Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50901
Preston Parsons, a UBC law school graduate currently articling at Bull Housser & Tupper LLP in Vancouver, notes the question of whether to be out in law school presents itself long before the first day of class. When registering for the LSAT, there is a checkbox where applicants can choose to self-identify as LGBT. Law School Admission Coun- cil spokeswoman Wendy Margolis ex- plains it's not a requirement for anyone to check the box. The information is used by the Candidate Referral Service that allows law schools to search for and recruit candidates based on certain at- tributes to diversify their student popu- lation. Aſter considering the pros and cons, Parsons checked the box. Then there's the question of whether to come out in the personal statements that are part of law school applications. LSAC devotes a section of its web site to this question, with advice provided in an online video and pamphlet. Once law school begins, students then face the question of whether and when to come out to students they're meeting for the first time. For Ryan Edmonds, a final-year Osgoode Hall Law School student, the first few weeks of law school were a bit annoying be- cause classmates kept assuming he was straight. Edmonds, 30, wishes the law school had provided a gentle reminder in frosh week that students not make assumptions about each other. Gay and lesbian students say they took a casual approach in coming out to their classmates. Lisa Nevens, who is in third year at UBC, says, "I think some people didn't know for a long time because I didn't say, 'Hi, I'm gay.' I just would mention my girlfriend or an ex-girlfriend." Nearly all of those interviewed say when they came out to other students, the responses were positive. "I have a wide, diverse assort- ment of friends and the gay thing is a complete non-issue," says Edmonds, in a response echoed by other LGBT stu- dents. Parsons, who came out at 19, was elected valedictorian of his law school class. In his speech, Parsons said for years he had wondered if he would be accepted when he came out of the clos- et. He thanked his classmates for their acceptance. "'To have this huge show of support and for me, to bring a male guest to the graduation ceremony,' I said, 'That to me was something I was very, very excited and proud about.'" There's no doubt law schools are more diverse, accepting places than they once were. But it wasn't that long ago less tolerant attitudes were around. University of Manitoba's Robson Hall professor Donn Short graduated from UBC's law school in 2003. Short says when he was a law student, many of his peers were supportive of the fact he was out, but his class also had a group of homophobic students "who made lists of who they thought was gay and who they thought wasn't." 14 S PRING 2 0 1 1 ntitled-3 1 C ANADIAN Lawy er 4STUDENTS 2/23/11 4:38:31 PM