Samuel Wolfe

Sam Wolfe was a civil rights attorney and advocate with the Southern Poverty Law Center until 2016. Sam founded the SPLC’s LGBT Rights Project. His work, often set in the Deep South, focused on achieving greater respect and equality for LGBT people.

His cases include the first-ever, consumer fraud lawsuit challenging conversion “therapy” that purports to change sexual orientation from gay to straight. He represented transgender clients in employment and prison discrimination cases and initiated the first marriage equality case in Alabama. He also helped defeat a policy that prevented teachers from stopping anti-LGBT bullying, something never before accomplished by litigation. The suit also achieved a landmark consent decree that established a blueprint for remedying anti-LGBT school environments nationwide. Sam and his team have restored freedom of speech and expression to LGBT students in multiple Southeastern school districts – often negotiating resolutions without the need for litigation. 

Previously, Sam was a litigation associate at a leading international law firm in New York City. He is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center. The National LGBT Bar Association has recognized Sam as one of the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40. Other experience includes service in U.S. Air Force special operations, and as an English teacher in Taiwan where he also was a bungee jump master.