Gender & Sexuality Law Blog

More than 50 legal scholars today strongly urged President Obama to resist calls for an overly broad religious exemption in a proposed executive order prohibiting sexual orientation and/or gender identity discrimination by federal contractors. The effort is being spearheaded by Columbia Law School’s Center for Gender and Sexuality Law, as part of its recently launched […]

My remarks at a recent gathering at UCLA Law School recognizing the 40th anniversary of Roe and the 10th anniversary of Lawrence. Liberty, Equality & Sexual Freedom: A View from 29 Palms Katherine Franke[1] The occasion to reflect on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade[2] and the 10th anniversary of Lawrence v. Texas[3] at […]

Katherine Franke talks to Wisconsin Public Radio for an hour about what we should take from the prominence of gay rights in President Obama’s inauguration speech.  Listen here.

This week the British government introduced a bill into Parliament that would allow same-sex couples to marry.   While the bill may signal progress on the issue of marriage equality in Britain, some details about the bill and the circumstances surrounding it are worth noting: – Britain now has a civil status called “Civil Partnerships” which […]

The essay below written by Professor Katherine Franke appeared in Tikkun magazine in a debate on the meaning of Pinkwashing in Israel/Palestine: I applaud Tikkun’s willingness to provide a forum for the discussion of a complex range of perspectives on LGBT rights in Israel/Palestine. The opinion pieces written by Richard Silverstein and Arthur Slepian, along […]

While this may not, on its face, be about Gender & Sexuality Law, it is most surely about a set of values that make our work much more difficult – both in the law school and in the legal profession more generally. Op-ed originally posted on The National Law Journal, November 21, 2011 issue: A […]

As Columbia students and workers get ready to join the National Student Walkout today in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, my thoughts have obviously been centered around economic injustices lately – whether it’s the arrest of 700 Brooklyn Bridge marchers over the weekend, while bank CEOs who wrecked the economy remain free; or the horrific […]

It’s funny, when I was writing my dissertation many years ago, my adviser said to me: “Katherine, you’re really a libertarian when it comes to gender, aren’t you?”  At the time I resisted the moniker, but is “libertarian” worse than “liberationist”?  Who, on the 4th of July of all days, wouldn’t want to be called […]

This is exactly what I was worried about when I wrote the Op-ed in the New York Times last week.  From today’s Wall Street Journal: Gay Couples Losing Perks Legal Same-Sex Marriage in State Leads Companies to Cut Partner Benefits By JOANN S. LUBLIN And DANA MATTIOLI The legalization of gay marriage in New York […]

From today’s New York Times (and the headline wasn’t my choice, I preferred Marriage: It’s Complicated).  It’s hysterical that the Times is running ads for diamond wedding rings right above the Op-ed. Marriage Is a Mixed Blessing WILL the New York State Legislature ultimately put itself on the right side of history by allowing same-sex […]