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Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Law
Chaos, Law, And God: The Religious Meanings Of Homosexuality, Jay Michaelson
Chaos, Law, And God: The Religious Meanings Of Homosexuality, Jay Michaelson
Jay Michaelson
What is the meaning of gay rights in contemporary religious-political discourse? Though some explain homosexuality's disproportionate prominence in terms of homophobia, "church and state," or traditional values versus progressive ones, this article suggests that the legal regulation of sexuality has a far deeper, and more specific, religious meaning: sexuality is a primary site in which religious law is engendered, where the lawfulness of religion meets the chaos beyond it. Arguments about gay rights, same-sex marriage, and related issues are not merely arguments informed by religious values; they are arguments about the nature of religion itself. The article begins by providing …
The Gay Panic Defense, Cynthia Lee
The Gay Panic Defense, Cynthia Lee
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
In this article, I examine the use of gay panic defense strategies in the criminal courtroom. I argue that such strategies are problematic because they reinforce and promote negative stereotypes about gay men as sexual deviants and sexual predators. Gay panic defense strategies are also troubling because they seek to capitalize on unconscious bias in favor of heterosexuality which is prevalent in today's heterocentric society. Most critics of the gay panic defense have proposed that judges or legislatures should bar gay panic arguments from the criminal courtroom. I take a contrary position and argue that banning gay panic arguments from …
The Geronimo Bank Murders: A Gay Tragedy, Joan W. Howarth
The Geronimo Bank Murders: A Gay Tragedy, Joan W. Howarth
Scholarly Works
The Geronimo Bank Murders examines the intersection of homosexuality and capital punishment through the lenses of cultural criticism, queer theory, and legal analysis. The paper's subject is Jay Neill, who was executed in 2002 for murdering four people in a gruesome Geronimo, Oklahoma bank robbery in 1984, and for being gay. Current capital punishment doctrine permits, and perhaps even encourages, such results. The Geronimo Bank Murders recasts Neill's story, privileging homosexuality and gender, and uses that account to make three points, each based in law, culture, and politics. First, as a matter of legal doctrine, recognizing the error in using …