Everyone is welcome to join the LGBTQ+ Bar!
The LGBTQ+ Bar 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 accessibility and equity for everyone. If you’re a legal professional who is interested 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. Allyship with the LGBTQ+ community requires embracing everyday actions that support your LGBTQ+ community members and coworkers. It is not a title one can claim, but a constant process of learning and supporting a community to which you do not belong. An effective ally:
- Listens to the people they seek to support
- Speaks up when appropriate
- Educates themself and others
- Supports people who experience historical and contemporary oppression
- Creates a space at the table so everyone can find a seat
- Sacrifices opportunities that could be better used by another
With the help of allies who share the work of advancing LGBTQ+ equality, we can build a legal profession where everyone can succeed. Allies can help advance LGBTQ+ equity 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. The time that LGBTQ+ people must spend advocating for themselves and their community is time they cannot devote to working, studying, job searching, volunteering, or relaxing, which may impact their education and job opportunities. Additionally, when non-LGBTQ+ people see other straight and cisgender people advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, they recognize that LGBTQ+ rights are something that we all should care about.
Traditionally, “ally” refers to cisgender, straight people who support LGBTQ+ rights. Sometimes, well-meaning people use this term in a way that implies a finished goal, rather than the ongoing commitment that true allyship requires. The LGBTQ+ community is not a monolith—it spans sexual orientations, gender identities, races, and lived experiences. Supporting marriage equality, for example, is just one aspect of allyship with the LGBTQ+ community and does not alone make someone an ally. Allyship is a constant process of learning information, confronting assumptions, and pursuing actions that support a community to which you do not belong. Sometimes, people striving to be allies will get it wrong, and that is okay! The real work of allyship is a constant process of listening, learning, and growing throughout your lifetime. Some concrete actions allies to the LGBTQ+ legal community can take include:
- Educating yourself about the LGBTQ+ community.
- Attending DEI trainings and panels discussing diversity in the legal profession.
- Openly pronouncing your support of the LGBTQ+ community.
- Advocating for hiring and promotion processes that recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion.
- Encouraging LGBTQ+ colleagues to apply for open positions and recommending them for leadership roles.
- Pushing back on anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, jokes, comments, and policies.
- Sharing your pronouns and ask others to do the same.
- Using the correct name and pronouns for everyone you meet and encourage others to do the same.
The LGBTQ+ Bar offers training and presentations regarding LGBTQ+ allyship in the legal profession that covers the above matters in more depth and detail, including learning key LGBTQ+ terms and concepts, effective best practices, LGBTQ+ ally resources, navigating real-world scenarios with confidence, and actionable steps for ongoing allyship. For more information, contact Anya Lynn-Alesker at anya@lgbtqbar.org.
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.
ALLY Quotes
“I believe that allyship is about sustained, purposeful action tailored to the moment – even when it’s hard. It’s not about dubbing yourself with a title, it’s a commitment to be ever vigilant in support of a group you aren’t a part of, to be constantly ready to learn and to act, with humility.”
Judi O’Kelley, Chief Program Officer, National LGBTQ+ Bar Association and Foundation
“When an ally really shows up for a community, they transfer their credibility and power to that group. That makes others think about the way they are treating the group and question their own behavior. It leads to change.”
Leslie Richards-Yellen, Chief Diversity Officer at Sidley Austin LLP and member of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association
“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.”
Adeel Mangi, former LGBTQ+ Bar Board member & Partner, Patterson Belknap
Allyship Within the LGBTQ+ Community
To advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, we must advocate for the whole community. The alarming rise of anti-transgender rhetoric and policies make it imperative that all cisgender people, including people who are not straight, advocate alongside 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. 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.
Importantly, the LGTBQ+ community is not a monolith. Our community members are often also members of other strategically devalued communities, such as communities of color, women, immigrants, religious minorities, and others. LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ people alike can and should pursue allyship with these communities as well. You can 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 sibling 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 of color below: