UCLA Law actively recruits LGBTQ+ students by partnering with our faculty, staff, and OUTLaw student organization to contact prospective students who have identified as LGBTQ+ and are interested in information from law schools. Our OUTLaw organization also calls admitted LGBTQ+ students offering to serve as a resource and answer questions. Admissions professionals and others attend recruiting events nationwide to speak with prospective students and make it known that we welcome diverse viewpoints and lived experiences. Additionally, we reach out to prospective students who identify as LGBTQ+, encourage them to apply, and inform them of unique resources at UCLA Law, including: The Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law; Dukeminier Awards Journal of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law; and our annual national moot court competition dedicated to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law.
UCLA Law’s welcome packet for admitted students lists contact information for all of our student organizations, including OUTLaw, the Black Law Students Association, the Asian/Pacific Islander Law Students Association, the Latinx Law Students Association, the Native American Law Students Association, the South Asian Law Students Association, and the Womyn of Color Collective, among many others.
UCLA Law offers students the option to self-identify as LGBTQ+ in admissions applications through the personal statement and/or an optional diversity statement. Applicants may also indicate an ability to contribute to our various programs including those outlined in question #2 above. In addition, the application for admission asks an optional question regarding what sex an applicant was assigned at birth and current gender identity, as well as the option to elaborate as gender identity can be expressed in a variety of ways.
UCLA Law offers students the option to have their name of choice on their admission application. After enrollment, the main campus allows students to make legal name changes, as well as designate a preferred name on all of our computer systems. The following website outlines the procedures for both: https://www.registrar.ucla.edu/Student-Records/Personal-Information. Furthermore, per recent policy, an individual’s preferred name and gender identity will be used on all university-issued documents and in UC information systems. The policy states that university databases must have at least three gender options: woman, man and nonbinary. The policy also asks campuses to provide a streamlined process for current students, faculty, staff, and alumni to change their gender designations and preferred names on university-issued documents. The policy has to be implemented on all UC campuses by the end of 2023.
UCLA Law actively seeks to employ a diverse staff and faculty including visible, out LGBTQ+ individuals. For staff positions, we recruit on national job boards, websites, listservs, and reach out to staff and faculty on a monthly basis to let them know of job opportunities available. We recruit faculty through the AALS Faculty Recruitment process and adjunct or part-time lecturers through UCLA job postings.
UCLA as a whole offers voluntary opportunities for self-identification along these lines, but individual units do not track these responses.
https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/forms/pdf/infertility-benefits-fact-sheet.pdf; https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/forms/pdf/pregnancy-newborn-child-and-adopted-child.pdf
https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/forms/pdf/transgender-health-benefits-fact-sheet.pdf
https://www.studenthealth.ucla.edu/services/lgbtq-health (students would elect UC Family coverage provided through Anthem Blue Cross)
https://www.studenthealth.ucla.edu/services/lgbtq-health
https://www.counseling.ucla.edu/about-us/mission
The Law Building has 5 single-stall all-gender restrooms. Each is designated with a Triangular restroom indicator, which lacks gendered iconography on the restroom door and a room number sign that reads “All Gender Restroom.” Two are on the A-Level, two are on the 2nd floor, and one is on the 4th floor. All five are accessible for people with disabilities. Additionally, we have a multi-stall all-gender restroom on the 1st floor. It is designated with a Triangular restroom indicator, which lacks gendered iconography on the restroom door and a room number sign that reads “All Gender Restroom.”. It has 4 stalls, one of which is accessible for people with disabilities.
We have signage in our restrooms that cites California Civil Code Section 51(B) and California Government Code Section 12940 which indicate that anyone, of any gender identity/expression, can use the restroom of their preference.
UCLA Law has the following courses available for all students: Law, Gender, and Sexuality (offered every year); Women and the Law; Human Rights and Sexual Politics; Feminist Legal Theory; HIV/AIDS Law and Public Policy. Other courses are offered or added every few years. The law school also offers an LL.M. degree with a specialization in Law and Sexuality.
UCLA Law supports the OUTLaw student organization and provides funding for events, meetings and conferences. Another student organization supported by the law school is the Queer and Transgender People of Color Collective, an “intentional space by and for queer and trans people of color on the law school campus.”
UCLA Law provides funding, including travel support, for LGBTQ+ students to participate in LGBTQ+-focused learning and career services opportunities. These opportunities include individual student funding for the annual Lavender Law conference, reimbursements related to certain job interviews, a Career and Conference Fund for LGBTQ and other students to get reimbursed up to $100 each year for professional conferences, and collaboration with UCLA’s OUTLaw on events and career panels. Our UCLA Law Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy also provides our students with free and reduced admission to career networking events and provides research assistant positions to 2L, 3L and LL.M. students.
The University provides the mandatory training.
Yes, optional for all students
UCLA Law offers several faculty trainings and workshops each year through the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee and these sessions have discussed LGBTQ+-related issues in addition to other issues relating to inclusive teaching.
UCLA Law does not capture students’ personal pronouns as part of the registration process, but students have the option to add and update personal pronouns in their MyLaw profiles online. Pronouns added in MyLaw would appear in the online MyLaw photo directory and on MyLaw course pages.
UCLA Law is home to a nationally recognized policy “think tank” for issues relating to the LGBTQ+ community. The Williams Institute provides students, staff, and faculty the opportunity to attend LGBTQ+-focused lectures and events and engage in dialogue about these important issues. The Williams Institute celebrated its 20-year anniversary in 2021. More broadly, UCLA Law welcomes and values feedback on ways in which to sustain and continue bettering a sense of inclusion and belonging for all of our LGBTQ+ community members. We are very proud of our earned reputation for being a supportive space yet we recognize the importance of open communication and continued engagement. To learn more about how we support LGBTQ+ students, please email admissions@law.ucla.edu or studentaffairs@law.ucla.edu.
https://catalog.registrar.ucla.edu/Policies-and-Regulations/Regulations/Nondiscrimination