Monash Law
Students' Society
Queer Initiatives
Overview
The LSS Queer Portfolio seeks to create a space that welcomes and celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and intersectionality. It fosters a culture that embraces all identities and sexual/romantic orientations within the LGBTQIA+ community. We warmly encourage our allies to grow with us and get involved. Whilst these events are focussed on queer topics and the queer community, allies are encouraged to engage and attend.
We look forward to providing students with a platform to discuss queer issues in law school and the legal profession, and build their peer relationships.
In 2022, Keeley Frost will be your Queer Officer. If you have any questions or queries regarding the Queer Portfolio and would like to get in touch, please do not hesitate to contact Keeley on queerofficer@monashlss.com.
Events & Resources
Careers Guide
Not sure what lies ahead? The + Careers Guide for LGBTQIA+ law students can be accessed here.
Health & Wellbeing
Monash LSS recognises that students who are queer and gender-diverse may face unique challenges. To tackle these increased risk factors, the Queer Portfolio will work closely with Sarah Hearn, the Health & Wellbeing Officer, as well as Monash’s Student Support Services in 2022. Please contact any of these Officers or services if you are struggling, so that you can be better supported. We also recommend engaging with queer-specific spaces on campus and other queer Monash clubs.
Queer Mentoring Program
The Queer Office is excited to expand the Professional Legal Mentoring Program once again to offer a queer stream within the program. Students can apply to the queer stream to be paired with a queer legal professional. This will allow students to foster a mutually beneficial relationship in which insight, experiences and guidance can be shared. The program boasts a large variety of practice areas from which students can select.
Our aim is to ensure that students become equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to overcome the barriers and challenges they may face as a queer person. It is our hope that queer students will form long-lasting and mutually beneficial mentoring relationships with their queer mentors. From the personal to the professional, we encourage students to ask questions, create networks, and build resilience.
A launch for the program will be held on the 15th of March.
Queer Meet and Greet
In its first year, the Queer Meet and Greet will provide the opportunity for students to become familiar with the portfolio, and meet other queer students and allies in a very informal environment. With many students, some entering their third year, having spent very little time on campus, this event provides an opportunity for students to gain some familiar faces around campus, and familiarise themselves with the upcoming queer events and opportunities. It will be held on campus on the 22nd of March.
Queer in the Law Panel & Queer Networking Night
This event blends together the best parts of education and socialising. The first half of the evening will be dedicated to providing students with a select panel of queer legal professionals. Students will be able to ask questions to the panellists. The night will then transition to a larger venue with students from other universities to a networking evening, where students will network with queer and gender-diverse legal professional from a wide range of sectors. The Queer in the Law Panel and Queer Networking Night will be held on the 28th of April.
Queer Mixer
The social highlight of the Queer Portfolio calendar. The Queer Mixer is a fun and informal gathering where students will be able to socialise with their queer peers from other universities in a welcoming environment. It is a purely social event, designed for queer students and allies to meet other members of the community and form student networks. The Queer Mixer will be held on the 25th of August.
That's Queersay! Publication
An exciting new publication, That’s Queersay! Will feature interviews from a wide range of queer and gender-diverse legal professionals. With twelve editions, it will provide queer students with a dedicated publication tailored towards queer experiences within the legal field as students begin to embark on their career. Each edition will have a focus on an important aspect of the queer community, representing the diverse experiences of the professionals interviewed. Furthermore, the publication will provide allies with the opportunity to learn more about the experiences of queer and gender-diverse individuals in the law, and what it means to be supportive ally to those around them.