Gay Lawyers' Access to Promotion Scrutinised

A reader and fellow blogger sent me a link to an article about a new survey being done in the UK about how and to what extent gay lawyers face discrimination in law firms and may suffer career wise based on homophobia within the legal community. While being openly gay is likely a non-issue in some parts of the USA - e.g., last year large Miami law firms were actively seeking to recruit openly gay attorneys in order to better market to the large gay community in South Florida. Such open mindedness - or cynical pragmatism depending on one's perspective -is sadly not found in many areas of the USA. The greater Hampton Roads area of Virginia is a case study: in an area with a population of over 1.6 million people, I know of two (2) professionally out attorneys - myself and one other member of the HRBOR board. Meanwhile, I know a number of professionally closeted attorneys at larger area law firms who live in terror every day that the powers that be may discover that they are gay and force them out. Even though these same law firms interview regularly at Virginia law schools that require that they sign a non-discrimination policy that bars employment discrimination based on sexual orientation (Virginia has ZERO employment protections for LGBT employees). From my own experience at a larger law firm, being openly gay is NOT acceptable in this less than progressive area. Here are some highlights from the story which also looks at the situation in Australia:

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THE first major study into how being gay affects a lawyer’s potential for career advancement is due to be released tomorrow. The UK Law Society is working with gay rights group Stonewall and the InterLaw Diversity Forum to identify the obstacles faced by lesbian, gay and bisexual lawyers. As the UK investigates how sexuality interacts with career advancement, almost no research has been done on the issue by the legal profession and its representative bodies in Australia.

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The Law Council of Australia has done research into gender and how it affects access to court appearances and barristers being briefed by law firms, but nothing has yet been done on sexuality. Likewise, The Law Institute of Victoria told The New Lawyer it’s not an issue that has been raised within its ranks.

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Edward Andrew, managing director of legal recruiter EA International, says it’s a non-issue for law firms in Australia. “If we said to our clients ‘this candidate is gay’, they would say ‘so what?’. It doesn’t feature as a function of their recruitment policy or their internal policies for promotion,” he said. “We don’t see that there is any real discrepancy between sexual orientation and ability to succeed in the firm,” Andrew said.

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The UK survey will be based on 35 questions with a view to improving law firm recruitment and retention and proving information for individual solicitors on how sexuality interacts with career advancement. Clifford Chance tax partner Stephen Shea, told UK magazine The Lawyer that any limitations lesbian and gay lawyers experience in their careers do not come solely from ineffective policies, but from gay and lesbian lawyers as well. “One of the main problems is very often gay individuals who hold themselves back as a result of attitudes implanted by society,” Shea said.

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InterLaw founder and Simmons & Simmons partner Daniel Winterfeldt said the profession as a whole needs to take responsibility for changing attitudes to allow gay, lesbian and bisexual lawyers feel they have the same opportunities as their heterosexual counterparts, The Lawyer reports.

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I suspect that problems DO exist in Australia and that gays are afraid to raise questions and the profession as a whole is more than content to pretend that no problems exist. I'm sure if one asked leaders of large local law firms if homophobia was a problem they would say no, yet it IS an ongoing problem.