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Michelle Fernandez: President of OUTlaws at Wayne State University Law School, Detroit, MI[By Charisse Dengler]

Michelle Fernandez is much more than just a second-year law student. Fernandez, who is President of Wayne State University

(WSU) Law School’s OUTlaws, is a passionate supporter of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights who spends

the bulk of her time educating her fellow law school students on LGBT issues and fighting to win freedom for members of the

LGBT community.

As President of OUTlaws, Fernandez is

in charge of coming up with activities,

overseeing the group’s monthly meetings,

working on the group’s website, and

welcoming people into the group. Generally,

though, she works hand in hand with the

group’s vice president on each of these tasks

and anything else that might come up.

“The most important part of the OUTlaws

is making a safe environment for LGBT

students, as well as having allies,”

Fernandez said. “It is important to make the

students feel safe. We are a support group

when necessary and can easily become a

study group during finals. We also work

to bring LGBT issues out in the open to

the students and faculty of Wayne State

University.”

For Fernandez, creating a climate of

acceptance and support within the OUTlaws

is of utmost importance because it was the

group’s initial acceptance of her that led to

some of the most valuable friendships she

has today.

“I began law school as a nervous first

year like most and needed somewhere to

feel comfortable,” she said. “I saw a flier

advertising the OUTlaws’ first meeting of the

year. I searched for all of the courage I could

muster and went to the meeting not knowing

what to expect. I went in with the fear of

being ostracized, and I left with some of the

best friends I have ever had.”

The OUTlaws have two main goals. The group

strives to create a safe environment for LGBT

students as well as bringing LGBT issues to

the attention of WSU students and faculty.

“The OUTlaws want to show people that

being gay will not ruin your life and that

things really need to change,” Fernandez

said. “Striving towards these two objectives

has caused us to collaborate with other

schools, such as the WSU undergraduate

LGBT group, University of Michigan OUTlaws,

University of Detroit LGBT group, and

Cooley’s group as well. Working together

with similar organizations helps ensure our

issues will permeate all areas and not just

within the scope of the WSU law school.”

Throughout the year, the OUTlaws try to

hold as many school-wide meetings and

discussion groups as possible in order to

bring LGBT issues to the forefront of the

law students’ minds. They also attend the

Lavender law conference, sponsor Diversity

Day, and host panel discussions with notable

speakers and LGBT representatives.

In addition to her responsibilities as both

a law student and president of a student

organization, Fernandez is also currently

interning for the Triangle Foundation, a

state-wide foundation dedicated to advocacy

on behalf of LGBT people. When Fernandez

met Jeffrey Montgomery, the organization’s

director, and began talking with him about

her opinions on current legal issues, she

was delighted to hear Montgomery voice

his interest in creating a legal department

within the Triangle Foundation. Shortly after

their conversation, Montgomery did indeed

develop the department, and Fernandez was

able to come aboard as an intern.

“The experience thus far has involved me

tackling the much needed clerical work.

After all, a business can not run smoothly

without a concrete system to rely upon. Since

the project is new, we are in the midst of

developing the aforementioned system,” she

said. “Our goal is to personally help clients

coming to us and also continue to refer them

to lawyers, social workers, shelters, etc. that

will look beyond their sexual orientation and

help with the matter at hand. Triangle has

been working diligently from the beginning

to ensure that the LGBT community is given

the proper attention. Homosexual individuals

are discriminated against enough as it is,

and Triangle has taken the stance to help

ameliorate the problem.”

Upon graduation, Fernandez plans to

continue her fight on behalf of the LGBT

community as a civil rights attorney. In this

role, she hopes to be able to put her law

school education, real-world experience, and

personal interests into practice in order to

make a difference for LGBT people.

“I want to bring these people in and let them

know that it will be ok and personally be part

of making them feel better. I understand that

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the courts are not that cut and dry, and I’m

not going out there to learn that; but this is

something I have a passion for, and I want

nothing more than to dive in,” she said.

“I am vehement about LGBT issues or any

other discriminatory cases for that matter. I

want to help those who have been wronged

and help change the law so people can finally

be treated with equality,” she said. “I’m

definitely not naïve and understand that I am

not going to save the world, but I would like

to use my legal knowledge for this purpose

and claim self-worth along the way.”

ON THE NET

The Triangle Foundation

www.tri.org

Wayne State University Law School

www.law.wayne.edu

Wayne State University Student

Organizations

www.law.wayne.edu/current/student_

organizations.html

STUDENT PROFILE