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Advocacy for LGBT Practicum

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The LGBT practicum is dedicated to achieving equal rights and dignity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Discrimination, harassment, and violence against LGBT persons, especially LGBT persons of color, have been on the rise — the practicum's goal is to assist LGBT persons fighting discrimination in a variety of legal and administrative settings.

The Cornell Law School Advocacy for LGBT Communities Practicum provides free legal assistance to low-income LGBT people in Tompkins County and the surrounding area. The practicum assists with antigay or anti-transgender discrimination, name changes, family law issues, and LGBT students' rights at school, among others.

Practicum students represent diverse members of the LGBT community in a range of civil legal matters. Examples of cases the practicum has worked on include:

Representing a lesbian woman whose property was targeted for vandalism by coworkers
Bringing an action for discrimination against a veterinary clinic who refused treatment to a gravely ill animal because of the pet owner’s gender identity
Suing an upstate hospital that harassed and prematurely discharged a patient because of their gender identity resulting in a failure to diagnose a life-threatening illness

One of the practicum’s most important services is the program for name and gender marker changes. Discrimination against transgender persons is often exacerbated by their identity documents being misaligned with regard to their legal name and gender marker.

The LGBT Communities practicum represents LGBT persons facing discrimination in agency proceedings and in state courts. The practicum also advocates on their behalf with schools, shelters, health care providers, insurance companies, employers, and landlords.

The practicum has established medical-legal partnerships that serve the LGBT community such as the Gender Wellness Center in Oneonta, New York; Planned Parenthood health clinics throughout Upstate New York; the LGBT Specialty Care Clinic at SUNY Upstate; ACR Health; and the Transgender Alliance of Central New York.

The practicum works closely with the Volunteer Lawyer Project of Onondaga County whose LGBT Rights Program has delivered legal services to LGBT persons in more than 250 matters in thirty-four New York counties in its first year of operation.

The Cornell Law School LGBT practicum provides free legal assistance to low-income LGBT people in a thirteen-county area in Central New York. With regard to name and gender marker changes, the practicum has worked in every county north of the Bronx.

If you are a potential client and would like more information please see For Potential Clients.
- Assisted the Syracuse Police Department in drafting an internal policy governing police interactions with transgender persons
- Negotiated a settlement with a large upstate employer whose health insurance policies prohibited coverage of transgender-related healthcare
- Negotiated a settlement with an employer who refused to take action against employees who threatened and harassed an LGBT employee
- Successfully advocated on behalf of an LGBT person who experienced discrimination at a hospital in northern New York
- Is currently in litigation with an upstate emergency veterinary clinic that denied service to a person based on their gender identity
- Is currently in litigation with a hospital in the Mohawk Valley that prematurely discharged a transgender patient leading to life-threatening complications
- Successfully challenged requiring transgender persons to publish their name changes in multiple cases covering four county supreme courts.

The goal of the practicum is for students to gain a deep understanding of the sources and types of discrimination suffered by the LGBT community and the legal remedies available to assist them. The focus will be on learning how to directly interact with clients who have been traumatized by harassment, discrimination, and violence so as to empower them to seek legal redress for the wrongs inflicted upon them.
Students will learn to handle all phases of representation:
- Interviewing and counseling clients
- Securing testimony from witnesses
- Researching and writing all briefs and motions filed
- Appearing on the client’s behalf at any scheduled court or agency appearance. Appearances will be limited to virtual courts/hearings as each court or agency allows.
Students will also learn to undertake nonlitigation projects in conjunction with nonprofit organizations working to advance LGBT equality.

In the seminar portion of the practicum, students will deepen their knowledge of relevant law and further develop their advocacy skills. We will reflect on how lawyers can most effectively contribute to the struggle for social justice on behalf of marginalized LGBT communities. Students will also meet and learn from leaders of the LGBT community in Upstate New York as well as representatives of the organizations who serve them.
- Discrimination
- Name changes
- Gender marker changes
- Insurance discrimination
- Policy drafting for service providers
- Agency hearings (Syracuse Citizen’s Review Board, NYSDHR)
- Insurance appeals
All practicum work is currently expected to take place remotely. Scheduling of practicum work (eight hours/week) and seminars (three hours/week) is flexible. In the past students have chosen to schedule all the work on Fridays so as to complete the work in one day. The schedule for the semester will be determined during the first seminar. In addition to practicum and seminar work, each student will complete a semester-long project based on topics suggested by the faculty and inspired by the needs of the practicum’s community partners.

For Potential Clients

The Cornell Law School Advocacy for LGBT Communities Practicum provides free legal assistance to low-income LGBT people in Tompkins County and the surrounding area. To be eligible for our services, you must:

Identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender
Be unable to afford a lawyer to help you
Reside in one of these New York counties: Tompkins, Cayuga, Onondaga, Cortland, Broome, Tioga, Chemung, Schuyler, or Seneca

The LGBT practicum assists clients with the following kinds of cases:

Antigay or anti-transgender discrimination in employment and public places
Legal name changes and obtaining identity documents with the correct gender on them
Family law issues including second-parent adoption, domestic violence, and divorce
Wills, powers of attorney, and other advance planning documents
LGBT students’ rights at school
Immigration, including asylum based on sexual orientation or gender identity and assistance for binational couples

If you would like more information or to request assistance, please call our office at (607) 255-4196 or email lgbt-clinic@cornell.edu.

Please note that due to limited resources we can only take on new cases at certain times during the year. If our intake is closed or we are unable to assist you, we will refer you to another organization that may be able to help.

Contact

LGBT Clinic

Email:

lgbt-clinic@cornell.edu

Phone:

(607) 255-4196

Advocacy for LGBT Practicum

Practicum Resources, Projects, and Cases

Participating in the Practicum

For Potential Clients

Contact

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