3L At Top Law School Writes 'Derogatory' Anti-Gay Email, Hits 'Reply All'

Bigotry on open display thanks to a "reply all" mishap.

Lately I’ve been feeling very “en vogue” as a gay American. At last night’s Oscars — hosted by the openly gay Neil Patrick Harris, taking the baton from the openly gay Ellen DeGeneres — we got lots of love. But it’s not just Hollywood, which has long supported LGBT equality. The U.S. Supreme Court might bring marriage equality to all 50 states later this year. When I allude to my fiancé (not fiancée), people respond with gushing, almost patronizing enthusiasm. Everyone loves the gays these days, right?

Well, not everyone. There’s a difference between what people will say to our faces and what they’ll say behind closed doors or in private — or what they believe to be private — messages. A school-wide email sent by a 3L and law review officer at a leading law school demonstrates that more work still needs to be done in terms of eradicating anti-gay prejudice.

Earlier this month, a librarian at the Washington University of St. Louis School of Law sent around a school-wide email about lighting in the law school library. She explained that lighting in some areas of the library would be cut back “as an environmental and fiscal conservation measure.” (Read: desperate times, desperate measures.)

About two weeks later, a 1L sent a “reply all” message complaining to the librarian about the library lighting policy. This wasn’t surprising; we know how passionate and protective people can get about law libraries, especially if they’re anxious 1Ls.

The 1L probably shouldn’t have sent his message to the entire school. But this 3L definitely shouldn’t have sent her message to the entire school (technically she sent it directly to the 1L, which is arguably even worse, and cc’d the entire school):

The law library is turning the lights off on late nights and weekends to save money and a (gay) 1L just wrote to the entire law school to protest it. #ignance

#MostIronicHashtagEver. And yes, I realize that “ignance” is slang for “ignorance.” Although the typo in this law review editor’s hasty apology email, also sent school-wide, doesn’t inspire confidence in her proofreading abilities:

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I deeply apologize for sending my previous email. I mean [sic] to send it to a friend who is not associated with the law school in any way and accidentally hit the wrong button. I should not have been commenting on it in the first place, and I am extremely ashamed of my previous remarks. Those who know me know that it is extremely out of character for me to make such a derogatory remark. I have already reached out to [1L] personally to apologize. If anyone else would like to reach out to me I would be happy to discuss my mistake.

One of our many tipsters on this story noted that the 3L sent her admittedly “derogatory” message on the same day the school hosted a big LGTBQ law conference. Sigh.

A different source offered some thoughts on what might have provoked the 3L’s initial message (a message that I found puzzling, since I’m not sure what sexual orientation has to do with library lighting or #ignance):

I think that some people are tired of all of the Ferguson stuff we are exposed to in St. Louis and it may have been a reaction to that. Either way, her reaction makes no sense and her apology is really just an admission of guilt, not an apology.

Maybe law school should be two years. It seems that 3Ls at top law schools have nothing better to do than send out offensive emails.

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(Flip to the next page to read the full correspondence.)