Interview with Jennifer Levi: 25 Years of LGBTQIA+ Justice

In 2003, gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts, setting precedent for the rest of the country. The landmark case, (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health) was litigated by Jennifer Levi. Levi went on to legalize marriage in Connecticut 5 years later (Kerrigan v. Department of Public Health, 2008), and has led a number of key family law cases establishing important protections for families headed by LGBTQ parents including Sinnott v. Peck and Miller-Jenkins v. Miller-Jenkins, both decided by the Vermont Supreme Court.

The Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights at GLAD, Jennifer L. Levi is being honored at this year’s GLAD 25th Annual Spirit of Justice Award Dinner dinner on October 25th.

Recently, Levi led the legal fight against President Trump’s transgender military ban in both Doe v. Trump and Stockman v. Trump. Levi has also been a leader in working on harm reduction for incarcerated transgender people.

In short, Levi is a queer and trans icon who has accomplished more for the community than we can even comprehend. It was an honor and a privilege for Qwear to interview Levi about her legal career.

What got you interested in law?

I was a math major in college and started my professional path in math graduate school. I quickly got distracted by a passion for playing competitive rugby and dropped out of my academic program. But I still had to figure out how to support myself. I started working in the software industry in the late 80s. At that time, Massachusetts was trying to get a gay rights law passed. I started doing more and more advocacy work and noticed how much more interesting it was to me than software. So I set my sights on becoming a queer lawyer with the hope of making my passion remunerative. And I suppose the rest is history.

How do you affirm your identity in court?

That is a really good question. I have had some challenging experiences in court, especially at the beginning of my legal career when I was once chastised by a judge for wearing a suit but no tie. The short answer is that when I’m in court, I want the judge to focus on my case and not me. But I also have to show up authentically because otherwise it distracts me from being me. So basically I wear what I need to wear to be comfortable which mostly has been a suitcoat and pants and a shirt that makes me feel good. I’m often read as male (which is largely consistent with my gender identity) but my name signals female. If I get a question about who I am, I try to answer it in the most straightforward, clear, and non-jargon-y way. And then move on. My job when I am in court is to advocate for my clients, not to bring attention to myself.

“We are in what feels like one of the most political reactionary moments of my adult life.”

How has the political climate shifted since your career began?

Oh, wow. There certainly has been a dramatic shift. We are in what feels like one of the most political reactionary moments of my adult life. I will say that I experienced a shadow of the moment we are in when I was a young person. I lived through a political campaign in South Florida in the early 1970s in which Anita Bryant spearheaded a campaign to reverse one of the nation’s first gay rights law. That was honestly emotionally difficult to experience as someone who had not yet come to my own transgender and queer identities. But I knew in my gut that the focus of hostility was on me (and others, of course). But as a result of that experience, I take very seriously the threats we are facing. Some of my most intense recent work has been in Florida and Alabama challenging transgender health care bans on behalf of vulnerable teens and their families. I’m moved by their stories and feel doubly committed to continuing the work to secure equality and justice for our community.

What do you like to do for self-care when work gets stressful?

Well, I have some guilty pleasures like watching reality TV and listening to trashy fiction. But I’ve also been challenging myself to climb, hike, and trek. When I am pushing myself physically, it’s all I can do to think about breathing and taking the next step. It clears my mind, opens me up to nature around me, helps me appreciate the grandeur of the universe and gives me a deeper sense of the humility I think we all need while striving for change.

“As someone who thinks mathematically, I see these principles as constants in an equation where identities are variables. ”

How do you think the law will keep up with our community’s ever-evolving identities?

The law's ability to keep up with our community's ever-evolving identities is a challenge, but I believe it's rooted in enduring principles rather than specific identities. The core ideas we strive for in legal systems—justice, equality, and freedom—are founded on universal values that can persist across cultural shifts.

As someone who thinks mathematically, I see these principles as constants in an equation where identities are variables. While identities are crucial for individuals to understand themselves and build relationships with others, our underlying legal values should be flexible enough to embrace these shifting identities.

That said, I'm not naive to the fact that social structures and communities respond to perceptions of who people are, whether these perceptions are accurate or not. However, my hope is that evolving identities will ultimately enhance people's sense of self and foster stronger connections with others, rather than becoming barriers to equality or even drivers of legal change.

The challenge for our legal system is to maintain its fundamental principles while adapting to cultural changes. This requires a delicate balance: acknowledging, respecting, and embracing evolving identities while ensuring that core legal values and principles remain relevant and effective. Ultimately, these legal foundations are only as meaningful as their ability to uphold and nurture our shared humanity. In this way, the law can serve as a dynamic framework that not only supports, protects, and celebrates our diverse society but also continually reaffirms the inherent dignity and worth individuals and the communities they create.

“ Ultimately, these legal foundations are only as meaningful as their ability to uphold and nurture our shared humanity.”

How do you see fashion as a tool for activism?

Fashion is fun. And inspirational. Fashion helps people stay connected to who they are and to understand the differences between who they are and how they want others to see them. My fashion and style have changed enormously over the course of my life time and I hope and expect it to continue to be dynamic. I’m inspired by the fashion choices that others make. And I love the ways that people can play with fashion and, by and large, nobody gets hurt.

Who inspires you?

So many people have and continue to inspire me. I am inspired by Pauli Murray, Frederick Douglass, and Gary Buseck (my legal mentor) as well as so many new contributors to the LGBTQ+ movement who bring new perspectives and ways of thinking about the work.