that every child deserves to grow up in a safe, supportive, and accepting home and that every family is entitled to recognition, respect, and equal treatment.
She is admitted to practice law in New York State and Pennsylvania.
Renee Ho (she/her/ella)
Parent
Amor Para Todos (APT)
Renee Ho is a loving mama bear and passionate advocate for gender and LGBTQIA+ inclusivity in schools and beyond. She is the Founder & Executive Director of Amor Para Todos (APT). APT joins with schools and communities in an innovative, intersectional approach to cultivate more gender and LGBTQIA+ affirming environments for our youth.