With Dallas Aguilera Martinez
Laws may not change hearts, but hearts can change the law. When we are driven by collective ideals of inclusion and belonging, we can create collectives and active allyship. This month I share this space with Dallas Aguilera Martinez. Dallas is a Co-Executive Director at QLaw Foundation of Washington, a civil legal aid organization predominantly staffed by Indigenous and persons of color that aims to provide 2SLGBTQIA+ affirming legal services in Washington. Join KCBA in our investment to be more than bystanders to the current legal attacks on the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and to create inclusive, thriving communities composed of diverse identities and experiences.
The King County Bar just hosted another successful Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon in January. The keynote speaker, Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., was engaging and inspirational. He reminded us of Dr. King’s sentiment regarding desegregation, a legal concept, and how that term limited the potential of racial integration, a social justice ambition. One is a forced occurrence; it’s reactive and serves as a minimal standard of extending dignity to others. The other is intentional, proactive, and holds there is no such thing as a lesser human being. Dr. Glaude emphasized laws do not change hearts. He echoed Dr. King’s sentiment that desegregation only brings us in closer physical proximity to one another but does not compel us to treat each other with fairness and equality. That kind of change occurs when you are invested in others outside of your own identities. That work is necessary with integration. Dr. Glaude mentioned Dr. King’s reference of “spiritual affinity” when speaking to this distinction.
Many attendees left the Luncheon ready to act. I spoke with one attorney who said if there was a sign-up table at the event to volunteer for a cause, she would have signed up right then and there. Another attorney, so amped for more opportunities to serve, said he felt like he was not doing enough and even referred to himself as lazy. This same lawyer leads a minority bar association and regularly volunteers at a legal clinic! Other attorneys enthusiastically scanned a QR code to donate money toward KCBA’s support of minority law students. Chances are you have been to similar events and felt similarly moved.
Generally, legal aid organizations struggle to cultivate new attorney volunteers. This is particularly true when recruitment efforts are for a minority-centered mission like QLaw’s. While civil legal aid often is greatly dependent on attorney recruitment, it is just as important to have a trusted list of attorneys to refer clients to when they have exhausted the short-term capacity a legal clinic can provide.
The reality for 2SLGBTQIA+ persons includes harmful discrimination, purposeful misgendering, and other oppressive acts. We are frequently contacted by community members who can afford legal help but seek reassurance they will have legal support that they can feel safer with. Navigating the legal system is intimidating and emotionally challenging enough without the added condemnation from someone you are paying to provide you with a service.
I have the honor of searching state-wide for attorneys willing to donate their time and legal expertise for our legal clinics and to be a referral source for longer term legal services. QLaw screens potential attorneys for basic knowledge and a willingness to learn about our communities. At times we have existing relationships with lawyers prior to asking them to join our legal clinic programming or referral network.
We endeavor to uphold our communities’ trust and to promote the dignity and respect of 2SLGBTQIA+ Washingtonians, who expect our attorneys to be 2SLGBTQIA+ affirming and competent. What does that mean? Sometimes this is erroneously interpreted to mean attorneys who themselves identify as gay or trans. But that is not a prerequisite to extending expertise and dignity to our clients.
More, intentionally working across identities and in communities outside of our own builds empathy and generates investment. As an attorney, parent, and someone with lived experiences with several of these identities, I want us all invested in 2SLGBTQIA+ people, spaces, and communities. After all, a 14-year-old black trans child in Centralia is safer when there is an attorney in Lewis County who is competent with pronoun usage and affirms that child’s existence — completely. That attorney will not only be a more effective advocate but will also normalize a relational dynamic for others to witness and model, therefore impacting the greater good.
Regardless of how you identify, we need your help. When we think of legal deserts, we typically do not think of King County. As of January 2024, the WSBA reported 26,692 active attorneys in Washington.1 15,191 of those active attorneys are in King County, while a mere 3,929 account for active attorneys in all of eastern Washington.2 812 respondents identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, or queer.3 Of the 27,820 attorneys that opted to report their gender, the numbers were dismal outside of the cisgender binary. 37 reported as non-binary, while one identified as transgender.4 While most of us attorneys are not mathematicians, we can submit that with Washington having only 5.2% of its population identifying as LGBT, it does not set up our legal profession for the strongest representative numbers of people chasing the legal dream.5 This makes it more difficult to find a private attorney who identifies as queer, practices in a relevant area of law needed, and has the capacity to take on another matter. Add to that equation needing a creative payment plan or pro bono services and you have a legal Grand Canyon — here in King County.
The dearth of 2SLGBTQIA+ identifying attorneys should come as no surprise. Minorities experience more disadvantages which strain their potential pathways into the profession. There are multiple barriers and disparities which detour 2SLGBTQIA+ people away from ever considering law as a profession. Overcoming discrimination and the lack of investment must start in our own homes, schools, and other local community spaces. I will just skim the top of my earliest experiences as a pre-trans, masculine presenting lesbian.
In middle school my best friend and first crush was yanked out of our school and transferred to a Lutheran school by her parents after they found letters between us, stating we liked each other “more” than friends. This was scary and traumatizing. I learned early people like me were to be isolated. Rumors perpetuated discriminatory treatment from students and school staff. My mere existence caused harm to others. This does not make a strong case for legal advocacy material. My high school principal tried to rid me from her school because I was “turning students gay.” Despite having no concerns with my academics or behavior, she would insist my parents explore alternative schools for a better fit. She also attempted to keep me from attending school dances with my girlfriend and insisted I had to wear a dress instead of a suit. My school counselor never asked me whether I wanted to go to college or what my post high school plans were. I was never spoken to about college testing preparation. I was not deemed college material, much less a law student or future attorney.
When I was 15 I was escorted out of a neighboring suburb after people in a park called the police on me for holding hands with someone of my same gender. I was forced to walk in front of a police car as it trailed me until I reached the city I was from. I was shamed and put on display for the public to dehumanize me. This experience alone is enough to damper self-esteem to a point of questioning existence, much less college or law school. Something as common as excitement for driving in high school was quickly diminished for me after my first few intimidating and humiliating police contacts. I was frequently pulled over by police, but not for traffic infractions. I was stopped for my presentation. They would investigate my age, as I appeared to be a young boy.
Becoming an adult did not change the frequency of harassing and discriminatory experiences, it just broadened the harassment and discrimination to the larger world. In my work, I come across many similar experiences of dehumanization and harassment. While laws have changed, they have not changed behavior. This pervasive treatment takes a toll and impacts other areas of life. It is a deterrent to another seven years of education in a highly structured environment which upholds gender norms and relies on imbalanced power hierarchies. Law schools still uphold cultures of competition and elitism.
Our 2SLGBTQIA+ communities intersect with every identity, including race, religion, disability, and socioeconomic class. Having multiple minority identities compounds the barriers to pursuing a bar license. Nevertheless, just identifying as 2SLGBTQIA+ alone increases the odds of facing more challenges along the way to becoming a lawyer. Our communities face higher levels of economic disparities and disproportionate rates of housing issues. Our exposure to harassment, violence, and isolation impacts mental and physical health. Navigating a pathway from a rural area as a 2SLGBTQIA+ identifying person further complicates the journey to becoming an attorney as well. There are traditionally less resources and support for these communities and attorney networking spaces tend to be more homogenous in rural areas. For these reasons, our communities lack higher numbers of representative counsel options, and more so outside of major metropolitan areas, like King County.
What our organization hears often is that clients want someone who will treat them with dignity and affirm their identities and relationships. They want their pronouns observed. They want an attorney who understands how an ex-partner holding a grudge related to their sexual orientation or gender transition can negatively impact and influence a life-altering legal outcome. Our communities need attorneys who can be empathetic and not dismissive of someone’s employment or school discrimination based on their 2SLGBTQIA+ identity. Clients want to connect with attorneys who can have dialogue about same-sex or polyamorous relationships and not get distracted by lived experiences outside of their own, to the extent that legal advice becomes the secondary focus and not the predominant topic.
Attorneys can practice law and offer legal services in an affirming way. It can start with something as basic as reviewing and updating intake forms to being inclusive and disclosing pronouns in court along with your client’s. With practice and intention, attorneys have the platform and power to normalize queer lived experiences in their motions, legal arguments, and general practices.
Luckily, there are numerous benefits to promoting inclusion through intercultural connections, such as with non-queer attorneys intersecting with queer culture. Attorneys experience more robust practice, more client referrals, and can serve clients more holistically. Thinking outside of your usual framework expands the mind. Attorneys will gain a greater perspective and sense of creativity by navigating legal issues. By working with demographics outside of their own known cultures, attorneys become more culturally aware. That cultivates the empathy that is needed for inclusion to reach its potential. That is what truly affords access to justice.
If you are interested in learning more about volunteering with us or being added to our attorney referral network, I would love to buy you a cup of coffee and answer any questions you may have about our organization and its opportunities. You can also find more information here: https://www.qlawfoundation.org/work-with-us/.
If you are not ready to make the commitment of volunteering your time once a month or quarter for a legal clinic or you do not have the capacity to take on more clients, you can still stay engaged with our organization by joining our mailing list and attending our virtual CLEs and in-person events. Aside from direct engagement with our organization, you can continue to bridge the legal gaps for our communities by ensuring attorneys and legal professionals are DEI competent on a variety of issues in addition to race, provide ongoing and evolving training, and put knowledge and inclusion into practice, for employees and the public.
Remember, there is more to 2SLGBTQIA+ legal representation than 2SLGBTQIA-identity representation. Every attorney can make a positive impact on the lives of underrepresented communities and in spaces outside of their own. Let us reminisce on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sentiment that laws alone cannot unite people and strengthen social justice. While we may work within the confines of laws, it is the stories, people, and community, that stretch our imaginations and push us beyond those legal limitations to change minds and open hearts.
1 https://www.wsba.org/docs/default-source/licensing/membership-info-data/countdemo_2019
0801.pdf?sfvrsn=ae6c3ef1_238
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/visualization/lgbt-stats/?topic=LGBT&area=53&sortBy=
percentage&sortDirection=descending#ranking
