Sexuality and the Law Commons^™

Copyright Law And Pornography, Ann Bartow

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Sex-for-hire is usually illegal, unless it is being filmed. Debates about pornography tread uneasily into legal terrain that implicates freedom of expression under the First Amendment, the specter of censorship, and genuine concerns about the function and role of pornography in persistent gender inequality. It is less common for conversations about pornography to include a discussion of copyright law. Yet copyright law is a powerful tool that operates to protect the financial interests of pornographers. Owners of copyrighted pornography frequently threaten public exposure of an alleged infringer’s consumption habits in order to force a financial settlement. Thus copyright law operates …

Our Bodies, Our (Tax) Selves, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article considers important consequences of the commodification of human reproduction. Anyone who has opened a campus newspaper has seen advertisements seeking to match an infertile couple with a young woman who will “donate” her egg (in return for a fee). Some college-age men earn thousands of dollars through regular visits to a sperm bank. The characterization of human ova and sperm cells as transferrable “property” is the very foundation upon which the entire fertility industry rests. But the law of donative transfers has largely ignored the commercial market for human reproductive material. This Article considers how courts and the …

Creation Stories: Stanley Hauerwas, Same-Sex Marriage, And Narrative In Law And Theology, Charlton C. Copeland

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Politicization Of Judicial Elections And Its Effect On Judicial Independence, Matthew W. Green Jr., Susan J. Becker, Marsha K. Ternus, Camilla B. Taylor

Cleveland State Law Review

This article presents the proceedings of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Symposium, The Politicization of Judicial Elections and Its Effect on Judicial Independence and LGBT Rights, held October 21, 2011. The idea for the conference stemmed from the November 2010 Iowa judicial election, in which three justices were voted out of office as a result of joining a unanimous ruling, Varnum v. Brien, that struck down, on equal protection grounds, a state statute limiting marriage rights to heterosexual couples. The conference addresses whether the backlash that occurred in Iowa after the Varnum decision might undermine judicial independence in jurisdictions where …

A Brief Summary Of Decisions From The Arkansas Supreme Court Affecting Gays And Lesbians, Anthony L. Mcmullen

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

Half of Arkansans believe that sex-sex relationships should not be afforded legal recognition, including recognition in the form of a civil union or domestic partnership. Further, Arkansas is one of thirty states to constitutionally define marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman. Nonetheless, the gay and lesbian civil rights movement has been afforded protection in the courts through Arkansas Supreme Court decisions protecting same sex couples' rights.

Starting in 2002, the Arkansas Supreme Court has provided at least some protection to same sex couples and their families through decisions where the Court could have declined to …

Study Guide For United In Anger: A History Of Act Up, Matt Brim

Open Educational Resources

The United in Anger Study Guide facilitates classroom and activist engagement with Jim Hubbard’s 2012 documentary, United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. The Study Guide contains discussion sections, projects and exercises, and resources for further research about the activism of the New York chapter of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). The Study Guide is a free, interactive, multimedia resource for understanding the legacy of ACT UP, the film’s role in preserving that legacy, and its meaning for viewers' lives.

Sexual Harassment 2.0, Mary Anne Franks

Articles

Sexual harassment is a complex and evolving practice. The rise of sexual discrimination in cyberspace is only one of the most recent and most striking examples of the phenomenon's increasing complexity. Sexual harassment law, however, has not kept pace with this evolution. Discrimination law has not been adequately "updated" to address new and amplified practices of sex discrimination. Its two principal limitations are (1) it treats only sexual harassment that occurs in certain protected settings (e.g. the workplace or school) as actionable and (2) it assumes that both the activity and the resulting harm of sexual harassment occur in the …

Reconfiguring Sex, Gender, And The Law Of Marriage, Deborah Widiss

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article brings together legal, historical, and social science research to analyze how couples allocate income-producing and domestic responsibilities. It develops a framework—what I call the marriage equation—that shows how sex-based classifications, (non-sex-specific) substantive marriage law, and gender norms interrelate to shape these choices. Constitutional decisions in the 1970s ended legal distinctions between the duties of husbands and wives but left largely in place both gender norms and substantive rights within marriage, tax, and benefits law that encourage specialization into breadwinning and caregiving roles. By permitting disaggregation of the marriage equation, the new reality of same-sex marriage can serve as …

Garden Of Truth, Sarah Deer

Faculty Scholarship

On Oct. 27, 2011, a report entitled “Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota” was released in St. Paul, Minn. The report was the culmination of a three-year research project conducted in Minnesota by two nonprofit organizations: the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, a grassroots organization of Native American women that is based in St. Paul and focuses on outreach and awareness for survivors of sexual assault, and Prostitution Research and Education, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco. This unique collaboration between advocates of Native American women and social scientists has produced a …

Comparing Single-Sex And Reformed Coeducation: A Constitutional Analysis, Nancy Chi Cantalupo

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Response: And Baby Makes How Many - Using In Re M.C. To Consider Parentage Of A Child Conceived Through Sexual Intercourse And Born To A Lesbian Couple, Nancy Polikoff

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Unfinished Business: A Discussion Of Remedies For Victims Of Involuntary Dismissal Under Don't Ask, Don't Tell And Its Predecessor, Toward A True Reconciliation, Robert I. Correales

Scholarly Works

By examining another dark chapter in American history-the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II-this Article makes a moral and legal case for a more complete resolution of harms to victims of anti-gay military discrimination. The successful reparations campaign waged by Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II has provided both inspiration and a helpful blueprint for reparation movements worldwide. This article seeks to show that by observing the parallels between these two dark periods, it is clear that DADT's historical chapter cannot be closed until reparations are paid to those who were victimized by the policies …

Trouble In Sin City: Protecting Sexy Workers' Civil Rights, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

While Las Vegas has always been known for its libertarian attitudes toward gambling and sexually provocative shows, after a short, failed attempt during the 1990’s to characterize itself as a family destination, the City has turned up the heat. Las Vegas, which relies increasingly on selling sex appeal to promote its value to the public, has become the number one adult entertainment destination in the United States. There is, however, trouble in paradise. A number of the casino-based clubs (both day and night) have been sued; others have closed due to illegal prostitution; some have paid large fines to the …

Unanswered Questions: Transsexual Parents Lack Equality Under The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection And Civil Union Act, Brittany Francois

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Modern Courts And The Oldest Profession: The Litigious Development Of Legalized Brothels In Ontario And Nevada, Margaret Davis

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

I Do. Is That Okay With You?: A Look At How Most States Are Circumventing The Full Faith And Credit Clause And Equal Protection Clause To Not Recognize Legal Same-Sex Marriages From Other States And Its Effect On Society, Rebecca Hameroff

Florida A & M University Law Review

Due to statutes, bans, and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, states do not have to recognize legal same-sex marriages from sister states that recognize same-sex marriage. This paper examines the denial of the fundamental right to marriage for same-sex couples, the violation of the Full Faith and Credit Clause of Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution by not recognizing same-sex marriages legally performed in other states. It starts by looking at the impact these practices have on same-sex couples and the toll it …

The Lawmaking Family, Noa Ben-Asher

Faculty Publications

Increasingly there are conflicts over families trying to “opt out” of various legal structures, especially public school education. Examples of opting-out conflicts include a father seeking to exempt his son from health education classes; a mother seeking to exempt her daughter from mandatory education about the perils of female sexuality; and a vegetarian student wishing to opt out of in-class frog dissection. The Article shows that, perhaps paradoxically, the right to direct the upbringing of children was more robust before it was constitutionalized by the Supreme Court in Meyer v. Nebraska (1923) and Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925). In …

"I Didn't Agree To Arbitrate That!"-How Courts Determine If Employees' Sexual Assault And Sexual Harassment Claims Fall Within The Scope Of Broad Mandatory Arbitration Clauses, Eric Koplowitz

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Throughout the last few decades, mandatory arbitration clauses have become more prevalent in employment contracts. Mandatory arbitration clauses provide employers with a cheaper and less formal method to resolve disputes with their employees once they occur. Employers who want most or all of their employees' claims subjected to mandatory arbitration will use broad language in the arbitration clauses. Despite the use of broad and seemingly all-encompassing language in broad mandatory arbitration clauses, some employees' claims can escape their reach and proceed to court. This Note will look at how courts determine if employees' sexual assault and sexual harassment claims against …

Cyber Crime Control: Will Websites Ever Be Held Accountable For The Legal Activities They Profit From?, Ashley Ingber

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the evolving legal landscape surrounding the liability of online platforms like Craigslist under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). While Section 230 currently shields Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from civil liability for third-party content, courts are increasingly narrowing its protections, particularly when platforms actively influence or profit from illegal activities. Criminal liability remains a significant exception to Section 230 immunity, and future legal developments may further restrict these protections, balancing free speech with accountability for online platforms.

Ozzie & Harriet Are Perfect Candidates To Adopt, But Ozzie & Harry Are Barred: Boseman V. Jarrell & The Effects Of Prohibition On Second Parent Adoptions, Amanda Von Schmid

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Gender & Sexuality In The Aba Standards On The Treatment Of Prisoners, Margaret Colgate Love, Giovanna Shay

Faculty Scholarship

Over the past three decades, commentators, advocates, and corrections experts have focused increasingly on issues of gender and sexuality in prison. This is due in part to the growing number of women in a generally burgeoning American prison population. It is also attributable to efforts to end custodial sexual abuse and prison sexual violence, which have focused attention on issues relating to women and LGBT prisoners. Also, in part, this heightened attention reflects the influence of growing free-world social movements emphasizing the "intersectionality" of multiple forms of subordination and seeking to secure fair treatment of gay and transgender people.

This …

All Those Like You: Identity Aggression And Student Speech, Ari Ezra Waldman

Articles & Chapters

Online and face-to-face harassment in schools requires a coordinated response from the school, parents, students, and government. In this Article, I address a particular subset of online and face-to-face harassment, or identity-based harassment. Identity-based aggressors highlight a quality intrinsic to someone’s personhood and demean it, deprive it of value, and use it as a weapon. They attack women, racial minorities, religious minorities, and other traditionally victimized groups. And, as such, they attack not only their particular victims but also their victims’ communities. Identity-based aggressors com- mit a constitutional evil not only because their behavior interferes with victims’ access to education, …

Response: The Death Of The Bisexual Saboteur, Naomi Mezey

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Professor Glazer offers us, in Sexual Reorientation, an appealing and intuitive way to deal with the difficulty of bisexual identity, an identity that has always fit uneasily and sometimes quite unhappily in the LGBT rights movement. If the principal problem of bisexuality is its very temporal changeability, its tendency to dissolve into heterosexuality or homosexuality depending on the gender of one's sexual partner, then Glazer's solution is elegant. She proposes that we bifurcate (so to speak) sexual orientation into two subcategories and acknowledge for everyone both a general and a specific orientation. General orientation "is the sex toward which …

The Future Impact Of Same-Sex Marriage: More Questions Than Answers, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Same-sex relationships have already significantly altered family law, by leading to new formal relationship statuses and incorporation of the principle that both of a child’s legal parents can be of the same sex. This essay explores further changes that may lie ahead as same-sex marriage debates increasingly affect both family law and the social meanings of marriage. Marriage as an institution has changed most dramatically because of the cumulative effects of the last half-century of de-gendering family law. Same-sex marriage–and perhaps even more so, the highly visible cultural debate over it–is contributing to this process.

The author argues that the …

Conscientious Objection To Creating Same-Sex Unions: An International Analysis, Bruce Macdougall, Elsje Bonthuys, Kenneth Mck. Norrie, Marjolein Van Den Brink

All Faculty Publications

In jurisdictions that recognize same-sex marriages and unions, the question arises as to the extent to which civic officials who normally preside at such unions can refuse such participation for religious reasons. This paper examines this issue in the context of four jurisdictions: Scotland, Canada, the Netherlands and South Africa. What is striking is how different is the process of reaching a resolution in each jurisdiction, though the actual result might be the same. This difference arises because of the jurisdiction-specific reasons why same-sex marriages and unions are recognized, how they are recognized, the status of the officers who preside …

The Curious Relationship Of Marriage And Freedom, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

Marriage is surely at a crossroad, as the chapters in this volume so richly attest. In fact, marriage may be at more than one crossroad, some pointing toward new, uncharted terrain, others amounting to intersections we have visited before. My principal interest in exploring this dynamic moment in the evolution of the institution of marriage is to better understand why and how today's marriage equality movement for same-sex couples might benefit from lessons learned by African Americans when they too were allowed to marry for the first time in the immediate post–Civil War era. I find it curious that the …

Dating The State: The Moral Hazards Of Winning Gay Rights, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

On August 1, 2009, a masked man dressed in black carrying an automatic weapon stormed into Beit Pazi in Tel Aviv, the home of the Aguda, the National Association of GLBT in Israel. He opened fire on a group of gay and lesbian teenagers who were meeting in the basement for "Bar-Noar," or "Youth Bar," killing two people and wounding at least ten others. This terrible act of violence attracted immediate national and international attention and condemnation. President Simon Peres declared the next day:

[T]he shocking murder carried out in Tel Aviv yesterday against youths and young people is a …

"U" Stands For Underutilization: The U Visa's Vulnerability For Underuse In The Sex Trafficking Context, Erin Bistricer

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The U Visa, established in 2000 under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization, was designed to provide legal status to victims of certain crimes, including sex trafficking, without fear of deportation. However, its implementation has been hindered by significant challenges, including delayed regulations, confusion among applicants, and reliance on law enforcement cooperation, which can be a barrier for traumatized victims. While the U Visa offers more flexibility than the T Visa by covering a broader range of crimes and requiring a lower standard of proof, its effectiveness is limited by factors such as annual caps, inadequate state anti-trafficking laws, …

Where Are They Coming From, Where Are They Going: Demanding Accountability In International Adoption, Elizabeth Long

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note advocates for the United States to exclusively permit international adoptions from countries that have ratified the Hague Adoption Convention (HAC). This approach aims to enhance accountability, prevent human trafficking, and ensure that adoptions are conducted ethically and transparently. The HAC provides a framework that protects the rights of children, birth families, and adoptive parents, addressing the shortcomings of non-HAC adoptions, which often lack sufficient safeguards.

Reproducing Value: How Tax Lax Differentially Values Fertility, Sexuality, And Marriage, Tessa Davis

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

Section 213 of the Internal Revenue Code permits a deduction for an individual's fertility expenses, but it does not do so evenhandedly. This paper focuses on the current discriminatory effects of Section 213 doctrine as it is applied to the deductibility of fertility treatments for single persons and or homosexual couples, as compared to heterosexual, married couples. Traditional economic analysis of the Code fails to explain such discrimination, thus a new approach is required. Utilizing tools from anthropological theory, this paper recognizes and analyzes our tax code-and specifically Section 213-as a cultural artifact and therein challenges the presumed objectivity of …