06/27/2025
At the invitation of Jennifer Neitzel, Zara Shea, Notary Public and founder of the LGBTQ Notary Association, explores the transformative power of true impartiality in professional services, She shows how signing a document should never become a struggle for recognition, yet many LGBTQ+ individuals, especially transgender, gender non-binary, and intersex clients, encounter microaggressions, misgendering, or outright refusals when their legal documents don’t reflect their identities, Impartiality, Zara argues, is not indifference but an active commitment to respect names, pronouns, and legal validity without judgment.
The article broadens its vision beyond LGBTQ+ inclusion, highlighting how true impartiality also benefits people of various faith backgrounds, diverse family structures, formerly incarcerated individuals, cannabis-friendly clients, hoarders, and anyone who might make us uncomfortable, It underscores the critical role notaries play as gatekeepers of access and the necessity of conflict resolution strategies, bias education, and ongoing unlearning to uphold professional integrity.
By introducing the Notarial Impartiality Standard Certification and offering tangible membership perks, like Lifetime Legacy Vaults, the LGBTQ Notary Association equips professionals with practical tools to honor constitutional standards of fairness, secularity, and dignity, Readers are invited to join the 2025 membership intake or add their names to the certification waitlist, embracing an unwavering stance for equality in every stamp, all year round.
Every person deserves to be seen. To be respected. To be served with dignity.That shouldn’t be a controversial statement, and yet, in far too many professional settings, members of the LGBTQ+ community are still being met with hesitation, bias, or outright discrimination. That is unacceptable. As ...
