Issues:Sexuality Law Policy

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

This course will explore how American law and policy has confronted and continues to confront issues of sexuality. Topics will include, but are not limited to, sexual orientation and gender identity. While 2015 brought a major Supreme Court win and marriage rights for same-sex couples, the fight for full LGBTQ equality continues. Debates rage over what the policy goals for the LGBTQ rights movement should be now and how to prioritize them. In addition to addressing the continued discrimination many LGBTQ people experience every day, such as in employment and education, the course will explore some of the current debates, Constitutional and otherwise, around topics such as polyamory, sex work, the First Amendment, LGBTQ family formation, and the intersection of sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. The course will provide a grounding in the contours of current sexuality law and policy, while also delving into some emerging areas that remain ripe for new policy formation. We will also look at the regulatory process and the role that has played in American sexuality policy. Where appropriate, how sexual minority rights have been framed and addressed in some international jurisdictions will be considered to properly place our discussions in a globalized world. The course will be approached with a legal lens, but prior legal education or experience is neither required nor expected.