Legally Lesbians: 25 lawyers tells us why lesbian visibility is important this #LVW24

It’s never been illegal in this country to be a lesbian or to enjoy a lesbian relationship. Many years ago, in our book, Women and the Law, Susan Atkins and I pointed out that the law of sexual offences was then designed to protect men’s interests – their interest in the chastity of their wives and daughters, and their fear of male homosexuality. Men’s interests were not threatened by lesbians and so there was no need to criminalise them. But so extreme was the fear of male homosexuality that their sex acts remained criminal offences until 1967. And much of the stigma attached to male homosexuality was also attached to lesbians. 

For nine years I’ve been on the committee for IP Out. This network provides a community for LGBTQIA people working in the intellectual property profession, where many firms are too small to have their own LGBTQIA network. I’m committed to increasing representation, so that the huge diversity of people out there can see themselves in senior roles. 

Getting involved in diversity initiatives in my firm, and in the profession as a whole, has allowed me to help drive change. It has also allowed me to be visible as a lesbian, since that aspect of my life might not always come up in other contexts.

I am very proud of my identity as a lesbian. Visibility helps break down barriers and challenge stereotypes. 

Before becoming a trainee solicitor at Ingram Winter Green, I was a real estate paralegal. It is so important to me to make an effort, even at the start of my career, to be visible in spaces that lack representation, and to demonstrate that we belong in professional environments.

Ultimately, visibility creates space for diversity, and there is plenty of room for more diversity in the legal industry!

It’s always been important for me to be openly gay at work, in order to avoid feeling like I’m hiding a significant part of my life.

I’ve been working in the pro bono team at Hogan Lovells for six years, where I’m fortunate enough to have cultivated a varied (and never boring) international human rights practice. After a presentation last year, I received a message from a young adult who had been watching. They told me they had assumed that they would need to hide the queer part of their identity at work. So we need to keep working to make sure the legal industry is welcoming and diverse.  

When I became a barrister in 1999, it was a very different time. I spent my first year hiding my sexuality. In 2000, I decided that being a gay woman was something that I shouldn’t and wouldn’t hide. Ever since then, I have been out and proud.

I was The Times Lawyer of the Week in April 2023, was listed in The Lawyer Hot 100 List for 2023 and this year was appointed Silk. I am also proud to be a Diversity Role Model in schools. I use the platform that I have to promote and champion diversity at the bar and beyond.

My passion around LGBTQIA visibility in the legal sector is, firstly, to show aspiring LGBTQIA lawyers that there is a place for them in the profession. Secondly, it is to highlight the need for the diversity of thought and experience they can bring to the sector.

It was January 2015 when I first entered the legal sector as an admin assistant at Browne Jacobson. I took a legal assistant role about 12 months later, before being offered a training contract at the firm, who also sponsored my LPC. Upon qualification, I went back into the social care team, where my legal career began.

Visibility is important because prejudice exists. Identity and integrity cannot be divided, and are vital qualities in law that bring strength to the work that must be done.

It was my mother’s nursery school, where I worked during sixth form and university holidays, that inspired me to go into family law. I initially trained as a solicitor, qualifying in 2015. Working as a judicial assistant at the Court of Appeal under McFarlane LJ (as he was) and Black LJ inspired me to transfer to the bar. I completed pupillage at Coram Chambers in 2018 and I now specialise in children and financial remedies work. 

I have always had a glass closet. People often assume I’m a lesbian almost immediately, so being visible has never been much of a choice. Because of this, two things are important to me: 1. Not just being visibly gay, but visibly proud of who I am. 2. Others, who have more of a choice to be out, feeling comfortable doing so.

I am a junior barrister working in public law, including court of protection and international work. I hope all aspiring young lesbian lawyers know there are people who will have their backs at the bar.

As an equality campaigner and award-winning diversity and inclusion leader, my passion for justice has been recognised by The European Diversity Awards, DIVA magazine and The Bank of London Rainbow Honours.

I’ve worked my whole career in diversity and inclusion roles, mostly at law firms, and in my spare time I am a school governor and community organiser.

I hope my visibility as a gay woman, who loudly stands in solidarity with other marginalised groups, shows that we can be understanding and supportive of each other’s struggles and different perspectives, while advocating for change together.

I’m fortunate in that I’ve not felt directly marginalised due to my sexuality during my legal career. That’s not to say, however, that I haven’t witnessed incidents of microaggressions towards lesbians, and indeed the wider LGBTQIA community, in the workplace.

Employers are now encouraging us to bring our “true, authentic selves” to work. That can only be possible when people are made to feel comfortable to be who they really are. Visibility is crucial in tackling the barriers that prevent us from being ourselves.

Being from a working class background, I suffered from imposter syndrome when I entered the legal profession. I withheld my queerness, fearing the compounding impact of my socioeconomic background alongside my sexuality. I wanted the focus to be on what I achieve for my clients: I represent children with brain injuries and adults in civil claims and inquests.

I joined Irwin Mitchell in 2022, and the culture genuinely celebrates diversity. I finally felt comfortable being open with colleagues about my sexuality and my non-binary partner. It’s liberating and empowering. These are frightening times with increasing vitriol towards the LGBTQIA community, particularly targeting our trans siblings. It feels vital to be authentically myself and visible.

I’ve spent my career working in human rights and social justice movements; my work now is focused on LGBTQIA rights. A decade after I first graduated, I went back to study law precisely because I’d already spent quite a few years campaigning to change it!

Lesbian visibility creates space. It creates space intellectually, opening us up to the reality that the world is full of people with different identities, experiences and perspectives. It creates space emotionally, building empathy and connection. Most importantly, it creates space in which other LGBTQIA people can feel and be more free.  

Visibility in the workplace, especially at a senior level, is absolutely crucial. Speaking from experience, I think that one of the main barriers to coming out at work is the fear that either conscious or subconscious bias of others might affect career progression or opportunities. Having a visible role model at the top allows you to ask yourself: if they’ve managed, why can’t I?

I am an associate in the intellectual property team at Herbert Smith Freehills, with a focus on patent litigation in the pharmaceutical industry. I am also co-chair of the LGBTQIA network for the London office.

I am a newly retired judge who sat in London in the High Court as a Master, the youngest (and second woman) in my role. In 2006, I became the first judge from the transgender community, and in the 1990s I was probably the first practising trans barrister. I was one of the editors of the Equal Treatment Bench Book. I am also a chartered psychologist and a speaker on legal tech and diversity. 

I resigned as a judge on 12 April 2024 after relentless “gender critical” abuse made my role as a trans female judge both untenable and unsafe.

Currently, I am a student at Cambridge University and I am a future trainee solicitor. But most importantly, I am proud to identify as a Black lesbian.

Intersectional visibility in academic and legal spheres is crucial for fostering inclusive and informed communities. I was the first Caribbean LGBTQIA officer of the Cambridge African-Caribbean Society. I wanted to highlight the importance of queer friendly spaces and embracing all aspects of a person’s identity. 

Visibility is very important to me. It is empowering and motivating to see the many queer trailblazers who paved the way for those, such as myself, to come into the legal sphere.

I am lucky to have always felt safe being out at work. I qualified as a solicitor specialising in defendant catastrophic personal injury claims. Having spent my career with the same team, albeit at different firms via mergers, I am now the catastrophic and large loss injury manager for Clyde & Co.  

It was after speaking to some colleagues, a few years ago, that I realised how important visibility is for those who may be more apprehensive, or fearful, about expressing themselves at work. Since that day, it has been a priority for me to foster visibility in my professional life. 

When I started working at 17, I wasn’t out. I wasted so much energy in playing with pronouns and avoiding the question: “What did you do on the weekend?” I’m delighted to say that since then, I have co-chaired LGBTQIA networks, spoken alone and on panels about the benefits of being out at work and mentored aspiring LGBTQIA trainees.

I trained with a magic circle firm, qualified into a US firm and moved to Simmons & Simmons approximately four years ago. I act for distressed debt investors, banks, IPs, directors and corporates on national and cross-border restructuring transactions. At work, I speak with huge pride about my wife and our incredible two-year-old.

To me, visibility is passing on the confidence you feel in being openly yourself, with the hope that others feel empowered to do the same. 

I’m a trainee solicitor at BCLP, entering my final seat. Fortunately, when I joined the profession, I was able to “see it and believe it” from the incredible work of others at the firm. Without this, I don’t think I would have had the confidence to be openly myself. I am extremely passionate about driving visibility and equality forward, in the hope that I, in turn, can do the same for others.

Prior to a career in law, I volunteered at Gay Switchboard (as it was then) and often gave legal advice to those who had been arrested, sacked, evicted and beaten up because of their sexuality. Outrage at the treatment often meted out to us, and watching the 1987 Australian film Shame featuring a kick ass barrister, led to me studying law and qualifying as a solicitor. Eventually, I became chair of The Law Society’s LGBT+ Lawyers Division (as it was then).

I’m fortunate enough to have never been in the closet. Lesbian visibility makes me feel empowered by my community of queer women lawyers. We make a difference every hour of every day.

When I started in my legal career there was a lack of visible lesbians at the top of the legal profession. It is hard to be what you can’t see.

Following nine years in the construction industry, I retrained as a lawyer. I am now a partner at Boodle Hatfield, heading up our construction team. I advise on all aspects of construction law, but specialise in digital construction projects (think Minecraft for grown-ups) and sporting projects.

I am proud to be an out lesbian, and a lawyer. I hope that the more of us there are, the easier it becomes for the next generation.

Lack of visibility, and the harmful stereotypes I encountered growing up, meant that it was only through professional networks that I found meaningful representation. Having visible role models helped me to gain confidence and bring my authentic self to work.  

I am now co-chair of our global LGBTQIA Affinity Network, Allied Pride (London). Although the corporate landscape has become much more inclusive in the last 10 years, I hope that by being visible, I can be there for my peers and juniors coming through the ranks.  

I am proud to be a partner as a lesbian, a woman of colour and an immigrant (complete with a foreign accent) who went to university in the developing world and enjoys watching cricket and whipping up biryanis! Visibility of my intersectional and lesbian identities at work is very important to me.  I think leaders and decision-makers can have richer discussions with a greater understanding of the lesbian experience, identity and voices. 

Even more importantly, with greater visibility queer people of colour and LGBTQIA colleagues (both present and future) may feel less lonely when bringing their full and authentic identities to work. Hopefully, it can inspire them to shoot their shot towards their ambitions.

In the early years of my career, I struggled with being my authentic self at work. I was concerned about being judged on my personal life, rather than my ability and standard of work.

In my role at Fox Williams, I advise businesses and individuals on all aspects of business immigration and crossover employment law, with main sector focuses in financial and professional services, fintech and technology.

Having visible role models helps junior lawyers feel safe being themselves at work. It normalises identities which are, after all, normal.

Being a proudly visible gay woman at the bar has brought some challenges, but it has not adversely impacted my career. I have a successful, interesting and challenging property practice and I am highly ranked in the legal directories. I have been sitting as a part time judge since 2005. I took silk in 2013. 

I am a head of chambers, a bencher of Lincolns Inn and a founder member of FreeBar, a bar community LGBTQIA network. For the last six years, I have also been the bar commissioner on the Judicial Appointments Commission.

Things can and do change. Even in a profession as traditional as the bar.

When I joined Rolls Royce in 1998, I was firmly in the closet and vowing to stay there. Fast forward to today, and I am the executive sponsor of our LGBTQIA employee network. Careerwise, I lead our global contracting team working with commercial airlines.

Visibility matters because it is so important to ensure that everybody feels safe in the workplace and that everyone can be their best self at work. In a demanding work environment, the safety, including psychological safety, of individuals is my number one priority. Visibility plays a crucial role in that outcome.

Embracing my identity at work has been key to developing open and authentic relationships with colleagues and clients. Over the years, I’ve seen first-hand how being exactly who you are gives space for others to do the same, especially junior colleagues. It creates a more welcoming environment for everyone. 

Visibility at work isn’t just about representation; it’s about building a more equitable, inclusive (and interesting!) professional landscape for us all.