Get in touch with Denise about partnership opportunities, strategic initiatives, or volunteer opportunities!
(206) 483-2725
Staff
J. Denise Diskin
Executive Director
Christian Santana
Sher Kung Fellow
Alphonse Littlejohn (a man of many names) is a Seattle community organizer and hooligan. Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, they found themselves on the West Coast in search of themselves and chosen family. Midwesterner by heart, Capricorn by nature, they're always working towards collective liberation. Al is the Co-Chair for Black Trans Mx, BTMX, a new part of the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition (BTAC), who supports black non-binary/genderqueer individuals in creating community and accessing resources. Also known as Avery Noir, he is the Prince of the Royal House of Noir, a kiki ballroom house made by and for black trans* individuals with the purpose of centering and uplifting our narratives. With his best friend DJ Discotheque, he (Avery Littledick) also makes up one half of The Dab Boiz - a dastardly duo all about mutual aid, drag, and celebrating black trans* folks. When he’s not daydreaming about destroying institutions of oppression, he likes trying out new things, dancing, and playing with their German Shepard pup, Baxley. He also has a turtle named Patrick 😊
Christian Santana is an incoming third-year law student from the University of Washington School of Law, where he served as President of the Center of Human Rights and Justice, as well as Mental Health and Wellness Advocate of UW Law’s Student Bar Association. Last summer, Christian worked as a legal intern with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties.
A Southern California local, Christian earned his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Southern California. Prior to entering law school, he worked as a legal assistant for Esperanza Immigrant Rights Projects, aiding unaccompanied minors through community outreach and legal education. Upon graduation, Christian is looking forward to practicing public interest law and continuing to serve his community, with a concentrated lens on equity, racial justice, and abolition.
In his free time, Christian likes to hike, learn new cocktail recipes, and tend bar.
Jesse Guecha (he/him) is a Paralegal and Legal Services Manager who helps manage our LGBTQ+ clinics and our volunteer programs. He also works with legal service providers across Washington State, helping legal providers better serve LGBTQ+ communities and building a referral network. Jesse also does work at QLaw in the areas of housing law and helping build culturally informed services for Two Spirit, Indigiqueer, and Indigenous LGBTQ+ folks as well as LGBTQ+ folks in Latinx/a/o/e and immigrant communities.
Jesse comes to QLaw with a long history of community organizing, project management and legal support work. He has been a court clerk intern for Tulalip Tribal Court’s Chief Judge, worked in the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office, been a legal assistant for a local civil rights firm and is a legal observer for the National Lawyers Guild.
Jesse was born in Muisca territory, what dominating culture calls Colombia, South America. He has mixed Muisca and colonizer ancestry and grew up on Coast Salish territory. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University Washington in 2002 and has continued to live in Dxʷdəwʔabš (Duwamish) territory since then. In 2018, he earned a Post-Baccalaureate Advanced Paralegal Certificate and transitioned from healthcare IT project management to working in the legal field.
Jesse is also an active member of the local urban Native community and QTBIPOC communities in the Seattle area. He identifies as Indigenous, Latinx, immigrant, Two Spirit, transmasculine, and as a father to his two children.
Denise Diskin joined the QLaw Foundation as its first Executive Director after nearly ten years of legal practice representing individuals harmed by discrimination, with a particular focus on cases impacting individuals with multiple marginalized identities. Her work is driven by the vision of building individual and community power through informed legal decision-making. She is a frequent speaker on LGBTQ+ civil rights, employment discrimination, healthcare coverage for transgender and nonbinary people, and LGBTQ+ access to the legal system.
Before her legal career, Denise worked for several years as a labor organizer, teacher, and community arts program volunteer coordinator. She started volunteering with QLaw Foundation's LGBTQ+ Legal Clinic in 2009, which she went on to chair from 2011 to 2013. She then started the LGBT Legal Clinic’s partner clinic with Ingersoll Gender Center and served for several years on the Sher Kung Summer Fellowship Committee. She has lived in Santa Cruz, St. Louis, rural Missouri, Baltimore, and San Francisco, but in 2008 found her forever home in the Puget Sound. She enjoys riding her bike, hiking, and cheering on OL Reign, Washington’s outstanding professional women’s soccer team.
Publications and Media
- Woods v. Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, November16, 2017; KIRO TV; The Stranger
- KUOW’s The Record, regarding auto-conversion of state-registered domestic partnerships to marriages, May 8, 2014.
- So Am I Married Now, Or What? Seattle Gay News, February 21, 2014.
- Finding legal answers post-DOMA: Local lawyers recognized for pro-bono efforts The Capitol Hill Times, September 12, 2013.
- Identity Documents 101, Gendercast, Podcast Episode 32, October 22, 2012.
- Taking it to the Bank: Actualizing Health Care Equality for San Francisco's Transgender City and County Employees, 5 Hastings Race & Poverty L. J. 129 (Winter 2008).
Professional Honors, Leadership and Memberships
- Washington State Bar Association
- Washington Leadership Institute, 2018 Fellow
- Washington Employment Lawyers Association CLE Committee (2015-2018)
- Co-Chair/Member, QLaw Foundation Sher Kung Summer Fellowship Committee (2015-2018)
- Washington State SuperLawyers - Rising Star (2014-2018)
- Washington Won’t Discriminate Legal Committee (2017)
- National LGBT Bar Association Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 (2016)
- Community Leadership Award, Ingersoll Gender Center (2015)
- QLaw Foundation Inaugural “Volunteer of the Year” Award (2015)
- Latina/o Bar Association of Washington Legal Clinic Volunteer Attorney (2015)
- QLaw Foundation Board of Directors (2011-2013)
- Chair, GLBT Legal Clinic Committee (2010-2013)
Education
- J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law
- B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz, with honors