- FINDINGS
- Daily Worklife
Discrimination in the workplace can take many forms; it is not limited to decisions
regarding hiring, promotion, or compensation, but can—and in the case of lesbian and gay
lawyers, often does—affect everyday life. The Lawyer Survey indicates that the daily
workplace environment for substantial numbers of lesbian and gay lawyers is one that is
significantly less hospitable than it is for their heterosexual colleagues, one in which many
lesbian and gay lawyers live in fear that others will learn of their sexual orientation, and one in
which those who are known or thought to be gay or lesbian are not accorded the same respect
and treatment given their heterosexual colleagues.
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- It is obvious that a lawyer's workplace environment may have an impact on professional advancement. For example, lesbian and gay lawyers who are not openly so and who refrain from
any discussion of their personal lives for fear that their sexual orientation may be disclosed may
appear to their colleagues as less than “whole” people, strange, and isolated. This perception
may have negative career consequences. And there are obvious potential career consequences
when colleagues or clients refuse to work with a gay or lesbian lawyer because of the lawyer's
sexual orientation. If, for example, lesbian or gay junior lawyers are kept from working on high-profile
assignments or representing a client in public (e.g., at a closing, a trial or oral argument),
it will be difficult for them to secure the requisite transactional skills or litigation experience
necessary to practice law successfully in a competitive environment. Similarly, if lesbian and
gay junior lawyers are denied contacts with clients, it will be difficult for them to learn the
rainmaking skills necessary to enjoy job security in most firms.
