The past decade has seen numerous positive developments in both legal and policy protections for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer (“LGBTQ+”). Progress in this area has been decidedly uneven, however, and significant barriers still exist which thwart the full legal and societal acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals. Unfortunately, as the groundbreaking study by Peter Blanck, Fitore Hyseni, and Fatma Altunkol Wise shows, LGBTQ+ identifying lawyers, especially those with intersectional identities, continue to experience discrimination and bias in their workplaces.1

“Bring your whole self to work” remains a common mantra of supporters of workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”).1 For example, disability rights advocates have long contended that hiding or downplaying one’s disability from one’s colleagues at work “create[s] an invisible layer of additional work for the individual” in being accepted at the job and negatively affects productivity.2 LGBTQ+ rights advocates have raised similar points, noting that hiding or downplaying one’s sexual orientation or gender identity from one’s colleagues hinders internal advancement of LGBTQ+ workers.3 As recently as 2019, however, a Deloitte study found that sixty-one percent of workers hid or downplayed one or more of their identities from their colleagues at work.4

Far too many—if not most—of us in the legal profession who belong to both the disability and LGBTQ+ communities have known informally, through our own experiences and those of others like us, that workplace bias and discrimination on the basis of disability, sexuality, and gender identity is still widespread. The new study by Blanck et al. on diversity and inclusion in the U.S. legal profession provides empirical proof of this phenomenon, which might otherwise be dismissed as being based on anecdotal evidence.1 Its findings lend credibility to our position that the legal profession must make systemic changes to address workplace ableism, heterosexism, and transmisia.2 They also suggest possibilities as to where and how it might start to do so through providing information on who employers discriminate against most often and in what forms.3

Diversity and Inclusion in the American Legal Profession: Discrimination and Bias Reported by Lawyers with Disabilities and Lawyers Who Identify as LGBTQ+ (“Blanck et al.”) is an incredibly careful, thoughtful, and powerful article, and may and should lead to changes in the stigma, bias, and discrimination landscape in the legal profession.1

Haley Moss was diagnosed with autism at age three. At the time, her parents were told that achievements such as obtaining a driver’s license, graduating from high school, or even making friends were unlikely. Even after she proved the experts wrong and gained acceptance to law school, Moss saw continued challenges for students with disabilities. “I remember in my first year of law school, there was a blind student in my section, but she did not return for the second semester—and I wondered why,” she told us.1 “Law school is not always as accessible as it could be for people with disabilities.”2 But those people are essential to the functioning of our legal system, she added: “We need all types of minds to get all kinds of jobs done.”3

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) in the workplace is a complex issue at any time and in any organization. However, in this time of great upheaval—COVID-19, a renewed racial reckoning in the United States, and increased climate consciousness and social justice awareness—profound issues about work and the role of organizations are being raised simultaneously. This confluence of systemic issues highlights three critically important broad concepts that can help evolve our approach to addressing workplace inequities.