[1][2] Minter is a 1993 graduate of Cornell Law School and he has been lead counsel in dozens of groundbreaking legal victories for the LGBT community.
[3] Minter first gained national attention in the United States in 2001 representing the lesbian partner of Diane Whipple, in a wrongful death case due to a dog mauling, which resulted in a landmark decision in California that extended tort claims to same-sex domestic partners; previously it was a right limited only to married couples.
[5][6] Whipple's partner, Sharon Smith, succeeded in suing for $1,500,000 in civil damages, which she donated to Saint Mary's College of California to fund the women's lacrosse team.
[11] Ultimately, the entire statute was rendered moot after the Supreme Court ruled that all states must recognize gay marriage in 2015.
[3] He said at the time that he was pained "by the injustice" that transgender people could legally marry in California while gay and lesbian couples could not.