Recognizing Challenges and Showing Support

LGBT Section Provides Scholarships to LGBTQIA+ Law Students

BY DREW WILLIAMS

Many of us remember those lean law school years when ramen and cold, leftover pizza fueled our all-nighters. Some of us remember juggling classes and the desperate search for a meaningful internship while working part-time jobs to make ends meet. Who remembers holding your breath until the loan funding cleared so you could pay rent or buy groceries? While these are common experiences for many law students, members of the LGBTQIA+ community sometimes face the additional challenge of estrangement from family, and thus lack the financial and emotional support some of their classmates enjoy.

LGBTQ people are more likely to experience food insecurity, poverty, unemployment, and homelessness. Economic disparities are especially pronounced for LGBTQ people of color and transgender people. The Williams Institute analyzed data from numerous studies and concluded that LGBTQ adults in Texas are more likely than other Texans to report having insufficient resources to buy food or meet their healthcare needs. Approximately 30% percent of LGBTQ adults in Texas report having a household income below $24,000 annually.

With these realities in mind and a steadfast refusal to sit idly by during this especially challenging time for the LGBTQIA+ community in Texas, the LGBT Section of the Austin Bar Association raised over $12,000 at its fun and fabulous inaugural Drag and Justice event in April 2022. This is the seventh year the Section has partnered with the Austin Bar Foundation to provide at least three scholarships to LGBTQIA+ law students enrolled in a Texas law school.

Performer Natasha B. Capri wows the crowd during the Drag and Justice event.

A crowd of Austin Bar members and their friends packed Oil Can Harry’s for music and jaw-dropping entertainment. The big event featured local drag professionals as well as the Section’s own past chair, Judge-Elect Denise Hernandez as “King Law-Tiffa.” Eventgoers also heard from former scholarship recipients about how the scholarship impacted their lives and wellbeing. Through the magic of modern technology like QR codes and real-time updates, generous sponsors and individual on-site donors saw the immediate impact of their collective efforts to fund scholarships that will promote education on issues relating to LGBTQIA+ law, raise the profile and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ individuals within the legal community, and promote LGBTQIA+ equality.

Everyone left the event that night with the distinct buzz of being part of something bigger than themselves, and the hope that it just might mean the world is a kinder place for an LGBTQIA+ law student with big dreams and stocked pantry.

Be sure to join in the fun in the Spring for the Second Annual Drag and Justice event! AL

Drew Williams (he/him) is chair of the Austin Bar’s LGBT Section and an associate general counsel with the Texas Association of Counties (TAC). Before joining TAC, he worked at the Travis County Attorney’s Office for 12 years. Williams taught trial skills as an adjunct professor at The UT School of Law and is passionate about teaching, leadership, local government, and DEI work.