he Scale +67 MCCA WEIGHS IN ON THE NEWS
U.S. Census Shows Parenting by Gays More Widespread in the South
St. Luke’s Community Church in Jacksonville, Fla. was fi rebombed three times in the 1980s because its congregation was composed mostly of gay and lesbian members. Twenty six years after the last attack, Jacksonville is home to one of the biggest populations of gay parents in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Parenting by gay couples is more common in the South than in any other region of the country. T e pattern is notable because it defi es the stereotype that gay America is urban, white, affl uent, and living in the Northeast or on the West Coast. Minority gay couples are twice as likely as whites to be raising children, but also more likely to be struggling economically. +2
Obama Nominee for Judge Could Be First Openly Gay Man on the Federal Bench
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A former Clinton administration lawyer, J. Paul Oetken, could become the fi rst openly gay man to serve on the federal bench in the United States. President Obama nominated him to be a federal judge in Manhattan. He is one of two openly gay men whose nominations are pending for the federal courts. T e other is Edward C. DuMont, a lawyer who has been nominated to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. Senator Charles E. Schumer recommended Oetken’s appointment to President Obama, saying Oetken fi t his three criteria for federal judges: legal excellence, moderation of views, and diversity. If confi rmed by the Senate, Oetken would fi ll the slot previously held by Judge Denny Chin, who has been elevated by President Obama to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan. +1
Pay Gap Widens at Big Law Firms as Partners Chase Star Attorneys
Star attorneys are earning more than 10 times what other partners receive at some of the country’s biggest law fi rms. T e new trend is stretching compensation gaps and testing morale at fi rms. Now some top rainmaker partners at fi rms in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Chicago earn $10 million or more in a year, compared with $640,000 for the average partner at a U.S. fi rm, according to Jeff rey Lowe, a managing partner at the legal recruiting fi rm Major, Lindsey & Africa. Traditional notions of pay equity are falling by the wayside at fi rms eager to hire and retain proven business generators, whatever their cost, particularly at a time when many companies are reducing spending on outside lawyers. -1
THIS ISSUE’S READING: +2 LAST ISSUE: +65 DIVERSITY & THE BAR® MARCH/APRIL 2011
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Transgender People Face Injustice
Transgender and gender non-conform- ing people face rampant discrimina- tion in every area of life: education, employment, family life, public accom- modations, housing, health, police and jails, and ID documents. T e National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality surveyed 6,450 transgender and gender non-conforming study participants and asked them to answer questions about the depth and breadth of injustice in their lives. T e report found that discrimination was perva- sive throughout the entire sample, yet the combination of anti-transgender bias and persistent, structural racism was especially devastating. -3
Passport Guidelines Amended
In response to concerns raised by the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, the U.S. State Department published amended policy guidelines for changing the sex marker on passports. T e new policy guide- lines allow passport holders to submit a doctor’s letter from any licensed doctor, allow the passport holder to submit a letter from a doctor who has treated the holder for “gender-related care”; and allow passport holders to change their passport’s sex marker by presenting an updated birth certifi cate instead of a doctor’s letter. +3
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