Gender & Sexuality Law Blog

Cross-posted to Medium. In a significant gender equality ruling, the Supreme Court today struck down a federal immigration law that made it harder for fathers than mothers to pass their U.S. citizenship on to their children. Current immigration law discriminates between citizen fathers and citizen mothers whose children are born abroad. The Court recognized the […]

Law Professors Urge New York’s High Court to Protect Functional Parent-Child Relationships Columbia Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic Submits Statewide Amicus Brief on Behalf of 45 Family Law Scholars from All 15 Law Schools New York, February 9, 2016 – Professors from every one of New York’s 15 law schools are urging the state’s highest […]

Suzanne B. Goldberg is a professor at Columbia Law School. (cross-posted from Scotusblog) Amazement mixed with anxiety and cautious optimism. That’s how I felt nearly twenty years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert. in Romer v. Evans, a case in which I was co-counsel for Lambda Legal. In that moment, it was hard […]

            Because the news media is awash in legal analysis of the Defense of Marriage Act oral arguments earlier today, this blog post, like yesterday’s, offers a more personal view of the day at the Supreme Court.  For a more in-depth take on the arguments, please see my post, “DOMA’s Defenses Self-Destruct”. March 28, 2013 […]

Since the news media is saturated with analysis of the Court’s arguments in today’s Proposition 8 case, this blog post offers a more personal view of the proceedings: I dashed down from my hotel room at 6:10 a.m. to catch a predawn ride with colleagues over to the Supreme Court.  Even at that hour, First […]

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 […]

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 […]

What new politics and ethical imperatives emerge when the rights of lesbian and gay people begin to gain traction, and when the state becomes a partner in defending those newly-won rights? In Dating the State: The Moral Hazards of Winning Gay Rights, just published by the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, I offer a critical […]

The guy who has been the voice and puppeteer for Elmo, Kevin Clash, resigned today from Sesame Workshop on account of recent accusations that he had sex with under age boys.  Maybe he did it, maybe he didn’t – we don’t know yet.  But Sesame Workshop wanted him out as we head into the holiday […]

As many now know, CIA Director and retired four-star Army General David Petraeus has resigned his post at the CIA on account of newly emerging information that he had what the media calls an “extra-marital” affair with Paula Broadwell, who is also married.  Broadwell is the author of the flattering Petraeus biography All In: The […]