In recognition of Pride month, we are highlighting stories of exonerees who were wrongfully convicted on the basis of their perceived sexual identity and celebrating Innocence Project staff who proudly identify as LGBTQ.

By showcasing these stories, we hope to inspire people to continue to fight against the injustices that plague a significant part of our society but also celebrate the LGBTQ exonerees, lawyers, community, and allies who stand up for the wrongfully convicted.

Take a look at how people responded to one of the following questions: What makes you proud to do Innocence work? How are you celebrating Pride? Why is it important to have LGBTQ people working at Innocence?

Photos by Yili Liu

Staff Attorney Karen Thompson (Photo by Yili Liu)

Karen Thompson, staff attorney

“The four Latina lesbians who were recently released in San Antonio, Texas faced misogyny, lesbophobia, and racism as part of their case; recognizing those specifics in their legal ordeal was part of the battle to free them. We do not, and cannot, erase class-based oppression in this work; to the contrary, it informs everything that we do. Personally, that means all of me, as a black woman, as a lesbian, as a first-generation American, informs my advocacy.”

Vanessa Meterko, research analyst

“Working at the Innocence Project is a daily reminder that the world is filled with people who won’t stand for injustice – anywhere.”

Kavish Harjai, digital communications intern

“My work at the Innocence project is guided by my queer identity. I want to ensure that the issues that LGBTQ people face as a result of criminal injustice, such as the  criminalization of trans people of color, are heard and taken seriously. With my perspective as LGBTQ, I hope to not only effect change in our criminal justice system in general, but to also highlight the stories and struggles that queer populations specifically face.”

Robyn Jefferson, administrative assistant

“I am honored to be part of the Pride Month celebration of the Innocence Project in honor of my son, Michael. And for all who have had to, or continue to feel that they have to hide who they are in the workplace, places of worship, in their families; for all those who had to fear and fight the repercussions of society at large. We have to stand with and for one another, respecting the whole person and their gifts and protect each other from those who would cause them harm.”

Mitha Nandagopalan, strategic litigation intern

“Our justice system is often more of an injustice system for people of color, poor people, and LGBTQ people. I think we have an obligation to change that, and I’m proud to be part of that fight. We need to have LGBTQ people at Innocence Project because criminal justice comes down disproportionately hard on queer and trans people, particularly queer and trans people of color, and having better representation on staff helps make us mindful of the biases affecting the clients we serve, the language we use when speaking with and about our clients, and the ways in which we can do better. So, I’m celebrating Pride by dancing, yes, but also by protesting, acting up, and making noise. Because we’re proud, but we’re not done fighting.”

Nina Morrison, senior staff attorney

“While the struggle for LGBT rights has some important differences from innocence work, one thing common to both movements is an emphasis on our clients’ (and our own) humanity and right to fundamental fairness. Most Innocence Project clients — and many criminal defendants generally — were treated as less than human from the moment they were accused of a heinous crime; in different ways, LGBT citizens have been vilified and treated as “deviant” and “other” in the eyes of the state.  A key part of our work is to remind the system that we are all human beings entitled to due process, respect, and dignity.

The Innocence Project has also tried to change policy through individual stories of injustice, much as the LGBT community has done so brilliantly in recent years.  You’d have to be made of stone not to be moved by the sight of an Innocence Project client being reunited with his children after 15 years in prison — just as the story of how the lead plaintiff in the marriage equality case was excluded from his elderly husband’s death certificate moved and outraged so many people.  While there are obvious differences in what we do, I think both movements have had some success in part because we vividly demonstrate the human toll that injustice takes.”

Lyndsey Peck, Cardozo Law School clinic student 

“It’s important to have LGBTQ individuals working at the Innocence Project because wrongful incarceration disproportionately affects marginalized populations, and our presence here shows that we stand with our fellow marginalized communities to end this injustice.”

Paul Cates, director of communications

“The struggles faced by LGBT people and those who have been wrongly convicted are very different, but they both share the need to overcome prejudice. As we celebrate Pride this month, I am grateful that I have had the great fortune to do my small part to both advance LGBT equality and to work toward improving the criminal justice system.”

Jonathan Giron, operations coordinator 

“I’m proud to do innocence work because it allows me to be part of something bigger than myself, to help find hope where you think there is none and to bring a voice to the wrongfully silenced. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Alicia Maule, digital communications manager

“Coming out for me in college had everything to do with me being a resource for someone else who was struggling. How powerful is it for the innocence movement for me and my queer colleagues to be here simply representing and then thinking about the intersectionality of race, class, gender, in wrongful conviction issues? It makes us smarter, better, and more empathetic advocates fighting the injustice of mass incarceration.”

Marguerite Sacerdote, policy analyst

Hayato Watanabe, paralegal

Related: How Four Texan Lesbians, Wrongfully Convicted of Rape, are Still Fighting for Justice