The LGBTQ Thread

[bridget]

meant to do this earlier...

I went to the forum in Chicago last week and asked a bunch of schools the following question: What can you tell me about the climate for LGBT students at X school?

Most gave the standard, 'We have an active OUTlaws group, the campus is very accepting, etc."  I was surprised that the Harvard rep was the most flustered by the question (basically said "I don't really know, but I've never heard of anything bad"), given Absy's enthusiasm.  The Georgetown and Michigan reps were both members of their respective outlaws groups and had good things to say.  I said to the Georgetwon rep "I'm a little worried about it being a Catholic school.  Do you think it would be a problem to be LGBT there?" And he gave a pretty convincing argument that their group is really well funded and because there's a diversity of opinions there's a lot of dialogue, but no real intolerance.

The rep from Duke asked what my majors were before I asked my LGBT question and went into detail about how many of their top administrators are women (I'm a Gender and Women's Studies major) and that they have a gender journal.  After I asked my question, she added on that the gender journal also features a lot of LGBT topics.

Chicago's reponse was the most encouraging.  The rep seemed to be saying that they look favorably on LGBT applicants.  This could be the standard "we want a diverse class" kind of thing, but something about the way he said it... it was something like "we definitely look for that and value those experiences highly."

[kates]

Thanks for the post, bridget, that is really valuable information. I'm interested in Georgetown too. I read somewhere, Deloggio's website, I think, that they spent 10 years in court trying to prevent an LGBT group from forming. And then when they lost, they put "G & L Group" on the building, or something like that, instead of "gay and lesbian." Of course I don't know how recently all of this occured. But now they have tons of queer- and gender-oriented classes, a gender journal, and an International Women's Rights Clinic.

[Dukie07]

Is there anyway to click the gay box and not get mailings to your house?  I'm pretty sure my mother would flip her sh*t if that happened.  Which could be fun  like once, but not sure if it's something I could handle for a long period of time.  That's the reason I have yet to check it.

Also, should I write a diversity statement?  I don't want to make it seem like I'm trying to take advantage of something.  But I feel like being raised in a Southern Baptist small NC town and being gay followed by some of my experiences at Duke definitely are diverse.

Thanks

['tiki]

Is there anyway to click the gay box and not get mailings to your house?  I'm pretty sure my mother would flip her sh*t if that happened.  Which could be fun  like once, but not sure if it's something I could handle for a long period of time.  That's the reason I have yet to check it.

freakin' a! I didn't think about that  , now I have this to worry about. Well that's one way of coming out to the 'rents. 

[kates]

Is there anyway to click the gay box and not get mailings to your house?

I checked the LSAC gay box in August and haven't yet gotten anything gay-specific. Of course I just received my LSAT score and I guess this is when most of the unsolicited mail will be coming. But my suspicion is that gay-specific pamphlets don't exist. As far as the gay box on applications, yes, they will contact you after you've been accepted about joining their gay groups, etc. I think this is by email, but I'm not sure. You could include a note saying "Please keep gay-related correspondence to email," which I doubt would affect your application.

Also, should I write a diversity statement?  I don't want to make it seem like I'm trying to take advantage of something.  But I feel like being raised in a Southern Baptist small NC town and being gay followed by some of my experiences at Duke definitely are diverse.

That sounds like a great diversity topic to me. I think the rule of thumb is: write about it if it has influenced your life or your career, not just as a side-note. Be as specific as possible, tell one story rather than a summary of your gay life. And of course avoid self-pity--this will ensure that you don't sound like you're trying to bank on your minority status.

Hope this helps!

[bridget]

Is there anyway to click the gay box and not get mailings to your house?  I'm pretty sure my mother would flip her sh*t if that happened.  Which could be fun  like once, but not sure if it's something I could handle for a long period of time.  That's the reason I have yet to check it.

Also, should I write a diversity statement?  I don't want to make it seem like I'm trying to take advantage of something.  But I feel like being raised in a Southern Baptist small NC town and being gay followed by some of my experiences at Duke definitely are diverse.

Thanks

You can also change your permanent address to your school address.  I assumed they would send mailings to my mailing address, but they don't.  The address I put for "permanent" is where I've been receiving law school mail (Cooley sent me something!  hooray!).

[245]

I checked off the box and haven't gotten anything via mail re: LGBT stuff.  In fact, all I've gotten so far is an e-mail from UMichigan's Outlaws group.  I think most schools are pretty understanding and won't send any pamplets or anything without your prior permission.  And like Phyllis said, if you do get something, you could always play it off.

[245]

hey, i'm gay and was wondering if i should check off the "Gay Box" because I hadn't really planned on writting about it. How will this help/hurt my chances of getting in??

Also, I REALLY want to go to school in a city w/ a comfortable gay population. I'm already looking at schools in NY, Boston, LA, Atlanta, Chicago...any more suggestions?

I recommend SF!  We have a very sizable gay population here in the Bay Area.

[Miss P]

I checked off the box and haven't gotten anything via mail re: LGBT stuff.  In fact, all I've gotten so far is an e-mail from UMichigan's Outlaws group.  I think most schools are pretty understanding and won't send any pamplets or anything without your prior permission.  And like Phyllis said, if you do get something, you could always play it off.

The LGBT recruiting material I received by mail was all enclosed in envelopes and looked like any old admissions info.  I think it started coming sometime around Thanksgiving; you'll definitely get the stuff I did, Mike.  For those of you who are not out to your parents or have otherwise uncomfortable relationships with them around this issue, I can assure you that there's nothing that says, you know, "This is the hot gay XXX law school action you requested, you sodomite" or whatever.  But still, it can't hurt to receive your own mail, right?

[butter tart]

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Can you figure out who my Tiger is?
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The Gambler!  (it was dirt!)