Posted June 8, 202210:30 am
By Josh Rovenger
Happy Pride Month! The LGBTQ+ Committee is thrilled to be featured this June. Each year, Pride Month allows us to reflect on the struggles we have overcome, celebrate our authentic selves and, most importantly, focus on the work still to be done.
Going into this Pride, the media has put a light on some of the anti-equality forces in Ohio, Florida, and across the country. We know this is only part of the struggle. There remains a less publicized pandemic of violence against our black trans sisters, homelessness of LGBTQ+ youth that remains at intolerably high levels, and minimal protections for ongoing discrimination.
Our committee hopes to play a small but important role in addressing these issues and moving us forward. After a few years of hibernating, our group (formerly the LGBT & Allies Committee) came back in Fall 2021. Our goal is to serve as a home for the LGBTQ+ community (and our allies) to engage in fellowship, plan important programming, and serve as an LGBTQ+ voice in the legal space in Northeast Ohio.
Although it has been less than a year since our return, we have jumped right in. We started in October with a social kickoff at Jukebox in Ohio City. Attendance was high and included CMBA President Rose Fini. The social included law students and practitioners of all stripes who mingled over drinks and pierogies. We will be gathering again for our next social event on June 9, 2022 at Merwin’s Wharf. We will celebrate pride month and recognize some of Northeast Ohio’s LGBTQ+ legal stars. We hope you will attend.
We have also helped program LGBTQ+ focused educational programs. In November and December, we co-sponsored two different CLEs that provided tangible and critical information on representing LGBTQ+ clients. One focused on differences in gender identity and being an empathetic advocate and empowering ally; the other centered generally on representing LGBTQ+ clients. In March 2022, Kate Mozynski of Equality Ohio provided us with updates on LGBTQ+ litigation and policy. And in May 2022, we co-sponsored a panel at the criminal law summit on understanding the consequences of criminalizing HIV in Ohio.
We also know that being out in a legal workspace brings unique challenges. So the Committee also partnered with Karen Rubin and the Ohio Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism to provide a presentation on the Bar’s Lawyer to Lawyer mentoring program. That presentation, “Queering Mentorship,” provided details on the logistics of the mentoring program and allowed attendees to hear directly from various mentor-mentee pairs. We encourage all LGBTQ+ attorneys and law students to consider the program and we are eager to help facilitate pairings.
Looking ahead, we hope to be on the ground to do meaningful work for the LGBTQ+ community. We are currently working on securing such opportunities for pro bono service.
Our tent is a big one, and we welcome all to join us. If you are interested, please contact Pegah Zardoost at pzardoost@clemetrobar.org to become a member. Onward!
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Original story can be found at clemetrobar.org: Happy Pride Month from the LGBTQ+ Committee - CMBA News and Information (clemetrobar.org)