The Stonewall Bar Association (think lawyers, not nightclubs) was honored last week by the State Bar of Georgia.

The group for legal professionals who support LGBT rights  won the Best New Entry Award for voluntary bar associations. The honor was given June 3 as the state bar association's annual meeting.

“We are so proud that Stonewall Bar Association has been honored with this significant, meaningful recognition,” SBA President Brian Basinger said in a press release. “During the last year, we sought to elevate the dialogue of LGBT legal issues among the Georgia Bar throughout the state with our social receptions, community outreach events, and continuing legal education seminars in Atlanta, Macon, Athens, Augusta, and Savannah.”

According to the State Bar of Georgia, the award "recognizes the excellent efforts of local and voluntary bar associations that have entered the Law Day, Award of Merit or Newsletter competitions for the first time in four years."

During the annual State Bar of Georgia meeting, held in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Stonewall co-sponsored a continuing legal education program on same-sex marriage as a civil right.

The presentation, titled “21st Century Civil Rights: Marriage Is One of the Basic Civil Rights of Man," included Basinger, Stonewall board member W. Andrew McNeil, and Robert M. Lewis, Jr., who is vice president and president-elect of the LGBT legal association.