Diana Adams, Esq

08/21/2026

Calling lawyer colleagues! Our nonprofit Chosen Family Law Center is launching our CLE program (Continuing Legal Education)! Credit in NY and other states.

Would you register to join us, and consider sharing on your page to spread the word? Would you share with your co-workers or ask your employer to cover the cost for employees who sign up?

These programs fundraise to support our 501c3 legislative advocacy and free legal services for low-income q***r and non-nuclear families which is so needed right now.

But even more- this program builds the roster of attorneys who can support families with trans youth with the care they deserve- and legal strategies of support. Many of us would like to help these frightened families in this time of being targeted. This program ensures you and colleagues are actually ready, whether family law is your day job or a possible pro bono case.

Thanks for reading and sharing. 🙏🏽☺️

Protecting Transgender Youth in Family Law Disputes
Wednesday Sept. 30 • 2 PM ET • Zoom
Sliding-scale registration • NY CLE Open nationwide • Open to non-lawyers
Taught By Andy Izenson Esq.

This CLE course equips attorneys with the practical knowledge and issue-spotting skills needed to confidently represent families with transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming youth in family conflict.

In this CLE, you’ll learn:
•How to identify key issues affecting transgender youth in family law disputes
•How to provide legal support to trans youth in hostile environments
•What trans families need their attorneys to understand about their lived experiences
•How cultural competency can strengthen your advocacy and client relationships

When a client’s child is transgender, they want to know that the person advocating for their family doesn’t just understand the law, but understands their family. Having access to and support from culturally competent professionals makes a profound difference in a young person’s experience of turbulent times.

Our Senior Legal Director, Andy Izenson, Esq., brings years of experience in family law, LGBTQIA+ advocacy, and educating legal professionals on gender and sexuality.

Learn what families need you to understand, from professionals with years of experience advocating for their own communities.

Learn more and register at https://chosenfamilylawcenter.org/cle-courses

TNBGNCyouth

07/01/2026

It was incredibly inspiring to look out from the NYC Pride float to a sea of q***r faces of every age and ethnicity, beaming, fist-pumping, moved and triumphant, even some looking weary and like they needed the boost.

It filled my heart with determination to protect this beautiful, fierce, resilient community with all I’ve got. 🏳️‍🌈🙌🏽

06/17/2026

Donating to small effective nonprofits (with massively outsized impact) like ours is a great way to maximize your contribution to the civil rights movement right now. And its matched through end of June! I hope you'll consider donating in honor of pride to support our advocacy work. 🏳‍🌈 https://chosenfamilylawcenter.networkforgood.com/projects/224938-donate-to-chosen-family-law-center

06/16/2026

Direct link to my Nightline interview with our lovely clients in platonic co-parenting relationships.

ABC News' Nightline explores the growing trend of best friends havi...

06/16/2026

Honored to speak this positive message about the beauty of platonic co-parents and other diverse constellations of family, to a mainstream audience of millions on Nightline. I hope we got to open some minds, and I bet we did.

06/09/2026

Its an honor to receive this award from the mainstream NYC legal community. I feel the allyship with the movement for q***r justice.

I'd love to see some of you, especially lawyers and legal workers, at the NYC Bar Pride Reception next Monday June 15. 🏳️‍🌈

The NYC legal community will honor our Executive Director Diana Adams, Esq at the NYC Bar Association Pride Reception on Monday June 15! Register to join the celebration & see Diana recognized for their leadership in advancing LGBTQIA+ equality through the law. Diana will give a brief inspirational speech.

Register here: https://services.nycbar.org/EventDetail?EventKey=LGBTQ61526

Diana has risen to policy co-chair of the NYC Trans Q***r Coalition to interface with NYC government on behalf of the over 80 organizations in the coalition serving LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers. Diana’s leadership in municipal legislative drafting and advocacy has impacted passage of laws in NYC, Portland, West Hollywood, and beyond, this year alone. It’s powerful to see Diana honored by this kind of mainstream legal organization for defending and serving the beautiful varieties of love within our communities!

At CFLC, we remain committed to fighting for the right to love who we choose, build families that reflect our lives, and access the legal protections necessary to care for one another.

Join us in this fight and make a Pride contribution today! All gifts are matched this month. Despite broad recognition that all families deserve protection and that LGBTQIA+ people face ongoing threats, funding for q***r nonprofits is hard to come by.

The work we do at Chosen Family Law Center directly supports those who need it most: low-income families and individuals who rely on our free services for safety and stability. Plus we’re drafting laws in NYC and beyond to protect all families!

06/09/2026

Keep the protest in your pride & take action with us!

Join us as we advocate for funding for local organizations serving the influx of q***r people coming to NYC for safety from other states & other countries.

We're at real risk of going back to the times in the 1970s and 80s when the piers on the westside of Manhattan were full of q***r youth living in poverty. We won't let that happen.

Together we can make sure those coming to NYC today for a place of freedom and tolerance dont face poverty but get the warm welcome they deserve in NYC.

05/05/2026

After being on the team that drafted these model ordinances, its so incredible & empowering to see these laws pass all across the country at a municipal level, in Portland, West Hollywood, and beyond, thanks to grassroots organizing by community partner OPEN - Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy.

In my opinion, US democracy still functions best at a local level-may this encourage you to utilize that power! 💪 And if you're interested in these laws, follow along and join the movement!

Our Executive Director Diana Adams, Esq was interviewed by The Guardian for their latest piece covering the rapidly expanding legal protections for polyamorous families. Our lawyers Diana and Andy Izenson were on the team at Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition that drafted the model ordinances for multi-partner domestic partnership and relationship status/family structure nondiscrimination, which are now being adopted across the country. As Portland becomes the largest U.S. city to pass these protections, momentum is building with cities like West Hollywood and Berkeley recently doing the same. This work is about more than recognition; it’s about ensuring that all people, regardless of family structure, have access to housing, employment, and safety without discrimination.

We’re incredibly proud to be part of this movement and watch the work rippling out nationwide to create positive policies for polyamorous and non-nuclear families! When you support us by donating or sharing our posts, you’re directly supporting the advancement of these protections and the continued push for inclusive, equitable family law. Spread the word and make a donation today to help us keep the fight going to protect our community!

https://chosenfamilylawcenter.networkforgood.com/projects/224938-donate-to-chosen-family-law-center

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/03/polyamory-legal-protections

05/04/2026

Our rally last week in the news! The q***r and trans communities of NYC deserve funding to meet this moment. Follow along with us at Chosen Family Law Center, Inc. to get involved.

05/01/2026

I was glad to rally at NYC City Hall yesterday with our amazing team at the NYC Trans Q***r Coalition! https://www.instagram.com/nyctransq***rcoalition/

Two years ago, NY City Councilmembers said 'look, if all you q***r activists could just agree on what you want and come to us with an agreed upon list of priorities, we'd be more able to help.' Probably thinking- totally no way that's happening.

But the positive side of terrifying times in the news is that its much easier to get people to push aside infighting and come together! We created a coalition of all the nonprofits serving q***r people in NYC (over 70) and got them to AGREE on priorities for our legislative asks last year. And again this year. Can you imagine??

And as a result, last year we were granted a record $13.7 million by NYC in new emergency funds to meet the intense demand, which caused ripples around the country and helped other activists ask their cities to step up too! This year, we're out rallying for $38 million. Why do we need so much??

NYC has the largest q***r population in the USA, over 5% of the city population. We're asking, in this time of national attack and q***r people fleeing to the safe harbor of NYC in a massive influx, that we be granted 0.03% of the city budget, less than $2 per adult in NYC.

Remember those images and stories from 1970s NYC of all the piers on the westside of Manhattan full of homeless q***r teenagers? We're at risk right now of going back to that. And we cannot let that happen. When people come to the safe harbor of NYC, they deserve a warm welcome. We don't just need lip service about supporting q***r people- we need resources.

I’ve been an attorney serving LGBTQIA+ people in New York City for over 20 years. We’ve always been understaffed in providing free services to low-income q***r and trans people, but I’ve seen this issue become an emergency in the last year. As q***r and transgender people move from other states to New York City, we need additional funding urgently to provide them with the safety and welcome they deserve in our great city.

I'll be posting more about how you can testify, show up to rallies, and support!