The (legal) public interest realm is new to me, but I am lucky to say that it has been an amazing environment to learn and thrive. The people who surround me are brilliant, judgment-free individuals who go out of their way to make me feel comfortable. They work every day to make sure there is inclusion, including members of the LGBTQIA+ communities.

I was tasked with finding an area of my project that can improve gender inclusiveness for low-income LGBTQIA+ individuals. In doing so, I started a discussion with the tech vendor of our chatbot, SavvySuit. I asked the team how we could change a part of our chatbot to accommodate the whole community. While there was not much that needed to change right now, Eli Mattern, co-founder of SavvySuit and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, provided some great insight.

Non-profit legal aid organizations are allies of the LGBTQIA+ community and CLSMF strives to help any low-income individual without discrimination. However, the intake process may touch on a form of exclusiveness or discrimination. For example, the case management system CLSMF uses only has three options for gender: male, female, and unknown. While “unknown” means that the attorney has no knowledge of the individual’s gender, the fact that there are only two other options can feel a little restricted to the LGBTQIA+ community. Someone may be born a female, but he or she identifies as a male. Or the individual may not identify as either gender. More gender options create a more cohesive and friendly intake process for the LGBTQIA+ community. However, the case management system’s developer will have to customize that on their end and it is out of my control, unfortunately.

It is too soon to say whether my chatbot project will handle questions about gender. However, SavvySuit does have the LGBTQIA+ community on their minds. To avoid any incidental exclusiveness, the chatbot will most likely avoid assuming and using pronouns and titles. The bot will be on a first name basis with its users. As our chatbot grows (we call it a baby bot), there will be more opportunities to customize inclusiveness.

Why it is important to be an Ally of the LGBTQIA+ Community: