While gay attorneys say stigmas and attitudes about LGBTQ people began to change in the 1990s as more people became familiar with that community, the state's only openly transgender equity partner said he had some pushback from the law firm he worked for when  transitioning back in 2002.

Beck Fineman has been with Ryan Ryan Deluca, a 50-year-old-plus Stamford firm, for 11 years. But back in 2002 he worked as a paralegal for Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. There was mixed reaction from staff at the powerhouse firm to his transitioning to a man.

“It was a mixed bag,” Fineman said. “I did not fear for my job and I think they did what they could to be supportive. But 'transgender' was not part of the mainstream vocabulary then and there were some negative responses within the firm, including from my supervisor at the time. It was all out of a lack of familiarity with what it means to be transgender.”

The 39-year-old Rockville, Maryland, native said he's noticed a softening of views in the past 17 years toward transgender people — acceptance reflected within law firms and their clients.

“I haven't experienced a lot of overt pushback or discrimination,” Fineman said. “I'm not visibly queer and I think that makes a difference.”

Unbeknownst to Fineman, Ryan Ryan Deluca had done its due diligence, and knew all about his background before bringing him on board.

“My being transgender never came up in the interview. And then on day one, the partner who hired me came into my office and asked how things were going and said all the equity partners here know you are trans,” Fineman recalled. “She told me she wanted me to know they had my back and if someone has any problem, it's their problem and not my problem. She also said I had the green light to be as vocal about it or as not vocal about it as I wanted.”

Fineman said people usually can't tell from looking at him that he is transgender and he still hears homo- and transgender-phobic comments from time to time. He'll make a point to say something when that occurs, he said. But people such as him, Fineman said, can be a champion for others. “The more young lawyers and law students see out LGBTQ lawyers succeeding, and judges succeeding and law professionals succeeding, I think that will go a long way toward opening doors much wider.”

Jessica Grossarth Kennedy, left, and Erick Russell, right, of Pullman & Comley. Courtesy photos.

Erick Russell and Jessica Grossarth Kennedy are both gay attorneys at Pullman & Comley, the same firm gay Connecticut Associate Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald once worked for. The firm is seen as progressive by many.

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Russell, 30, helped create and now chairs the LGBT section within the Connecticut Bar Association. He says there's more acceptance of gay attorneys today, but acknowledged there's work ahead to undo old attitudes.

“It takes time for that tide to change,” he said.

Grossarth Kennedy, a partner in the firm's government finance department, suggests the shift is coming from an unlikely source: law firm clients.

“We have clients ask all the time about our diversity and inclusion efforts,” she said.

Those demands have driven focused recruitment and diversity, prompting firms to participate in events such as the annual Lavender Conference, which is geared toward the LGBTQ community.

Since 2004 Shipman & Goodwin has been a mainstay at the conference, which began in the 1980s. Its partner and chairman of its hiring committee is Kevin Roy, a gay man who participates in the conference every year and helps the firm recruit talented attorneys from among attendees.

“We think attending the conference is the right thing to do in order to reflect the community and client base,” Roy said. “Our firm also has a strategic plan, and one of the major points in the plan is diversity.”

While there are equal opportunity employment laws, Roy said there are no pitfalls in targeting gay attorneys for hire from the conference. “We make similar efforts in all forms of diversity,” he said.