Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50901
I WENT FROM HAVING TO BE ALMOST COMPLETELY IN THE CLOSET TO BEING ABLE TO BE COMPLETELY OUT IN A MATTER OF MONTHS, WHICH WAS INCREDIBLY LIBERATING. CHASE BARLET of law, which can still be "a little bit more of an old boys' club." Not all fi rms are like that and time will help old attitudes disappear, says the co-chairman of the Canadian Bar Association's British Col- umbia branch of the sexual orientation and gender identity conference. SOGIC B.C. runs educational and social events for out lawyers and law students. U of M's Short says there is no right or wrong answer for whether a student should come out to a potential em- ployer. It's a choice, he says. Students who choose not to come out for fear of being passed over might think, "Why should I not have what I want because someone else's prejudices might keep me from it?" Asked whether students still feel pressure to hide their LGBT identity, Barlet says he believes some of the pressure comes from students who aren't sure if recruiters would welcome them. "I think that fear kind of circu- lates into a rumour so it does still create pressure," says the 22-year-old. "People have this idea that the recruiters might be of a diff erent generation and they're afraid that they won't be received well." Kim, a 2005 call and co-chairwoman of SOGIC B.C., off ers advice to LGBT law students: "In the long term your co- workers, your employers, you'll have to work with them and get to know them. If you are planning to stay anywhere in the long term that's probably something you are going to have to face at some point." People come out to employers in dif- ferent ways, says Kim. Some might not put their involvement with LGBT asso- ciations on their resumés. Th ey might "wait to get to know their co-workers, and then they come out. And that's fi ne too. It's whatever way you feel comfort- able. . . ." Most of the students interviewed for this piece say they chose to be out in their job applications. Queen's Univer- sity second-year law student Aaron Wol- ochatiuk voices the opinion shared by many when explaining his decision: "If a fi rm wasn't willing to accept me . . . then I didn't really want to be there." Like other students, he was pleasantly surprised by fi rms' responses. In an interview with a fi rm known for being conservative, a recruiter noted Wolochatiuk is co- president of OUTlaw at Queen's. Th e recruiter then invited the LGBT student club to the fi rm for a tour. Barlet has had similar experiences. "I've interviewed at some fi rms I consid- er to be very conservative in places and "Employers do not look at any of those items in a negative way. It's a very diff er- ent time than it used to be." For proof, he points to himself. "I'm the guy who is out there at the forefront representing the fi rm and I'm an openly gay man." Bay Street is a welcoming place where people who have same-sex part- ners and who are gay and lesbian are treated equally and should not feel that they have to hide who they are or change who they are, says Bacchus. "Di- versity is something that makes all of us stronger. . . ." As for Barlet, McGill not only gave the law student the freedom to come out of the closet. It gave the now-second- I THINK SOME PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW FOR A LONG T IME BECAUSE I DIDN'T SAY, 'HI, I 'M GAY.' I JUST WOULD MENTION MY GIRLFRIEND OR AN EX-GIRLFRIEND." LISA NEVENS by people that I might not have assumed would be very open and I've been tre- mendously surprised," he says. Law fi rms have become much more welcoming over the last 10 years, says André Bac- chus, director of professional develop- ment at Heenan Blaikie. Asked why, Bacchus looks to changes in Canadian society where same-sex marriage is now "part of our cultural fabric in Canada." Bacchus says he encourages students to include in job applications their in- volvement in LGBT organizations. year law student a husband. Like other fi rst-year law students, in Barlet's fi rst semester at McGill he was matched with an upper-year law student as a mentor. Th e upper-year student happened to be a gay man. Th e two hit it off . A year and a half later, on Dec. 28, 2010, they were married. "We've become kind of a novelty within the faculty," says Barlet. Th ey know of one other pair of mentee and mentor — a heterosexual couple — who are married. "We're just the 21st century adaptation of that idea." ■ C ANADIAN Lawyer 4STUDENTS SPRING 2011 17