The National LGBT Bar Association is proud to launch our Commit 2 Inclusion campaign this month.

Beginning today, we are circulating a petition to law schools around the nation, asking the legal education community to support diversity and inclusion and reject hate groups.

The campaign recognizes that the rise of hate groups in our society and in our justice system is a direct threat to diversity and inclusion efforts and equality at large. Hate groups are defined by the FBI as those whose primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons of or with a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity which differs from that of the group’s members or the organization.

Our petition asks members of the legal education community to publicly acknowledge their commitment to the rule of law and the principles of the American Bar Association’s Resolution 113. That guiding Resolution urges all providers in the legal profession, including law firms and corporations, to attract and retain the talent of diverse attorneys.

Law students, law professors, administrators, and law school groups must work to uphold the rule of law and promote access to justice for all. Hate groups hurt our collective efforts to foster a diverse workplace and a more inclusive society. Hate groups marginalize diverse communities and promote hostility against them. Discrimination and hate have no place in law schools or the legal profession.

We commit to working toward a more equitable future led by legal professionals committed to the U.S. Constitution, its Bill of Rights, and its rule of law.