Understanding the Impact of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation on Your Employees: 10 Support Strategies

Friday, June 21, 2024  

Posted by: Sasha Buchert

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The LGBTQ+ community is facing ongoing and escalating legislative attacks designed to eliminate their legal protections and restrict their freedom. Employers should be aware of the harmful impact these laws have on their LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and the LGBTQ+ community at large.

In the article that was featured first, "Strategies for Strengthening Law Firm Policies Amidst Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation," we explored how to strengthen law firm policies amidst anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Here, we discuss what strategies companies can implement to further support their workers against a backdrop of attacks and restrictive legislation.

Law firms have the power to counteract anti-LGBTQ+ animus and improve the workplace for their entire team. By showing a commitment to inclusion and actively fostering diversity, firms not only enhance their bottom line but also create a more welcoming environment. This support ensures equal opportunities for everyone to succeed and thrive, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and further promotes diversity in the workplace.

Here are 10 support strategies to include in firm culture to ensure that everyone is valued and respected.

Incorporate gender-neutral language and guidelines into employee handbooks and encourage pronoun communication. This is a simple but significant step. Law firms can audit their employee handbooks to remove gendered language wherever possible. Employers can also encourage their employees to use their pronouns in their email signature lines, Zoom rooms, and on business cards.

Provide inclusive healthcare benefits. Law firm healthcare benefits should exclude health care exclusions targeting their transgender employees, and firm should include coverage for mental health care counseling, fertility and family-building benefits, parental leave, and reimbursement for travel related to access to healthcare services to all employees.

Establish LGBTQ+ employee resource groups (ERGs). These groups provide support, networking opportunities, and a platform for advocacy within firms. ERGs can also advise firm leadership on LGBTQ+-related issues and help foster a sense of belonging among LGBTQ+ employees, as well as their straight colleagues.

Provide comprehensive training. Human resource directors should conduct ongoing training sessions for all employees — partners, associates, and staff — to raise awareness about LGBTQ+ issues, terminology, and best practices for creating an inclusive workplace culture. This training should especially focus on topics related to transgender people, such as unconscious bias, respectful communication, and how to support LGBTQ+ colleagues. Awareness and humanizing through storytelling are incredibly powerful and meaningful.

Create a respectful and empathetic work environment. It is critical to create an environment with zero tolerance for discrimination and to immediately and effectively address any anti-LGBTQ+ remarks or actions. However, law firm leaders should also allow for grace for all team members in the event of any well-intended but misunderstood statements or actions. Firms may also want to incorporate national and international days related to LGBTQ+ issues into their communication calendar.

Host firm-wide town halls. On a regular basis, firms should make space for conversations related to LGBTQ+ issues. This can be in the form of internal listening sessions, programming about anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, or even through formalized professional development and continuing legal education (CLE) sessions.

Speak out on LGBTQ+ inclusion. Law firm leaders can show their support for the LGBTQ+ community by speaking out, both with the firm and publicly. They can seek input from self-identifying members of the LGBTQ+ community and leverage resources to stay up to date on anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. A firm’s public messaging indicates its internal culture; firms can also use their marketing materials and social media to speak out against discrimination. One of the key ways that law firms “speak out” is by taking pro bono representations that support the LGBTQ+ community.

Offer LGBTQ+ mentorship. To increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ leaders, firms can consider creating a mentorship program where LGBTQ+ employees have access to senior members who will share advice on professional development and dealing with issues in the workplace. LGBTQ+ employees should have the opportunity to lead projects and directly deal with clients, and the firm should highlight their achievements through firm-wide emails, newsletters, and other internal communication.

Attend LGBTQ+ career fairs. When a firm attends and recruits from LGBTQ+ career fairs, it sends a message that the firm is open with its identity and supports the LGBTQ+ community. It allows potential employees to connect employment data with real people and faces.

Sponsor and promote LGBTQ+ special events. Law firms can demonstrate their support for the LGBTQ+ community — both their employees and their clients — by sponsoring and actively participating in LGBTQ+ conferences, Pride events, and other community programs. This kind of participation allows firms to both showcase their commitment and encourage others to get involved and donate.

Law firms have a responsibility to lead with value and purpose and to support their LGBTQ+ employees. Leaders must make efforts to create a work environment that is inclusive, welcoming, and safe. Establishing an equitable space will enable law firms to attract and maintain a diverse group of talented employees while sending a clear message about the harm of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Sasha Buchert is a senior attorney in the Washington D.C. office of Lambda Legal and the director of the Non-Binary and Transgender Rights Project.