Climate Survey 2020

The UC Davis Law School admission procedures and criteria include the following statement: “There are other factors which bear on the applicant’s suitability for the study and practice of law. These will also be considered, and include: achievements, for oneself or others, despite social, economic, or physical disadvantage, including specific experience of discrimination on the basis of characteristics such as race, ethnicity, immigrant status, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, and age. Consideration shall be given to individuals who, despite having suffered disadvantage economically or in terms of their social environment, or due to specific experience of discrimination, have nonetheless demonstrated sufficient character and determination in overcoming obstacles to warrant confidence that they can pursue a course of study to successful completion.”

The law school includes information about its diverse and inclusive community in the biennial Law School Admission Council (LSAC) LGBTQ+ Guide to Law Schools, available to all prospective law students on the LSAC website. Admissions staff also take part in LGBTQ+ ally training offered by the campus LGBTQIA Resource Center to counsel effectively LGBTQ+ prospective students interested in the law school Prospective students who wish to do so are welcome to address their sexual orientation or sexual identity in their personal statement. Finally, the law school’s student organization, Lambda, as well as LGBTQ+ faculty, participate in individual outreach to prospective students who self-identify on their application for admission. The law school also supports Lambda in its outreach and recruitment efforts (e.g., prelaw student shadowing days).

Prospective students who wish to do so are welcome to address their sexual orientation and/or sexual identity in their personal statement.

For faculty recruitments, the law school actively advertises to a LGBTQ+ listserv (specifically, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Listserv through the Association of American Law Schools [“AALS”]). Also, the law school actively advertises to other listserves specializing in diversity recruitment that may be of interest to LGBTQ+ applicants, including AALS Minority Groups Listserv, Latino Law Professor Listserv, Asian American Law Professors Listserv, and Women in Legal Education Listserv. The law school’s overarching goal is to recruit and retain as diverse a group of faculty as possible. Recruiting information for faculty, staff, and administrators always include statements that diverse candidates, including LGBTQ+ individuals are encouraged to apply.

Same-sex domestic partners and their dependents are eligible to receive medical, dental, vision, and legal plan benefits if they meet the following requirements:

Same-Sex Domestic Partner Eligibility

• Domestic partnership registered with the State of California or a substantially equivalent same-sex partnership established in another jurisdiction, OR meets the following criteria to be a domestic partnership for benefits purposes:
• Parties must be each other’s sole domestic partner in a long-term, committed relationship and must intend to remain so indefinitely.
• Neither party may be legally married or be a partner in another domestic partnership.
• Parties must not be related to each other by blood to a degree that would prohibit legal marriage in the State of California.
• Both parties must be at least 18 years old and capable of consenting to the relationship.
• Both parties must be financially interdependent.
• Parties must share a common residence.

“Benefits are provided for services and supplies in connection with Gender Transition when a Physician has diagnosed you with Gender Dysphoria. This coverage is provided according to the terms and conditions of this Benefit Booklet that apply to all other medical conditions, including Medical Necessity requirements, utilization management, and exclusions for cosmetic services. Coverage includes, but is not limited to, Medically Necessary services related to Gender Transition such as transgender surgery (i.e., female to male top surgery, female to male bottom surgery, male to female top surgery and male to female bottom surgery), hormone therapy, psychotherapy, electrolysis and laser hair removal at donor site and face/neck, tracheal shave and vocal training. Coverage is provided for specific services according to benefits under this Benefit Booklet that apply to that type of service generally, if the Plan includes coverage for the service in question. For example, transgender surgery would be covered on the same basis as any other Network covered, Medically Necessary surgery or hormone therapy would be covered under this Benefit Booklet’s benefits.”

Transgender Health Benefits: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/forms/pdf/transgender-health-benefits-fact-sheet.pdf

Same-sex domestic partners and their dependents are eligible to receive medical, dental, vision, and legal plan benefits if they meet the following requirements:

Same-Sex Domestic Partner Eligibility

• Domestic partnership registered with the State of California or a substantially equivalent same-sex partnership established in another jurisdiction, OR meets the following criteria to be a domestic partnership for benefits purposes:
• Parties must be each other’s sole domestic partner in a long-term, committed relationship and must intend to remain so indefinitely.
• Neither party may be legally married or be a partner in another domestic partnership.
• Parties must not be related to each other by blood to a degree that would prohibit legal marriage in the State of California.
• Both parties must be at least 18 years old and capable of consenting to the relationship.
• Both parties must be financially interdependent.
• Parties must share a common residence.

Student Benefits: https://www.ucop.edu/ucship/_files/benefit-booklets/2018-19/davis-benefit-booklet-2018.pdf

“Benefits are provided for services and supplies in connection with Gender Transition when a Physician has diagnosed you with Gender Dysphoria. This coverage is provided according to the terms and conditions of this Benefit Booklet that apply to all other medical conditions, including Medical Necessity requirements, utilization management, and exclusions for cosmetic services. Coverage includes, but is not limited to, Medically Necessary services related to Gender Transition such as transgender surgery (i.e., female to male top surgery, female to male bottom surgery, male to female top surgery and male to female bottom surgery), hormone therapy, psychotherapy, electrolysis and laser hair removal at donor site and face/neck, tracheal shave and vocal training. Coverage is provided for specific services according to benefits under this Benefit Booklet that apply to that type of service generally, if the Plan includes coverage for the service in question. For example, transgender surgery would be covered on the same basis as any other Network covered, Medically Necessary surgery or hormone therapy would be covered under this Benefit Booklet’s benefits.”

Transgender Health Benefits: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/forms/pdf/transgender-health-benefits-fact-sheet.pdf

The law school currently has a full-time psychologist based in the law school whose full-time position is to provide counseling to law students and related wellness programming, including workshops in meditation and mindfulness. Law students may also access the services of the central campus’ Counseling Center. The Counseling Center’s staff is diverse and includes LGBTQ+ counselors. A counselor is also assigned to serve the campus’ LGBTQIA Resource Center.

Gender inclusive bathrooms with signage using the international convention (a triangle within a circle) are single-stall, lockable bathrooms available to people of all genders and sexes. Gender inclusive bathrooms provide a safe, private facility for transgender, genderqueer, and gender non-conforming people, families with children, and people with disabilities who may need assistance. Single-stall restrooms also more easily meet the accessibility regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The law school has six gender inclusive restrooms spread across the three floors of the law school. A map showing gender inclusive restrooms across the UC Davis campus, including the law school, is here.

Gender Inclusive Restroom map: https://campusmap.ucdavis.edu/?s=gender_inclusive

Signage placed in the restrooms indicate the restrooms are for use by any individual.

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and the Law. Also, Feminist Legal Theory, Sex-Based Discrimination, and International Human Rights include coverage of LGBTQ+ topics. Students can also write independent research papers for academic credit on LGBTQ+ topics, and can gain law practice experience working on LGBTQ+ issues by enrolling in externships at organizations such as the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Transgender Law Center, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

King Hall’s Lambda Law Students Association is a robust group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and allied students, faculty, and staff. To promote its mission of community, education, and activism, Lambda sponsors events that raise awareness of LGBTQ+ legal issues on campus and in the larger community. Lambda also provides a supportive space for LGBTQ+ law students through academic and professional support programs, as well as a variety of social opportunities. Lambda additionally strives to attract and retain LGBTQ+ law students, including working closely with the Admissions Office to assist in the recruitment and matriculation of LGBTQ+ law school applicants, such as hosting shadow days and conducting other outreach activities for prospective King Hall students.

Lambda-sponsored events and activities in past years have included

• the Annual Lambda Law Welcome BBQ for members, friends, allies, and alumni;
• Lambda Law Culture Week, which features prominent guest speakers who present programs on current LGBTQ+ issues, many of whom are members of the LGBTQ+ community;
• the annual Bill F. Smith Memorial Lecture, which honors the memory of a beloved LGBTQ+ alumnus who dedicated himself to disability and LGBTQ+ rights activism. The lecture has featured speakers such as Therese Stewart, a current California Court of Appeals Justice who, as chief deputy city attorney for the city and county of San Francisco, defended in state and federal courts the city’s position that same-sex couples have the right to marry; Judge Vaughn Walker, who, in 2010, presided over the trial on the constitutionality of California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage known as Proposition 8; Paul Smith, a prominent Supreme Court advocate who represented, among others, the petitioners in Lawrence v. Texas; Kate Kendall, until recently the Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Dr. Jamison Green, a renowned educator and policy advisor on transgender and transsexual issues;
• a summer grant awarded by Lambda to a first or second year law student who plans to do nonprofit legal work on LGBTQ+ and/or disability rights issues, also in memory of Bill F. Smith.
• the Lambda Legal Clinic, staffed by UC Davis School of Law and McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific students at the Lambda center in Sacramento to provide legal referrals in the LGBT community; and
• social events and mixers, including wine and cheese parties and film viewings.