Community Conversations Breakfast

Brian Klosterboer is a Senior Staff Attorney who engages in impact litigation and advocacy to advance and defend the civil rights and liberties of all Texans. Since joining the ACLU of Texas as a Skadden Fellow in 2018, Brian has primarily focused on protecting the rights of LGBTQIA+ Texans, especially transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse youth. He also specializes in the First Amendment, students’ rights, and policy change before school districts, local governments, and the Texas Legislature.

Emmett Schelling is a trans man, Houstonian, an immigrant from South Korea, an adoptee, and currently serves as Executive Director of Transgender Education Network of Texas. Emmett is a leader for trans rights and gender equity. 

Emmett’s ferocious, community-focused, and no-nonsense approach to the work has led him to be given the honor of receiving an array of awards from local, state, and national organizations in recognition of his work. In 2022, he was named one of “TIME’s 100 2022 list of Most Influential People in the World.” His awards also include Equality Texas’s 2019 annual “Monica Roberts Trans Advocacy” award, 2020’s “Trans Advocate of the Year” from Advocates For Trans Equality (A4TE, formerly known as Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund/TLDEF), Texas Diversity Council’s annual “Trans Advocate of the Year” (2022), Equality Federation’s Leadership award (2022), and most recently was recognized by the Rainbow Fund in Sweden (2026) as well as the Oscar Romero Humanitarian award from Rothko Chapel. 

He happily resides in Houston with his wife, child, and two adopted pups. In his off time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends through food and sports. 

Shelly L. Skeen (pronouns: she/her) is the South-Central Regional Director for Lambda Legal, covering eight states, where she has also served as a Senior Attorney. Ms. Skeen is a seasoned litigator, appellate practitioner, mediator, and arbitrator. She holds a diploma in International Arbitration, has filed amici briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and successfully appeared before the Texas Supreme Court. Ms. Skeen has served as the Chair of the LGBTQ Law Section for the State Bar of Texas, President of the Dallas LGBT Bar Association, is a frequent speaker and author on LGBTQ+ legal issues and is adjunct faculty for the University of Texas School of Law, UNT Dallas College of Law, and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. In 2016, the Texas Bar College awarded Ms. Skeen The Franklin Jones Award for the Best Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Article on the impact of Obergefell. Ms. Skeen has served on the CLE Committee for the State Bar of Texas for 8 years and is a frequent CLE Course Director. In 2018, Ms. Skeen earned an LL.M. from UCLA School of Law with specializations in Constitutional Law and Law & Sexuality (LGBTQ+ Law). Ms. Skeen was honored by the Texas LGBTQ Law Section with its highest award, the Judge Black Award, for her work on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, and has been named a “Living Legend” by the Dallas Bar Association. She has worked with Transgender people across the country to ensure that they have identity documents that match who they are, and also works with Texas law schools, nonprofit organizations, and law firms to educate them about LGBTQ+ legal issues. Ms. Skeen has testified before the Texas Legislature in support of LGBTQ+ people and has recently served as counsel in Doe v. Abbott, PFLAG v. Abbott, Poe v. Drummond, Fowler v. Stitt, and Wilkins v. Austin. In 2024, the Texas Bar CLE gave Ms. Skeen its “Standing Ovation” Award for her extraordinary energy, commitment of time, and leadership of high-quality CLE programming and the Dallas LGBT Bar Association awarded Ms. Skeen its Justice Award for her significant contribution to the advancement of the LGBTQ+ people by fighting injustice. Ms. Skeen is a certified Queer & Trans Affirming Professional, was a founding member of the Coalition for Aging, LGBT, and also serves on the Board of the Juanita J. Craft Civil Rights House and Museum.