Current Fellows

CLASS OF 2008

Ernst Hunter

Ernst attended Rutgers University, where he majored in Political Science. While completing his undergraduate degree, Ernst interned with Immigration Equality in Manhattan, an organization that represents LGBT immigrants seeking political asylum.

Ernst has focused much of his advocacy work on LGBT youth and indigent LGBT people. During his second year at Hofstra Law School, Ernst volunteered weekly at the Ali Forney Center, a Manhattan-based social service organization that works with homeless LGBT youth and at the Peter Cicchino Youth Project in Manhattan, an organization providing legal services to homeless LGBT youth.

Based on his work with LGBT youth and his own research, Ernst wrote a note for the Family Court Review suggesting policies to improve the treatment of LGBT youth in the homeless youth system. His note has been selected for publication in the forthcoming July 2008 issue. As a result of his research, Ernst worked with the American Bar Association's Youth at Risk Commission to draft a report and policy resolution urging changes to the foster care and homeless youth systems to make them better serve LGBT youth. This policy resolution was unanimously ratified by the American Bar Association's House of Delegates in August of 2007.

Ernst recently worked with the Center for Children, Families and the Law at Hofstra Law School to organize a panel for the law school's conference on youth at risk, designed to educate lawyers, judges, and social workers on ways to improve the treatment of LGBT youth in foster care.

Frank C. Salamone

Frank has been a staunch advocate for the rights of sexual minorities for over ten years. His focus is on developing and advocating for legislative solutions to the problem of LGBT inequality. In the summer of 2006, he interned at Equality California in San Francisco, where he assisted in lobbying efforts to pass legislation that resulted in significant gains for LGBT Californians, including the Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act, the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the State Income Tax Equity Act, the Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Act, and the Civil Rights Housing Act of 2006. In 2007, he was a Summer Associate at Fragomen Del Rey, a leading corporate immigration law firm. While at Fragomen, he assisted on political asylum cases involving LGBT and HIV-positive clients.

Frank was named as a finalist in the 2007 Dukeminier Awards Writing Competition, which honors the finest legal scholarship on LGBT issues, for his paper, "Looking to the Northern Lights: Lessons from Norway in Overcoming Evangelical Opposition to Same-Sex Partnerships." He presented the paper at the Queer Exoticism conference at Hofstra University in October 2007. He is currently working on a note advocating for the appointment of separate counsel for child plaintiffs in high-profile impact litigation, with a special focus on LGBT-related cases.

Frank received his Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University, where he double majored in Government and German. While at Georgetown, Frank was twice elected President of Georgetown Pride, the undergraduate LGBT student organization. During this period, Frank was active in advocating for protections and services for LGBTQ youth. He sat on the Board of Directors of Youth Pride Alliance, and served as co-chair of Youth Pride Day 2001.

Frank recently competed in the Williams Institute Moot Court Competition on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law. After graduation, Frank will clerk for the Honorable Nancy B. Firestone of the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.