Word: hls
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...while much changed over the years, and while many people loved their HLS experiences, one theme linked these many men and women: Harvard Law School itself had never been particularly friendly to them as gay men and women. Rarely did the alumni I spoke with report feeling that the school itself or anyone representing it was overtly homophobic; nor did they recall being subject to much hostility from straight students, as incidents of harassment have been few and far between...
...equally rarely has HLS gone out of its way to make its GLBT students feel comfortable as other schools have, whether by hiring openly gay faculty members, offering courses in sexual orientation and the law or fostering a reputation as a diverse and accepting environment. One explanation is that the school has historically put a premium on intellectual and scholarly achievement, and has rarely seemed interested with how people spend their time outside the classroom or who they are as people...
...despite any indifference they may have experienced at HLS, upon graduation many of these gay and lesbian law students became out and proud lawyers and openly gay leaders in various legal fields. Moreover, many of the men and women who quickly broke barriers by being out on the job were fully closeted while at HLS, or only beginning to come out; others were not yet out even to themselves...
Over time, students have become more comfortable being out at HLS, despite the institution’s continuous indifference and their relatively small numbers. Significantly, it has been gay Harvard alumni who have accelerated the acceptability of coming out at HLS. For as Harvard’s gay graduates made their presence known at law firms, and rose to those firms’ highest ranks, they became involved in and responsible for hiring—and sent the message that it was okay to be openly gay in the recruiting process. As gay alumni began producing scholarship in the field...
This weekend, many of those alumni will be back at HLS, some for the first time since they graduated. In no small part thanks to their efforts, and those of their classmates scattered around the country and the globe, gay men and women are enjoying greater respect and equality than ever before. They may not have been nurtured at HLS, or welcomed with the most open of arms while they were enrolled. But they come back to HLS as warmly welcomed as any group could be, to attain the recognition they as a group deserve...