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Editor's note: This column appears in The American Lawyer's April print issue. Since it was written, the coronavirus pandemic has prompted Big Law layoffs and pay cuts. Those kinds of measures in the past have disproportionately affected women and minorities, including LGBT lawyers and staff.  

Of all the groups that have faced discrimination in the legal profession, which one would you bet has gained the most traction? Well, I wouldn't put my money on women. Or lawyers of color. Here's the winner: LGBT lawyers.

"There's no social issue that's changed as fast as gay rights, especially for those in major cities who have graduate degrees—which pretty much describes lawyers in big firms," says Keith Wetmore, the former chairman of Morrison & Foerster who came out in 1982, one of the first lawyers to do so. Wetmore, now a recruiter for Major, Lindsey & Africa, says, "It's such a nonissue when partners move laterally. Firms just care about their book of business."

The pace of change stuns members of the LGBT community. "It was night and day," recalls Winston & Strawn partner Jennifer Golinveaux. "When I started practicing at a big Silicon Valley firm in 1999, I was advised not to come out for career reasons." That changed by the time she moved to Winston in 2004. Rather than a liability, being an LGBT lawyer can be a career-enhancer. "It's actually helpful with clients; it's included in the diversity metric," Golinveaux says.

Indeed, LGBT lawyers are on a roll. According to the National Association for Law Placement's 2019 diversity report, the number of LGBT lawyers in big firms continues to rise, representing 7% of all summer associates—a remarkable increase, considering that the overall figure for LGBT lawyers in 2002 was only 1%.

What's more, firms are vying for LGBT talent. In the Human Rights Campaign's latest Corporate Equality Index⁠, an impressive 130 out of 164 firms got perfect scores for being gay-friendly. (In 2015, it was only 87 firms.)

Law firms love them. Clients love them. So why shouldn't we assume that the story of LGBT lawyers is one of unabashed success?

Here's the flip side: That progress isn't reflected in the partnership ranks. A new study by Diversity Lab and ChIPs, a women in technology and law organization, found that LGBT attorneys fared worst than women or racial minorities, with just 8% of firms hitting the 5% threshold for LGBT partner representation. (The study looked at 59 Am Law 200 firms and 14 other firms.)

"While there are increasing numbers of LGBTQ members in the associate ranks, they're not making it into the senior ranks," says D'Arcy Kemnitz, executive director at the National LGBT Bar Association.

So is the success of the LGBT community a mirage? Do LGBT members face bias as insidious or even worse than that faced by women and other minorities?

Not exactly. "Underrepresentation is not the same as discrimination," says Wetmore, adding that there might be LGBT partners who are not self-identifying as such. "There's still homophobia," he says, but, he adds, "I'm not sure it's more rampant than other types of discrimination."

"Sometimes numbers are misleading," says David Flugman, a partner at New York's Selendy & Gay, echoing Wetmore's point. A former partner at Kirkland & Ellis, Flugman says he's been open about his sexuality since college: "There's a generational divide. I'm 38, I grew up with DOMA, and I saw my LGBT identity as a value proposition."

The LGBT community has arguably gained acceptance in Big Law in ways that women and minorities have not. Unlike women, LGBT lawyers' ambition and commitment aren't called into question. And unlike racial minorities, they're not saddled with crippling stereotypes about their abilities or leadership qualities.

Which brings up what's often ignored: The LGBT community is a diverse ecosystem, and some members still face daunting challenges.

"People shouldn't judge the progress of the LGBT community based on the success of LGBT white men," Flugman cautions. "There are vastly different experiences among the LGBT community."

There's another part of the LGBT equation that's seldom discussed: the transgender community. Many gays and lesbians struggle to understand transgender individuals, Wetmore says, "which is ironic, given that we should know what it's like to be marginalized."

Contact Vivia Chen at [email protected]. On Twitter: @lawcareerist.