Stevie Leahy, Fostering Equity and Inclusion Across the Gender Spectrum in the Law School Classroom.
In a matter of weeks we will find ourselves back in a familiar space, our classrooms. Will all our students, however, describe that space as familiar? How about inclusive, tolerant, and accepting?
In Fostering Equity and Inclusion Across the Gender Spectrum in the Law School Classroom, Professor Stevie Leahy discusses how recent Title VII caselaw has thrown into sharp focus the complexity of sex and gender dynamics in the law, which necessarily implicates our classrooms. As Professor Leahy states, “[i]n the past few decades, courts (and society) have increasingly grappled with sex and gender terminology, labeling, and identity beyond the traditional binary.” Although the latest Supreme Court opinions from last summer in this area operate under the binary definition of gender, Professor Leahy argues that the “functional outcome” is expanded protection for those individuals who identify outside that definition. Our classrooms, therefore, should do no less.
How can educators “follow the expansive spirit of the Title VII Trifecta”? Professor Leahy provides readers with concrete strategies including professors becoming familiar with the terms a student identifying outside the traditional binary may use to identify themselves and being aware of terminology in the classroom that tends to exclude nonbinary students. For example, professors can utilize gender-neutral titles like “Mx.” or “Counselor” in place of the traditional Mr./Ms. in classroom exchanges.
Professor Leahy points out that “[l]egal educators are well-positioned to model inclusive practices that will carry over into the legal field years beyond” law school. As the caselaw continues to evolve in this area, legal educators will increasingly be called to such modeling in the classroom in order to prepare the next generation of lawyers “for the realities of a workplace.”