This fall, Fordham Law’s queer student affinity group OUTLaws established a new task force, Advocates for Trans* Law Students (ATLS). ATLS looks to provide support for transgender and non-binary students at Fordham Law School as well as bring awareness to nationwide trans issues.
We spoke with ATLS Co-Founders Grey Berkowitz ’25, Grey Cohen ’24, and August Naston ’25 about the group’s goals, the significance of its existence, and how our community will celebrate Transgender Awareness Week next week.
Why was ATLS created and what is its importance in the law school context?
GC: ATLS was founded because we saw that there was a need for a trans community within the Law School. We are, first and foremost, a place for trans, non-binary, and gender questioning law students to come to where they feel like they have a community within the larger law school [environment]. We’re here to support each other and advocate for each other’s needs—not only at an institutional level here at Fordham Law, but also at the national level and throughout students’ careers [after graduation]. There’s a lot at stake right now for trans rights, and we are here to bring visibility to the barriers people put in front of us. Us being here is proof that we can break those barriers.
GB: There are very particular needs that trans people have, both as students and in the world at large. The massive intellectual undertaking of law school is something that is difficult for everyone, but once you’ve added a layer of struggle that’s particular to the trans experience, it creates a new need for a particular kind of support.
What is ATLS’ mission and what goals do you have?
GC: ATLS is here to serve as a mentorship program for both attorneys and trans law students. It’s really important for a trans law student to see a trans attorney doing their job and to see that they can do that job too.
AN: To add to what Grey was saying, one of our missions is to increase trans visibility within the Law School, ideally in ways that are serving the needs of trans law students. Part of that is through education. We are working with IT to ensure that students’ names are correctly displayed across all of the Law School’s platforms. Also, we have lots of programming planned for Trans Awareness Week, including a legal name and sex designation change clinic on Friday, November 18, at Ginger’s Bar in Brooklyn. Next semester, we’d like to help LGBTQ seniors put together advanced directives and collaborate with other Law School affinity groups to address issues that are intersectional—because if it impacts one person’s rights, it probably impacts many others. We also hope to be a resource, in particular, for faculty and staff, and hope that, when questions arise about how to best support trans students, they will look to us. We’re looking forward to next semester, when the Office of Professionalism will offer training on trans inclusion in conjunction with Lambda Legal. Making the law school experience as seamless as possible for trans students, in whatever way that needs to be accomplished, is our goal.
Transgender Awareness Week (November 13-19) aims to increase the visibility of transgender people and address issues members of the community face. Why is this week particularly important to trans law students?
GB: Trans Awareness Week is, I think, a very complex but beautiful time for the trans community. There’s a lot of pain, but there’s also a lot of joy. That joy is hard-fought, and we have to discuss the fight—especially legally—across the United States. We’ll be doing a lot of campaigns on social media and in person at the Law School, to get the word out there of what that fight actually constitutes. Trans Awareness Week is about celebrating how far we’ve come as a community.
GC: A trans attorney is not only there to diversify the legal field, but to show support, advocate for, and represent our trans community. By celebrating Trans Awareness Week, we’re making sure that more trans people enter the legal field. We need more trans lawyers to accurately represent trans clients, and the more people that we can get, the better. More accurate representation of our community can happen within the legal field.
AN: I think it’s also important to acknowledge that the reason we have Trans Awareness Week is to lead up to Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20) [an annual observance that honors the memory of the trans people whose lives were lost in acts of violence motivated by transphobia]. This year, at least 32 trans people have been killed, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). HRC uses that “at least” language because we just don’t know. A lot of cases go misreported or unreported. This fight is present, which is why so much of our programming [next week]will be focused on allyship. I hope—and I think ATLS, as a whole, hopes—to see allyship in action for Trans Awareness Week, because it really is life or death for a lot of us.
How can students get involved with ATLS or show their support and allyship?
GB: I think the three of us are doing something courageous by telling the Fordham Law community that we are in fact trans, but I know that a lot of trans students might not be comfortable disclosing that. So, if you choose to hang out with us, work with us, be loved in your transness by us, we are happy to have you—and that can be completely anonymous, private, and safe. We’re actively thinking about ways in which students can have an intimate sphere within a very public setting of law school.
AN: If anyone wants to get in touch, attend meetings, or is maybe just looking for someone to chat with about trans things of any sort, we have a freshly-minted email address. But, since we are a part of OUTLaws, you can also reach out through OUTLaws’ Instagram or send them an email.
Connect with ATLS:
General body meetings every week on alternating Tuesdays (12:30 p.m. in person) and Wednesdays (6:00 p.m. via Zoom)—look for details in OUTLaws’ weekly email communications
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