2010 POINT SCHOLARS

Ashland Johnson

Joan R. Heller Point Scholar

University of Georgia Law School

Law

Growing up in the South, Ashland often witnessed the brazen hostility directed towards the queer community. In 2006, she was asked to voluntarily resign from her job when her supervisor discovered she was gay. When she refused, she was terminated and denied her right to appeal. Ashland’s experience fighting her employer’s decision and working with local equal rights organizations to test her city’s commitment to queer rights fueled her desire to go to law school and become an equal rights advocate.

Ashland is now entering her 3rd year at Georgia Law School where she continues to be an active equality advocate and community leader. She is currently the president of her school’s OUTLaws and American Constitution Society chapters, and an active volunteer with Georgia Equality.  Because of her commitment to equal rights, during her 1L summer Ashland was awarded the QLaw grant and interned with Lambda Legal where she assisted with ongoing and potential equal rights cases.  And during her 2L summer, Ashland was a selected as a Holley Law Fellow with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to help promote pro-LGBT legislation.

Ashland has also been an Equal Justice Foundation Summer Fellow and a member of the Equal Justice Works Summer Corps. She hopes to continue working in equal rights advocacy after law school.