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{{short description|American civil rights attorney}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shannon Minter
| birth_name = Shannon Price Minter
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|2|14}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas, Austin]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Cornell University]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])
| occupation = Civil rights attorney, director
| known_for = Legal Director of the [[National Center for LGBTQ Rights]]
}}
'''Shannon Price Minter''' (born February 14, 1961) is an American [[civil rights]] attorney and the legal director of the [[National Center for LGBTQ Rights]] (formerly known as the National Center for Lesbian Rights) in [[San Francisco]].<ref name="Merc">Mangaliman, Jessie (2005-10-06). San Jose Mercury News. [http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TSsuccesses/FtM/Shannon%20Minter/Transgender%20advocate%20honored.html Transgender Advocate Honored] Retrieved on 2009-03-05.</ref><ref name="NYTimes">Jesse McKinley and John Schwartz. {{cite news|work=New York Times|title=California Court to Weigh Gay Marriage Ban|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/us/05marriage.html|date=2009-03-04|accessdate=2009-03-05 | first1=Jesse | last1=McKinley | first2=John | last2=Schwartz}}</ref><ref name="bar-9jun2025">{{cite news |last1=Laird |first1=Cynthia |title=SF-based LGBTQ legal organization changes name |url=https://www.ebar.com/story/155112/ |access-date=June 9, 2025 |work=[[Bay Area Reporter]] |date=June 9, 2025}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Minter is a 1993 graduate of [[Cornell Law School]] and he has been lead counsel in dozens of groundbreaking legal victories for the [[LGBT community]]. Raised in [[East Texas]], Minter began [[Transitioning (transgender)|transitioning]] at age 35. Minter did not change his birth name after he started living as a [[trans man]].<ref name="ChSunTimes">{{cite news|work=Chicago Sun-Times (Sacramento Bee News Service) |title=Ken Starr vs. transsexual in Prop 8 case |first=Aurelio |last=Rojas |url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1458033,w-gay-marriage-transsexual-prop-eight030309.article |date=2009-03-03 |accessdate=2009-03-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306222903/http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1458033,w-gay-marriage-transsexual-prop-eight030309.article |archivedate=March 6, 2009 }}</ref>
==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 partner]]s; previously it was a right limited only to married couples.<ref name="Cornell05">{{cite news|work=Cornell University Chronicle)|title=Unfair and unequal: Attorney Minter champions rights of sexual minorities|first=George|last=Lowery|url= http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov05/Shannon_Minter.gl.html|date=2005-11-29|accessdate=2010-02-11}}</ref> Marjorie Knoller was sentenced to serve 15 years to life for the death of Diane Whipple.<ref>[http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202424717879 Knoller Gets 15 to Life in Dog-Mauling Case]- law.com</ref><ref>[http://www.kwes.com/global/story.asp?s=13032650]{{dead link|date=March 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Whipple's partner, Sharon Smith, succeeded in suing for $1,500,000 in civil damages, which she donated to [[Saint Mary's College of California]] to fund the women's lacrosse team.

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.<ref name="Cornell05"/> Though he won that case in 2002, it was reversed on appeal in 2004 by the [[Florida Supreme Court]], upholding the claim that the marriage was null and void because her ex-husband was still a woman and [[same-sex marriage]]s are illegal in Florida.<ref name="case2003">''Michael J Kantaras v Linda Kantaras'' [2003] Case No. 98-5375CA. 511998DR005375xxxWS, 6th Circuit</ref> The couple settled the case with joint custody in 2005.<ref name="grinberg2005">Emanuella Grinberg (June 16, 2005). [http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/16/ctv.transsexual.custody/index.html Settlement reached in transsexual custody case.] [[CNN]]</ref>

In 2009 Minter was the lead attorney arguing before the [[California Supreme Court]] to overturn [[California Proposition 8 (2008)|California Proposition 8]]. [[Kenneth Starr|Ken Starr]] represented the opposing side on this case.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/attorneys-in-prop-8-court-test-a-study-of-opposites/|title=Attorneys in Prop. 8 court test a study of opposites|last=Rojas|first=Aurelio|date=2009-03-05|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/us/06marriage.html|title=California Court Weighing Gay Marriage Ban|last1=Schwartz|first1=John|date=2009-03-05|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-08-09|last2=McKinley|first2=Jesse|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Ruling that California's citizens held the inalienable right to amend their constitution, the 5 for 4 majority upheld Prop 8's ban on same-sex marriages, though they agreed to recognize marriages that had already taken place under a "[[grandfather clause]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/26/politics/scotus-prop-8/index.html|title=Supreme Court dismisses California's Proposition 8 appeal - CNNPolitics|last=Producer|first=By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court|website=CNN|date=26 June 2013|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref> Ultimately, the entire statute was rendered moot after the Supreme Court ruled that all states must recognize gay marriage in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/06/26/obama-gay-marriage-ruling/29328755/|title=Obama: Gay marriage ruling is 'a victory for America'|website=USA TODAY|language=en|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref>

Minter has taught law at [[UCLA School of Law]], [[Stanford University]], [[Golden Gate University]] and [[Santa Clara University]].<ref name="Cornell05"/>

===Awards===
Minter won a [[Ford Foundation]] "Leadership for a Changing World" award in October 2005.<ref name="Cornell05"/>

==Personal life==
Minter got married in 2001 and has a daughter.<ref name="ChSunTimes"/> He said at the time that he was pained "by the injustice" that [[transgender]] people could legally marry in California while gay and lesbian couples could not.<ref name="ChSunTimes"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{C-SPAN}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minter, Shannon}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Texas]]
[[Category:American transgender men]]
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Law in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Lawyers from San Francisco]]
[[Category:Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Cornell Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Golden Gate University faculty]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ lawyers]]
[[Category:Transgender academics]]
[[Category:Transgender studies academics]]
[[Category:21st-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]]

Shannon Minter - Revision history

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