ABA SOGI LGBTQ+ Public Interest Scholarship

Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) LGBTQ+ Public Interest Scholarship

The Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) leads the American Bar Association's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and full and equal participation by all LGBTQ+ persons in the Association, legal profession, and society.

The ABA LGBTQ+ Public Interest Scholarship provides multiple yearly scholarships that empower law students to pursue the promotion of civil and human rights of LGBTQ+ persons and help secure full and equal treatment in the legal profession and justice system

An extremely generous anonymous donor has pledged $10,000 as a matching challenge. Your gift today will help us raise $10,000 for a collective $20,000 that will fund four (4) LGBTQ+ Public Interest Scholarships! Help us achieve this match by April 30 to support these talented scholars!

Your Gift Matters

Every dollar donated helps us fund the important work of these law students and recent law school graduates just beginning their careers and committed to fighting for LGBTQ+ rights! Your gift of $10, $100, $1,000, or whatever you can give, is instrumental in our efforts to protect and advance the rights and liberties of LGBTQ+ individuals through legal assistance.

Our Impact

The Commission created the ABA LGBTQ+ Public Interest Scholarship Award in 2019 and has awarded over a dozen $5,000 scholarships since then. Many of our scholarship recipients have gone on to become instrumental in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Hear what a few have had to say over the year:

“Receiving the ABA Public Interest Scholarship has been one of the affirming experiences for my personal and professional growth. Thanks to this scholarship, I was able to develop a polished National Science Foundation grant proposal with the Research Institute for Structural Change (RISC) for a legal database project that helps anti-discrimination advocates” –Taylor Mills, 2023 recipient

“I’m incredibly grateful for the ABA LGBTQ+ Scholarship. The award has helped make possible my summer public interest internship and my legal education. With the ABA’s support, I have been able to further advance my commitment to protecting LGBTQ+ rights in the South.” - Jordan Crosby, 2024 recipient

“The ABA SOGI Public Interest Scholarship has been instrumental in helping me fund the cost of moving to Atlanta and pursuing my work advocating for education justice on behalf of marginalized Black and Brown students in the Deep South…This scholarship has allowed me to do this incredibly important work without increasing my student debt, cementing the future viability of my career as a public interest attorney.” –Harry Chui, 2022 recipient

Read about past scholar's experiences on our Recipients webpage.

Promote the Scholarship

Help us share this Scholarship opportunity with deserving law students or recent law graduates! Please let those in your network know the Scholarship applications open up on DATE and are due by April 30, 2025. Information on how to apply can be found here.

Please contact Skip Harsch with questions.

Thanks To Our Recent Donors!