Them.us Reports on NTBA SCOTUS Induction
Amidst one of the most hostile legal landscapes for trans people in U.S. history, the first ever cohort of out trans attorneys were admitted to practice before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The ceremony, which recognized ten members of the National Trans Bar Association (NTBA), intended to “showcase to the Court the spectrum of legal talent that happens to be transgender,” in the words of Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, co-chair of the NTBA.
“The message this will deliver is that attorneys who are transgender are just like every other group of attorneys: talented, dedicated and working for clients across the nation,” Cameron-Vaughn said in a statement.
The ceremony had been in the making since 2019, when NTBA co-chair Kristen Browde was present for oral arguments in the Supreme Court case R.G. Harris Funeral Homes v. U.S. EEOC, which found that a trans woman had faced unlawful discrimination when she was fired for being transgender. Despite this, Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested that banning employment discrimination against trans people would lead to “massive social upheaval.” Browde was surprised upon learning that the Court did not know that at least half a dozen out trans attorneys were present in the courtroom, including two who were arguing the case itself.
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