A 1998 graduate of Rutgers University Law School, Mt. Airy resident Tiffany Palmer started the firm of Jerner & Palmer in 2003 in Germantown with a friend, Benjamin Jerner. Tiffany said. “We decided to form a firm that focused on representing LGBT clients.”[/caption]

by Tiffany Palmer

Even though there have been great advances for LGBT equality in recent years, many gay and transgender Americans still live as outsiders in their own communities. Fortunately, my daughter’s experience as the child of a gay couple raised in the City of Philadelphia, in the welcoming and diverse neighborhood of Mt. Airy, has been positive.

She is proud to have two moms, and she’s very comfortable talking about that with almost anyone. This was not my experience as a girl growing up in Utah in the 1980s. As a child, I was fortunate to find a safe space where I could be myself and learn values of inclusion. For me, that place was Girl Scouts.

What Girl Scouts provided for me was a foundation built on inclusion and a long-standing commitment to diversity. It challenged me to be honest and fair, to learn from setbacks and to make my community a better place.

I started my Girl Scout journey as a Brownie in second grade, but I really got excited about it as a Junior and a Cadette. My mom was our troop leader, and she organized countless big-adventure trips, such as cross-country skiing, camping, horseback riding, whitewater river rafting and hiking. I attended Girl Scout summer camps and later volunteered as an assistant leader for my sister’s troop.

As a Girl Scout, I was empowered to speak up for myself and others. I learned about Girl Scouts who were activists and disrupters, and I had a chance to see women in leadership roles — all of which heavily influenced my own career path as an attorney who represents and advocates for LGBT civil rights.

From a young age, my experience in girl-focused, girl-led programs provided me with a level of confidence that instinctively drew me to leadership positions as an adult. Whether serving as the legal director of an LGBT civil rights group or serving as the fundraising chair of a nonprofit for my daughter’s public school, Girl Scouts helped instill in me a lifetime of leadership.

Today, I give back to the organization that gave so much to me by serving as a co-leader of my daughter’s troop. I’m proud that my troop reflects the diversity of our neighborhood. We have girls who range in age from 8 to 13. Girls of different religions, races and ethnicities. Girls who go to public school and girls who go to private school and parochial school. Girls who identify as LGBT and girls who have LGBT parents.

In my line of work, I spend a lot of time trying to usher civil rights laws into the 21st century, ensuring they reflect all Americans. I feel extremely lucky to have benefitted from the Girl Scouts leadership experience, and I’m proud to be part of an organization that remains authentically inclusive and deeply relevant for today’s families.

Mt. Airy resident Tiffany L. Palmer is a partner and founding member of Jerner & Palmer, P.C., in Germantown, whose practice is focused on family formation through adoption and assisted reproduction law as well as litigation involving legal parentage issues. To learn more about joining, donating or volunteering with Girl Scouts in your community, visit Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania at www.gsep.org