Everyone is welcome to join the LGBTQ+ Bar!
The LGBTQ+ Bar’s Ally Initiative aims to broaden our reach and invites non-LGBTQ+ legal professionals and law students to join the LGBTQ+ Bar. Straight and cisgender allies play an important role in the ongoing movement to protect LGBTQ+ rights and ensure equality and equity for everyone. If you’re a legal professional who is interested in the legal fight for LGBTQ+ rights and in building a more inclusive and diverse legal profession, show your support by becoming a member of the LGBTQ+ Bar today.
What does it mean to be an ally? Allyship is a verb, not a noun. That means being an ally is about what you do, not who you are. Genuine allyship with the LGBTQ+ community requires embracing everyday actions that support your LGBTQ+ community members and coworkers. Some actions allies take include:
- Educate yourself about the LGBTQ+ community.
- Attend DEI trainings and panels discussing diversity in the legal profession.
- Openly pronounce your support of the LGBTQ+ community.
- Advocate for hiring and promotion processes that recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion.
- Encourage LGBTQ+ colleagues to apply for open positions and recommend them for leadership roles.
- Push back on anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, jokes, comments, and policies.
- Share your pronouns and ask others to do the same.
- Use the correct name and pronouns for everyone you meet and encourage others to do the same.
Allies can help advance LGBTQ+ equality in the legal profession and beyond by sharing the burden of advocacy and using their privilege to uplift the LGBTQ+ community. Too often, LGBTQ+ people, who are the people most harmed by transphobia and homophobia, are also the ones forced to address and fight anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policies. Further, the time that LGBTQ+ people must spend advocating for themselves and their community is time they cannot devote to studying, job searching, volunteering, or relaxing, which may impact their education and job opportunities. When non-LGBTQ+ people see straight and cisgender people advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, others will recognize that LGBTQ+ rights are something that we all should care about. With the help of allies who share the work of advancing LGBTQ+ equality, we can build a legal profession where everyone can succeed.
Engaging with the LGBTQ+ Bar’s DEI Consulting Practice is another powerful way to demonstrate your solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and your commitment to creating a legal profession that welcomes all. If you are interested in diversity, equity and inclusion training for your company, law firm or law school check out the LGBTQ+ Bar’s DEI Consulting Practice. Organizations who complete the program will be certified by the LGBTQ+ Bar and authorized to use the LGBTQ+ Bar’s DEI Consulting Practice certification stamp.
ALLY Quotes
Rick Richardson, former LGBTQ+ Bar Board member & Vice President & Associate General Counsel, GlaxoSmithKline
“Straight and cisgender allies can speak hard truths to the straight and cisgender community without the perceived agenda that is sometimes attributed to the same message when it comes from a member of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Adeel Mangi, former LGBTQ+ Bar Board member & Partner, Patterson Belknap
“No embattled minority community should be standing alone today. The issues at stake are too fundamental for our country and our identity as a nation. Only by speaking with one voice can we protect each other.”
Allyship Within the LGBTQ+ Community
LGBTQ+ people can also be allies both to those within our community and outside of our community. The alarming rise of anti-transgender rhetoric and policies as well as persistently high rates of violence against the transgender community make it imperative that all cisgender people, including people who are not straight, advocate for transgender equality alongside our transgender community members. Part of this work includes combatting transphobia, which occurs when someone knowingly or intentionally causes harm to a transgender person or the transgender community. An equally important part of this work, however, is engaging in tough conversations with well-meaning colleagues and peers who inadvertently cause harm to a specific person or the transgender community. Regardless of the cause of harm, it is critical to understand that while intent may change the way in which one should respond, it does not change whether a response is necessary. To advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, we must advocate for the whole community. Some actions LGBQ+ allies to the transgender community take include:
- Educate yourself about the transgender community.
- Openly pronounce your support of the transgender community.
- Encourage transgender colleagues to apply for open positions and recommend them for leadership roles.
- Push back on transphobic rhetoric, jokes, comments, and policies.
- Share your pronouns and ask others to do the same.
- Use the correct name and pronouns for everyone you meet and encourage others to do the same.
LGBTQ+ people can also be allies to other communities, such as communities of color, women, immigrants, religious minorities, and others. Intersectionality is incredibly important within the LGBTQ+ community, which is a vast and diverse group. Visit our Racial Justice Resource Library for more information about events and resources centering the experiences of LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ people of color. Additionally, visit the below sister affinity bar associations for more information about how to support the communities they represent and how to build a legal profession that reflects the wealth of diversity in our nation.
- Deaf & Hard of Hearing Bar Association
- Hispanic National Bar Association
- Minority Corporate Counsel Association
- National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
- National Bar Association
- National Native American Bar Association
- National Trans Bar Association
- National Association of Women Lawyers
- National Association of Muslim Lawyers
Learn more about the experiences of LGBTQ+ law students and legal professionals who are also people color below: