Law Commons^™

Discrimination And Inclusivity: Why Apsa Should Not Meet In New Orleans, Martha Ackelsberg, Mary Lyndon Shanley

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The American Political Science Association (APSA) should move the site of its 2012 Annual Meeting from New Orleans for two reasons: first, because the legal recognition and protection of same-sex unions is an issue of human rights and equal citizenship, and second to fulfill its own long-stated commitment not to go to localities with policies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. As a professional organization, it has a responsibility to ensure that every member of the association enjoys the full benefits of membership and an inclusive environment at meetings

A Quest For Acceptance: The Real Id Act And The Need For Comprehensive Gender Recognition Legislation In The United States, Jason Allen

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This Article maintains that the Real ID Act highlights the need for U.S. federal gender recognition legislation in the mold of the GRA. Part II offers background into the psychology of transgender people, explaining how the medical community views and treats this "condition." Part III illustrates the fundamental value of gender recognition rights and examines the inadequacy of U.S. statutory and case law. This discussion then traces the evolution of the GRA in the United Kingdom as the culmination of a mandate from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Part IV argues that the United States should adopt a …

"Please Write 'E' In This Box" Toward Self-Identification And Recognition Of A Third Gender: Approaches In The United States And India, Jennifer Rellis

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Part I of this Article defines intersexuality and highlights the legal and societal complications that occur when the concept of the fixed male-female gender binary is challenged. Part II describes the unique role of the hijras in India, who are both revered and discriminated against, and suggests that India is beginning to legally recognize a third gender through the grassroots advocacy of the hijras. Part III contrasts the experience of intersexed individuals in the United States by describing the current protocol to deal with the "medical emergency" of the birth of an intersexed child. This section forecasts legal issues facing …

Chaos, Law, And God: The Religious Meanings Of Homosexuality, Jay Michaelson

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This Article argues that the religious meaning of homosexuality cannot be explained merely in terms of homophobia, "church and state," or traditional values versus progressive ones. Rather, the regulation of sexuality has a particular religious meaning: sexuality is a primary site in which religious law is engendered, where the lawfulness of religion meets the chaos beyond it. Whether in Biblical times or today, changing the way sexuality is regulated is a threat to the notion of order itself, as construed by Jewish and Christian religion. Arguments about gay rights, same-sex marriage, and related issues are not merely arguments informed by …

The Evolution Of Same-Sex Marriage In Canada: Lessons The U.S. Can Learn From Their Northern Neighbor Regarding Same-Sex Marriage Rights, Christy M. Glass, Nancy Kubasek

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The broad differences between the United States and Canadian cases raise important questions about the social, political and legal factors that have promoted the extension of marriage rights in Canada while retarding similar efforts in the U.S. This article will compare the recent history of same-sex marriage laws in the United States and Canada. We argue that proponents of same-sex marriage as well as lawmakers could learn important lessons from the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada. Section II develops a framework for comparing the U.S. and Canadian experience with same-sex marriage law. The next section traces Canada's recent …

Same-Sex Marriage And Federalism, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

The increasing willingness of states to recognize same-sex relationships illustrates the central theme of this Symposium: federalism provides states the freedom to experiment with novel solutions to pressing social issues. The development of progressive policies seems to bear out Justice Brandeis' optimistic vision of federalism where "a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." With respect to same-sex relationships, however, state level reform efforts have not been uniformly progressive. To the contrary, the vast majority of these efforts prohibit the …

An Open Letter To The Political Science Community, Daniel R. Pinello

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In 2003, the American Political Science Association (APSA) selected New Orleans as the site for its 2012 annual meeting.

In 2004, 78 percent of Louisiana voters (including 54 percent in Orleans Parish) passed the following amendment to their state constitution:

Marriage in the state of Louisiana shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman. No official or court of the state of Louisiana shall construe this constitution or any state law to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any member of a union other than the union of one man and …

Choices Matter: Human Rights, Economic Solidarity And The 2012 Apsa Meeting, Michael Goodhart

Human Rights & Human Welfare

I believe that because Louisiana’s constitution violates the human rights of many of our colleagues, the American Political Science Association (APSA) should move its 2012 meeting from New Orleans. If it does not do so, I would urge members to boycott (the same applies to the Southern Political Science Association, which meets annually in New Orleans).

Recruiting Sexual Minorities And People With Disabilities To Be Dean, Joan W. Howarth

Seattle University Law Review

This Essay discusses diversity in deaning as it pertains to two identity categories: members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities, and people with disabilities. Each identity is itself fluid and contested, containing such enormous variations as to render the category illusive and often obfuscating. People with visible disabilities face fundamentally different issues than people with hidden disabilities, for example. Pairing sexual orientation and disability risks false analogies, and worse.

10 Years Out Of Step & Out Of Line: Florida’S Statutory Ban Of “Lesbi-Gay Adoption” Violates The Adoption And Safe Families Act Of 1997 (Asfa), Cynthia G. Hawkins-León, Anesha Worthy

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

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 …

Morse V. Frederick's New Perspective On Schools' Basic Educational Missions And The Implications For Gay-Straight Alliance First Amendment Jurisprudence, Jordan Woods

Jordan Blair Woods

The Unjust Exclusion Of Gay Sperm Donors: Litigation Strategies To End Discrimination In The Gene Pool, Luke A. Boso

Luke A. Boso

In May 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a final rule to be published in the Federal Register that would establish eligibility criteria for persons seeking to donate sperm and other human cells and tissues. Concurrently, the FDA issued a draft guidance document that provides recommendations for complying with the requirements, listing men who have had sex with another man in the preceding 5 years (MSMs) as the number one risk factor. The FDA does not, however, make a distinction between MSMs who practice safe sex and those who have unprotected sex, nor does it identify men who …