Walking up the steps to the University of Texas Law School, I didn’t know what to expect. The weather was warm and the sun shining, a welcome reprieve from the harsh Philadelphia winter climate. After wandering through the halls, I finally found where I was supposed to be. I nervously walked up to the check-in desk, stating who I was. Hearing my name, the person did a double take, and said “oh! You’re one of our panelists! This is you, right?” Picking up a pamphlet from the pile in front of them, they pointed to a picture of me on the back cover. “Yep, that’s me!” I said, feeling awkward and out of place, still not believing that I was actually qualified to be speaking at a conference at one of the top law schools in the country. I put on a name tag, picked up a few extra pamphlets for my family, and headed to get a breakfast taco, a seemingly very appropriate introduction to Texas cuisine. When I sat down at a table, the other people already seated asked me if I was a student at UT Austin Law School. And so, I explained, for the first of many times that day, who I was, where I was from, and why I travelled all the way from Philadelphia just for this conference.

As a Law & Public Policy student, I wrote a research paper in tandem with my first law school summer internship. The summer of 2021, I worked for Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), America’s oldest and largest non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender older adults. While at SAGE, I quickly learned from my supervisor, Aaron Tax, that there were almost no legal protections against discrimination for LGBTQ older adults living in long-term care facilities. Despite countless stories and studies documenting the devastating experiences of LGBTQ older adults in long-term care settings, large gaps exist in anti-discrimination protections across the state and federal levels. As such, most of my summer was spent drafting a Long-Term Care Bill of Rights (LTC BOR), a legislative document that would fill in this exact gap, if enacted.  Throughout the course of my research, I became increasingly impassioned about the importance that advocates across the country at the local, state, and federal levels pushed to get LTC BORs passed to protect this ever growing and most vulnerable population. My research paper explored current LGBTQ anti-discrimination protections at the state and federal levels, why they were insufficient, and pushed for the enactment of LTC BORs.

Fast forward a few months to Spring semester 2022, when I completed a guided research course with Professor Knauer, head of the L&PP program and the most amazing advocate and supporter for all her students. The idea was to turn my research paper into a law review article that I would submit to law journals and cross my fingers one of them would want to publish it. In my mind, getting published was a bit of a pipe dream, but I knew that it would be a valuable experience to at least try. To my surprise, after submitting my article to several journals across the country, I got an offer from The University of Texas at Austin Law School Journal on Civil Liberties & Civil Rights. I was thrilled that I was going to have my work published, and in such a highly respected civil rights journal.

In addition to having my article featured in their May 2023 issue, TCLCR asked me to be part of a panel for their annual conference. This year, the conference, titled “Here & Queer,” focused on legal issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community. The last panel of the day would feature their upcoming issue and would consist of myself and two of the other authors. Though the idea of traveling to a new city by myself to speak in front of a bunch of strangers was daunting, I knew I couldn’t give up such an exciting opportunity to share my work and meet like-minded people.

The conference itself was a wonderful experience. After getting over my initial social anxiety, I made some friends for the day and even did some networking. In addition to my panel, there were three other panels throughout the day, each with very impressive speakers. The first panel was on abortion and trans rights in a post-Dobbs world. The panelists included a medical doctor from Planned Parenthood, an attorney from the Center for Reproductive Rights who had worked on Dobbs, and a trans non-binary community activist. Getting the opportunity to hear their perspectives on how access to abortion and gender-affirming care are linked was a privilege. It is rare that you get such knowledgeable people, all from different professional backgrounds, in the same room to talk about such an important topic. Another favorite panel from that day was focused on the criminalization of queerness in America. The highlight of this panel was Ashley Diamond, a well-known transgender civil rights activist who sued the Georgia Department of Corrections for housing her with male inmates and refusing to provide medical care. Her enthusiasm for advocating for her community was palpable. She spoke on the harsh realities of being trans in America, and how she so desperately wants people to realize that trans people are just people trying to make it in this world, just like everyone else. I was so grateful to get a chance to hear her story and feel her energy.

At the end of the day, it was time for me to give my presentation. After listening to such impressive panelists, it was especially intimidating! But, despite my trepidation, it went smoothly. On the panel with me was a 3L from UT Austin law school and a PhD student from Purdue University, both of whom are also going to be published in the May issue. After spending about fifteen minutes giving an overview of our papers, we answered some questions from the moderator and from the crowd. People seemed engaged and excited to read our papers once they were published. I even had a few people come up to me afterwards to tell me that they enjoyed my presentation. After months of planning and anticipation, it was surreal that the conference was over and I was to be headed back home the next morning. After ending my day with takeout from a local soul-food restaurant (a recommendation I got from my new friends at the conference), I reflected on how far I have come in my law school journey. As a shy, scared 1L two years ago, I never would have thought that I would be flying across the country to speak on important civil rights issues in the same room as some of the greatest LGBTQ advocates of our time. I was honored to represent Temple University and could not be more grateful for the opportunity. And as they say in Austin, Go Horns!