Page 5 - CLT010421

NEWS JANUARY 4, 2021 ¦ 5

LGBTQ+ Advocate John Stafstrom Jr. Hopes
Biden Unravels ‘Discriminatory’ Trump Policies

By Robert Storace

As chairperson since February
of the board of directors of
Lambda Legal, arguably the
country’s most prominent LGBTQ+
legal organization, Connecticut’s
John Stafstrom Jr. believes the group
has an ally in President-elect Joe
Biden.
Stafstrom, a member at Pullman
& Comley in Bridgeport, said he
expects the 47-year-old civil rights
organization to be a “major policy
resource as the new Biden adminis-
tration rolls back the discriminatory
regulations and policies adopted by
the Trump administration and re-
places them with LGBTQ+ positive
policies.”
Stafstrom, a 64-year-old Bridge-
port resident, has been at Pullman Pullman & Comley’s John Stafstrom Jr. Courtesy photo

& Comley for 39 years. He’s a 1981 prevent members of the LGBTQ+ community—
graduate of the University of Connecticut School and particularly those with less resources, and
School of Law and his term as chairperson of the who are also subject to racial and sexist discrim-
Lambda Legal board of directors expires in Feb- ination—to live full equal lives the same as all
ruary 2022. other people.
Stafstrom sat down with the Connecticut Law The five-year strategic plan the Lambda board
Tribune to answer five questions related to the law, adopted this month aims to address these causes
discrimination and what still needs to be done to of discrimination through impact litigation, pub-
benefit the country’s LGBTQ+ community. lic policy work, and public education and aware-
The answers have been edited for clarity and ness.
length. I expect Lambda will be a major policy resource
Connecticut Law Tribune: What is the No. 1 as the new Biden administration rolls back the
legal issue facing the LGBTQ+ community, and discriminatory regulations and policies adopted
how can it be addressed? by the Trump administration, and replaces them
John Stafstrom Jr.: Systematic, overt and sub- with LGBTQ+ positive policies.
tle discrimination based on sexual orientation CLT: Connecticut has many LGBTQ+
in employment, housing, adoption and credit attorneys and judges in prominent roles in
are often caused by implicit bias, or fostered un- law firms and the judiciary, most notably
der pretext, such as religious exemptions, which
¦ Continued on PAGE 6

CONNECTICUT
Law Tribune