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Law School As Straight Space, Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen

Fordham Law Review

In honoring Professor Deborah L. Rhode’s commitment to making space for the marginal in legal education and clarifying the “no-problem” problems in our midst, Professor Ballakrishnen’s Essay focuses on one strain of nonnormative experience—that of genderqueer persons—to clarify the ways in which law schools reinforce linear hierarchies of identity and performance. Professor Ballakrishnen catalogues ethnographic student interview data to highlight perspectives of genderqueer law students, the result of which suggests that “normal” professional practices in law school reinforce the rigidity of the gender binary. They conclude by suggesting that paying attention to these student subpopulations is crucial to reform legal …