Hi, what do you guys think about coming out to your coworkers? I'm an A1, have not even met my team once yet, and not sure if any of partners/teammates I work with are homophobic? Everyone in my college and family have always been supportive!

Wanted to understand the general status around this in law firms and if someone has faced something positive/negative?

I don't see what is the benefit? This is not something otherwise likely to come out until and unless you want to bring this out but from a practical standpoint you can just let them presume you are heterosexual without ever saying so because let's just face it even if they support you at your face there is no guarantee some of them may hold it against you without ever saying/accepting so.

I think you should avoid talking about it. It is unwise to expect that firm folks will be as supportive as your family and friends. They will be a different person when talking to you and gossip behind your back. Dont subject yourself to this unless you feel there is a need to disclose.

Be very careful. I suggest you do what I did. Come out or let you co-workers access a space where you feel like coming out (I did this via a personal post on LinkedIn). This way they won't be compelled to discuss it with you and can feign ignorance or ignore it and get on with life. Law is a patriarchal agrahara. It's very far from a safe space for LGBTQ+s to express themselves.

Thanks for the addition to my vocabulary.

For others, let me save you the google search. An Agraharam or Agrahara was a grant of land and royal income from it, typically by a king or a noble family in India, for religious purposes, particularly to Brahmins to maintain temples in that land or a pilgrimage site and to sustain their families.

Hi there A1!

As a general rule, the less about your personal life is known to your law firm, the better. What's a harmless factoid today could be weaponised against you tomorrow. Don't give them ammunition. I'm a raging bisexual in my free time, but my colleagues and boss have no need to know that. I've had flings with coworkers, slept and dated around etc etc and always turned up to work on time, gotten my work done and generally get along well with everyone. People care only about the latter half and not the former.

Homophobia and all forms of discrimination are very rampant in law firms. How many non majority community law firm partners do you see? How many openly LGBTQIA associates do you see? Some things need to be kept separate from your work, just for your own personal growth and safety.

bro, a law firm isn't your college and people you meet there are not your family/ friends. people are there in law firms to make money, not to play activist or become the wind of change. so keep your personal life to yourself, like most people do notwithstanding their sexual orientation.

That is because most associates and partners in CAM are from GNLU. Gnlu students are very progressive and open and that is the reason it is now the first preference for most firms. Cam recruits around 20 every year and GNLU has majority of the associates. Will soon become partners. This keeps the atmosphere good

You will spend close to 12+ hours of your work day with your colleagues. So to that extent it is difficult to keep personal and professional life separate. Most people I know are very open to LGBTQ community and you shouldn't face any discrimination in terms of remunerations, work, etc. at least in a Tier 1 law firm. Take your time to get to know your colleagues a little bit and do not hesitate to mention regarding your sexuality in the course of a conversation. Personally, I know lots of colleagues (juniors and seniors) who belong to the LGBTQ community and it has made 0 difference to me with respect to the work.

Hi! Expanding on my earlier comment. While it is not absolutely essential that they know, them knowing will help you out. For example, they may stop asking you when you plan to get married or they will ask if you have a partner when inviting you to social events were spouses are allowed. Allow them the freedom to stay quiet and also the freedom to show their support for you. When given freedom, people are capable of exceptional things. Like when I came out on Linkedin, a Partner at the place I work started addressing me by my preferred pronouns (They/them) without any prompting whatsoever.

I'm a gay man, and I made the mistake of telling people too soon. My advice? Wait till you know more about the people. Tell only the people you can trust. Some people in law firms are bigots and will try and make life difficult for you. Others are accepting and really nice about it. A lot don't care either way, which is also fine.

It's probably best not to voluntarily out yourself unless you find that you are in a situation where you have to (or unless you know for sure that your colleague is a trustworthy, legit ally/fellow lgbt individual - get a feel of their views first before you share). We have nothing protecting us from discrimination, our firms don't have explicit diversity programs for lgbt lawyers (unlike foreign firms). Most people still nurse backward notions and biases while pretending otherwise, and you might find yourself hearing "innocent jokes" at your expense based on their inherent biases. Look no further than the LI thread on Superman's son's bisexuality to see the biphobic/homophobic rot in our profession, as well as the ignorance on that thread.
That said, please don't take this as me advising you to remain closeted. By all means, come out to some of your colleagues if you are reasonably certain that they would not use it against you or be biased (that's a judgment call). But as a general advice, I wouldn't recommend it at any law firm - not yet anyway.

Its a Mixed Bag, from what I know, I have been a Corporate Counsel for the last 12 years, initially, it can be a challenge but what's important is the Industry and area of practice. I would recommend Media, Entertainment, Fashion, Advertising, Media Planning and Technology for LGBTQ Lawyers to work in the industry, they can be much better. Prefer US and European companies over Middle-Eastern and Chinese ones. For Litigation and Counsel Practise. Mumbai and Delhi have a great LGBTQ ecosystem if you know where to find it. ;-)

But one thing is very clear, your sexual identity would not be defining you. Your work would. I am pretty much known and around. Like me there are many around also, just need to look ;-)