It was 2019, I was 17, studying A Levels at college (with law being one of the subjects), I’d just been through a breakup and was looking into universities to study law. Of course, Legally Blonde was on the watch list.
Seeing Elle Woods boss her way to Harvard Law School after her breakup with Warner was the perfect motivation I needed. She was iconic, and I was obsessed.
Naturally, I did a Google of the whole cast to satisfy my curiosity about them all. When I did I found out that Elle’s supportive lecturer, Professor Stromwell, was played by Holland Taylor…who is a lesbian.
The film itself doesn’t mention anything about Professor Stromwell’s sexuality, but knowing the woman who played her is gay made me feel inspired by her. A strong woman, at the top of her game teaching at Harvard Law, helping her students stand up to misogyny. It gave me confidence that I could do something like that one day.
The film also has a lesbian character, Enid Wexler. While the character relied on some stereotypes (it was 2001, I guess), she was an unapologetic activist and made it to the big internship, and court case, with Elle.
Enid is also in the graduation scene at the end of the film, meaning she made her way successfully through her law degree. She gave me confidence that I could be an outspoken activist, and lesbian, in my legal career, and I’d still be able to do anything I wanted as a part of that career.
Yes it’s a light comedy but characters like Enid and Professor Stromwell showed me that I didn’t have to sacrifice any part of my LGBTQ+ identity to be successful in the legal profession.
I watched the film at every part of my journey – when I was writing my personal statement to apply for universities, when I was having my interviews, when I got accepted, when I started off at university.
Now I’m going into my final year of my law degree. I’m confidently a lesbian, and still watch the film all the time. I’ve made so many friends, and have got involved in so many different things. I’ve proudly bossed it in the same way Professor Stromwell, Enid and Elle did. And at every stage I’ve made sure that I’m unapologetic about being LGBTQ+.
However, now I’m looking into getting a job within the profession, and it’s difficult to find real life examples of lesbian legal professionals in England, that I can look toward.
Many law firms now have LGBTQ+ networks that their employees can get involved with, and equality policies in place to ensure their employees are all treated the same. Yet, there are few LGBTQ+ judges, with none of them being on the Supreme Court. There are also fewer obvious examples of LGBTQ+ lawyers, and even fewer are lesbians.
While representation in the media has improved so much over the years – with more TV shows, films, and celebrities in general telling lesbian stories – there needs to be more representation in everyday life.
Not everyone will go on to be celebrities, or live the elaborate lives that are so often portrayed on the big screen, but people will go on to be doctors, accountants and solicitors.
For LGBTQ+ people to know those careers are possible for them, they need to see representation within those areas. We need relatability, and to know that our gender or sexuality won’t stop us from succeeding.
As I’ve experienced through watching Legally Blonde, representation is so important, which is why I talk about it in my work with Just Like Us.
Just Like Us is the LGBTQ+ young people’s charity, which works with schools to help them create a positive environment for LGBTQ+ youth. I volunteer to give talks in schools on being LGBTQ+, and one of the topics I speak about is the importance of LGBTQ+ representation and feeling seen.
The representation in Legally Blonde did so much for me, so I can only imagine that real life examples of lesbian legal professionals would do great things for, not only me, but for other aspiring lawyers who are lesbians.
We deserve to see LGBTQ+ people who can show us that we can succeed and still be confident in our identity. We deserve to have lesbians stories told, and celebrated.
Mara volunteers with Just Like Us, the LGBTQ+ young people’s charity. Sign up now to volunteer!
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