Celebrating Pride Month

It is Pride Month, a chance to celebrate that despite the diversity within our society, love is love is love. It is what brings us together. And this Pride Month, we have a chance to recognize not only how far we’ve come, but also how far we still have to go.

The National Association of Law Placement (NALP)’s most recent diversity report found that the number of LGBTQ lawyers has risen a 1/3 of a percentage point in 2020, now coming in at 3.31 percent. Since the NALP started collecting this data in 2002, the number of LGBTQ lawyers has nearly tripled.

June was selected as Pride Month in recognition of the June 1969 Stonewall Uprising, which saw New York City’s LGBTQ community enduring continued abuses at the hands of authorities. Now, over 50 years later, we see the number of LGBTQ individuals filling roles in the world of law increasing, a sign that progress has been made.

Yet celebrating progress doesn’t mean that we stop moving forward. Indeed, the advances made in LGBTQ rights need to be defended. There is still too much hate and intolerance in our society and in our legal profession. And just as it does elsewhere in society, this risks further harm to the mental health of LGBTQ members. We’ve come a long way, but still have further to go.

The LegalMind Society welcomes everyone in the legal community looking for mental health support. Additionally, there are often opportunities to connect with other LGBTQ members of the community through various state bar groups and events. If you are a member of the LGBTQ community working in the legal profession, know that there are safe places for you go.

And as the number of LGBTQ lawyers continues to rise, those safe places will hopefully continue to grow as well.