Honorary Degree Recipient
John Ward
Doctor of Laws
Photo by Jackie Ricciardi
John Ward received his JD from Boston University School of Law in 1976. After clerking for Judge Raymond Pettine (LAW’43) in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island, he went into private practice in Boston in 1977. In 1978, in response to a pattern of police harassment of gay men, he gathered a group of community activists and founded Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, now known as GLAD LAW (GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders). He has handled a number of noteworthy cases involving LGBTQIA+ clients, including the Rhode Island prom case upholding the right of a high school senior to bring another young man to the prom as his date, and the Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade case, during which he became the first openly gay man to argue before the United States Supreme Court.
Recently, Mr. Ward served as cocounsel in a criminal case involving a transgender woman— the first to be housed in a gender-appropriate prison, because of a lawsuit brought by GLAD LAW. After her transfer, she was charged with a criminal offense while in prison, a prosecution alleged to be in retaliation for her successful transfer. Mr. Ward also worked for fifteen years representing death row inmates in post-conviction proceedings in California. Mr. Ward received the Spirit of Justice Award from GLAD in 2008, joining previous recipients Governor Deval Patrick (Hon.’14), Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., and author Tony Kushner, among others.
In 2021, he was selected by the History Project (now Queer History Boston) to receive the prestigious HistoryMaker Award, presented to those whose lifetime achievements have had a significant and positive effect on the Boston and Massachusetts LGBTQIA+ communities.
For the past several years, Mr. Ward has taught a seminar at BU School of Law and Boston College Law School entitled The Courts and the LGBT+ Movement: A Critical Assessment. Mr. Ward and his husband Alain Balseiro live in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.