‘Out and proud’ firm says recognition of LGBTI community essential amid Trump administration

The global event, sponsored by the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative, occurred in London, Frankfurt, Chicago, Toronto, Euronext, Cambodia, and Nigeria. Although present in 2024, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were absent this year.

Nicholas Stewart, partner with the out loud and proud Sydney firm Dowson Turco Lawyers, said United States President Donald Trump’s anti-diversity and anti-transgender executive orders had a “chilling effect” on the corporate community, and many American businesses have opted to stay silent on diversity and inclusion.

In contrast, Australian corporates “feel quite positive”.

“Australia has clearly rejected any kind of Trumpian ideology. The last election sent a clear message that Australia was not interested in bringing American political ideologies here,” Stewart said, while noting there were still “loud voices” against the trans community.

As a member of ACON’s Pride in Diversity Network, Dowson Turco attended the event – the first of its kind for the ASX – to join other Australian businesses in “symbolic recognition of the importance of the LGBTQI+ community in the corporate sector”.

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In addition to attending this and similar events, Stewart said other Australian firms should be ensuring the LGBTI community feels safe at work every day by putting guidelines in place, encouraging mindful conversations on conscious and unconscious bias, and having open conversations around gender and sexuality.

“From the community’s perspective, it’s about knowing your employer values you and your contribution, but has also provided you with a safe workplace. There are lots and lots of corporates that do a good job of that, and I think there are others that need some work, so it’s really important they talk about diversity and change policies,” Stewart said.

Stewart said his last firm – a big corporate practice – did a lot of work in the LGBTI space, but coming to Dowson Turco “empowers me to not hide my sexuality so much and live authentically”.

“I’m not saying my last firm didn’t do that, but a firm that is really set up in that way [allows] you to be yourself, and you’re not scared of what other people might think,” Stewart said.

Dowson Turco was set up by members of the LGBTI community and has not shied away from talking about the “hard issues” that might affect the queer space. The firm has also provided a much-needed LGBTI lens for cases that need further perspective.

Without taking away from the many lawyers in other practices who provide the same level of support, Stewart said there have been times when the crime team have had clients approach them after other lawyers judged them for the crime they have committed – such as OnlyFans adult content creators – and told them to plead guilty.

“In those cases, we have been able to drill down on the issues and either make representations to police to educate them on an aspect of the LGBTQI+ community, have charges withdrawn, or defend the client in court and demonstrate that, for example, a video was not offensive content,” Stewart said.

“In other cases, we have been able to show a client was not engaged in commercial drug supply by demonstrating drug-sharing culture in a particular group within the LGBTQ community. In another case, we were able to obtain expert evidence from a leading Sydney sociologist academic about sexual role play in consenting relationships.”

For the family law team, Stewart said they handle a number of complex cases that exist outside the “traditional” family model.

“It’s definitely a fun and dynamic firm to practise in,” Stewart said.