BRIEFS
PRO BONO
OUTING GAY BASEBALL
LAWYERS SUZANNE THOMAS AND MICHAEL REISS NEGOTIATE HOW GAY A LEAGUE NEEDS TO BE
BY AMY KATES
Suzanne Thomas had it all figured out in
first grade. “I wanted to be a nun-scientist,”
she says, laughing. “I really liked my nun
[at school]. And I also really liked my
pediatrician.” But it became clear to Thomas,
at the ripe age of 8 or 9, that this career path
might not pan out.
The law, however, was another story. “I
got it right in second grade,” Thomas says. “I
just knew: lawyer.” Thomas’ parents instilled
in her a strong sense of justice. “I imagine
that’s partly what drove me [toward the
law],” she says. “I also had a big mouth.”
Thomas started out in complex
commercial litigation in the financial-
institution sector, until one of her longtime
banking clients was sued by an employee
who claimed gender discrimination. “The
employment partner in the firm at the time
did not have any bank experience, so I was
asked to help him understand the banking
side of things,” Thomas says. Shortly
thereafter, the employment lawyer left
and Thomas was asked to fill the position.
“And 20 years later, here I am,” she says.
“Working for employers, we can help them
proactively avoid problems and increase
the effectiveness of their work force, loyalty
and morale … all the kinds of things that
generate good business.”
Thomas believes good business practices
are critical in her own industry, too. “The
calling of law is a noble profession,” she
says. “We owe an obligation to give to the
community in a pro bono publico way.”
Back in the early 1990s, as a volunteer
with the ACLU of Washington, Thomas
represented Dallas Malloy, a high school
student who wanted to compete in Golden
Gloves amateur boxing. The U.S. Boxing
Federation refused Malloy because of her
gender. Thomas helped her become the
first U.S. amateur female boxer to have a
sanctioned amateur bout.
It was because of Thomas’ renown in the
civil/sports arena—and the fact that she’s an
out attorney—that her name came up when
a group of bisexual softball players filed suit
Thomas
against the North American Gay Amateur
Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) in 2010.
Her pro bono clients were three players
on a team called D2, which advanced to
the final game of a softball tournament,
ultimately finishing second. Prior to the start
of the game, officials told D2’s members
that a team they had played earlier in the
tournament had protested that five of D2’s
16 players—two Caucasian and three African-American—might not be gay.
“NAGAAA has ABCD leagues, so if
someone is playing in a C league and it
seems they’re a better player, someone can
say, ‘Hey, there are ringers on that team;
they’re too competent,’” says Thomas. In
this case, based on the NAGAAA’s rule that
only two non-gay players could be on each
team, the five players’ sexual orientation was
challenged at a hearing after the game.
“My clients were called in and asked
questions about their sexual orientation,
and then the panel voted on whether they
believed them to be gay or believed them to
be hetero,” Thomas says. “There was nothing
in between; no bisexuality was recognized.
So they were voted. People just voted on
them.” The panel found that the three
African-American players were “not gay
enough,” stripping D2 of its second-place
title and scratching its players’ names out of
the record books.
“This showed some historical stereotyping
and prejudice based on stereotypes,
although this kind of worked in a reverse
way,” Thomas says. Thomas called on the
help of experts in discrimination against
Reiss
men of color relating to sexual orientation.
“The fact that they would have to declare
themselves either quote ‘gay’ or ‘bisexual’
are typically not terms many men of color
would adopt, even if they engage in same-
sex relationships,” Thomas says. “The case
involved the intersection of discrimination in
both of those communities.”
Her opponent in the case was Michael
Reiss, an employment litigator at Seattle’s
Davis Wright Tremaine. “The individuals
who organize NAGAAA’s Gay Softball
World Series are amazing volunteers who
care deeply about the LGBT community,”
he says. “They firmly believe in their First
Amendment rights that protect their
freedom to send the message that openly
gay individuals can succeed anywhere.”
NAGAAA settled in November
2011, agreeing to reinstate the team’s
second-place finish and to change its
rules to allow an unlimited number of
LGBT players. The court affirmed the
organization’s right to limit the number
of straight players, to provide sports
opportunities for the gay community. Both
Reiss and Thomas were pleased.
“Judge [John] Coughenour emphatically
upheld our clients’ First Amendment rights,”
says Reiss, “and our clients continue to put
on a great annual Gay Softball World Series
that showcases the entire lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender community.”
