In a candid and moving discussion, attorneys spoke about their personal and professional experiences in their journeys as individuals who identify as LGBTQ in the program, “The Many Closets of a Diverse Profession” at the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting.
Jeffrey Fiorello, a trustee and chair-elect of the Association’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Section, moderated the panel that featured Arielle B. Adler, Trustee Celeste Fiore, Robyn B. Gigl, Shawn M. LaTourette, Reid Powell, and Brian P. Rice.
Many recounted the implicit bias, microaggressions, rejection and discrimination they faced, but also the liberation and acceptance they experienced within themselves and from others. Gigl, who is transgender, said it is important when you can tell others: “This is who I am and I’m proud of who I am, work with who I am…It speaks to the diversity of what makes this country great.”
Fiorello noted that 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and almost 30 years after the Americans With Disabilities Act, there is no federal law that offers similar protections to the LGBT community.
“When we put ourselves out there and we take on a personal risk in sharing and inviting people in, we change hearts and we bring people in with us,” LaTourette said.