The LGBTQ Thread

[bridget]

I would say that the major benefit to being gay is not having to be straight. 

ha!

[keepinitlegal]

Howdy Everyone,

So here's my deal: Proudly Gay, and was very active in my university's LGBT group. Fun little twist on this- I'm also a person of faith- grew up as an Orthodox Jew. Still pretty religious too (I'm takin' the LSAT on a non-Saturday- the day after Yom Kippur, the biggest and scariest Jewish fast of the year).
My PS is about how the law impacted my life as a person of faith and as a homoseuxal, and how that made me want to become involved in the judicial system. I'm applying to law school because I want to go into the public interest/government side- I'd love to be an Assistant DA (and not starve to death, that'd be nice too.) Does this sound like a good topic? I'd appreciate any suggestions.

[absy]

I wanted to respond to a few topics in this conversation:

1. Lesbians: Most schools are lacking in the lesbian department.  Last year, we only had 1 lesbian in the 1L class.  Through a concerted effort to reach out to lesbian applicants and admits, we started out the year with 5 in this year's 1L class.  This actually helped to bring some of the upper-years out of the woodwork.  In working with HLS Lambda, we hope to continue this trend both to reach out to lesbian potential students and to make sure our organization is as relevant to the L as we are to the G.

2. Duke/Advocate: I remember laughing when I first read that article.  Duke (UG) is NOT a top 20 school for LGBT students.  I will admit that things have improved drastically in the five years since they were voted most homophobic.  But I still felt like being gay was a bit of a detriment to my experience there.  The law school is another world, so I can't really comment on that.

3. Out on the Application: I will agree that one shouldn't really add the equivalent of "btw, I'm gay too."  But if it has shaped your experience, then it's certainly worth adding.  And I would suggest to everyone that they come out once they are admitted.  The admissions office at HLS passes on the names and emails of people who were out on their application, and we reach out to them and can answer questions about LGBT life at school.

4. Harvard: We do LGBT recruiting as well (look for a letter if you checked the CRS box).  I feel like being gay has really enriched my experience at HLS.  We have a great group at Lambda, and we're working to make it even better this year.  Being a larger school, we actually have a critical mass of people and a community, rather than a small group.  The administration is definitely behind us; they are instrumental in helping us plan a conference on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" this year, working to bring scholars, practitioners, military personnel, and congressional representatives to discuss and debate the issue.  We also take advantage of the various graduate schools by having inter-school mixers.

Boston is also a great place to be LGBT.  The area is really affirming, and college/university students make up about a quarter of the population.  We host an annual dance party that brings together over 500 students from the Boston area.  And, since we live in Massachusetts, two of our recent board members are engaged or married -- where else can you marry your law school sweetheart?

I should probably end my propaganda for now, but I'm more than happy to answer any questions about my current home.  I really encourage all LGBT applicants to apply to HLS.

[keepinitlegal]

In the Northeast and Midwest, outside of the top 20, I'd probably say:
BU, Northeastern, (pretty much anywhere in Boston except BC), Temple, Villanova, Catholic, American, Maryland, Rutgers, Case, OSU, Illinois, Kent, WashU, Wisconsin, Minnesota and maybe Iowa.

[absy]

I'd suggest searching for the LGBT group at that school, then email their board members to get perspectives.  if they seem vague, ask for specifics.

a few suggestions (to varying degrees of importance for different people):
openly LGBT faculty
dedicated LGBT courses
financial support of the organization
acceptance within student body
relationship with administration
LGBT events of the past year (and if any of them were sponsored by or co-sponsored with the Dean's office or Dean of Students office)
LGBT establishments in the area
LGBT-related state laws (e.g., marriage, nondiscrimination, partner benefits) (Massachusetts has all of those) (sorry, shameless plug)

[bridget]

devil, is your birthday march 6?  I think you might be my Duke-attending twin.  I'm in pretty much the same situation.

absy, you're doing a good job of selling me on boston.  I assume Harvard has all those things?   now, if only I had the numbers for it.  October 23rd is still so far away!

as for keppinitlegal's suggestion of Illinois... there is an active queer law student group and I've talked with some of them.  They seem to be happy here, and the campus feels very safe to me as an undergrad, but this is definitely not a medium to large city.

[absy]

absy, you're doing a good job of selling me on boston.  I assume Harvard has all those things?   

yes, the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus (university-wide group of students and alumni) has shifted from being more of a political force to being a social/networking organization, because Harvard has basically adopted anything HGLC could think of.  (Gender identity was added last year.)

state politics are also going our way.  Deval Patrick (Democratic gov. candidate) came to the law school with another then-candidate to discuss their thoughts on LGBT issues.  and last year, the mayor of Cambridge contacted us for ideas on the city's pride celebration.  I just don't know how any other place could be as affirming.

[keepinitlegal]

Oh! Oh! I know how another school could be more affirming! When it's smack dab in the middle of San Francisco, the city that invented "gay" 


or perhaps if you choose to go to law school in Thailand...they're pretty LGBT (emphasis on the "T") affirming too

[245]

I should probably end my propaganda for now, but I'm more than happy to answer any questions about my current home.  I really encourage all LGBT applicants to apply to HLS.

Absy-- Do you know many LGBT couples at HLS?  Do any of them live in couples housing?  If I leave the Bay Area for school, I'll most likely live with my SO and I was wondering what the accommodations are like.

[absy]

Night Court was last year's theme.  still haven't come up with this year's.  But it's a big dance party that is open to law students from all over the Boston area (so you can go if you are at BU!), and over 500 people showed up last year.

and I know several couples, including one married and one engaged (beat that, other states).  I'm not aware of "couples housing" per se, but there are people in apartments, and the hastings rooms are big enough to share.