On September 28, during an ABA-mandated course on the topic of cultural competency (attended by over 200 students), a Harvard Law School student made patently homophobic and transphobic comments rooted in “natural law.” The moderator and administrative staff present did nothing to disavow this rhetoric. Although students in attendance clearly communicated their discomfort to members of the administration who were present, the moderator nevertheless insisted that it was “important to engage with these ideas.”
The articulation of such ideas carries a high cost, and marginalized groups are the ones bearing it. The antiquated and parochial belief in a so-called “naturally ordered society” has long been used to justify and allow the deprivation of certain groups from access to meaningful human experiences and participation in public life. The university has long been hesitant to engage in any line-drawing, but the consequences are dire: Too many individuals within the greater HLS community are terrified to live openly and truthfully because discriminatory remarks like the ones made during 2L Orientation are tolerated.
Since this incident occurred, we have met with the school’s administration and asked that the school implement, at a minimum, the following institutional changes:
- Providing faculty and administrative staff with the necessary tools and training for better classroom management to ensure that hateful rhetoric is swiftly addressed and decisively disavowed.
- Implementing transparent and easily accessible procedures for students and faculty to report incidents of misconduct, so that patterns of harassment can be more efficiently tracked and addressed.
- Communicating with the student body in a more transparent manner when such incidents of discrimination do occur, as well as exercising the administration’s speech rights to declare that discriminatory statements are not aligned with the position of the law school.
Sadly, this incident is not an anomaly here at Harvard Law. Last semester, a student physically and verbally assaulted a member of our community. Change is a slow, gradual process, and we understand that. But over the past year—and dozens of meetings with the administration—the burden has fallen on students to advocate for baseline safety and inclusion for members of our community.
It is disheartening to see that, despite our best efforts, there continues to be an overarching culture of tolerance towards discriminatory harassment. We are committed to the idea that an open debate of ideas must be protected and that freedom of speech is an invaluable tool to protect and further the rights of marginalized communities; however, for free speech to be adequately protected, hate speech can not be tolerated. We will not stop putting in the work to defend the rights of LGBTQ+ people at Harvard Law and beyond. We hope the school’s administration joins us in this work, and look forward to seeing swift, tangible improvements being made.
For too long, hate has had a home at Harvard Law. No more.