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U of M Law Library > Research Guides Directory > Sexual Orientation Legal Issues |
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Researching Legal Issues of Sexual OrientationLast Updated 5/2012. Direct feedback on this page to lawlib@umn.edu. Table of Contents
Introduction
Legal issues of sexual orientation arise in a wide variety of topical areas. Development of sexual orientation law accelerated greatly in the second half of the twentieth century. This is a direct result of gay people "coming out," organizing, speaking out, and engaging the legal system mostly through the courts. Therefore, many of the most important legal pronouncements regarding gay people are found in the opinions of courts. [See our guide on Finding Court Cases (Case Law).] Legislation is another source of law affecting the legal status of gay people. Legislation is created at national, state, and local levels. [See our guide on Researching Federal & State Statutes.] Historically, most relevant legislation has been at state and local levels. These statutes and ordinances were aimed at regulating specific sexual behaviors, e.g., sodomy. More recently, there has been legislation that is more affirmative and protective of the rights of gay people, e.g., anti-discrimination laws. More recently, however, even Congress has created relevant, though far less affirmative, legislation. For example, there is the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), "protecting" heterosexual marriage. Prior to beginning research, the researcher should develop a research vocabulary. Terminology can be fairly straightforward in this area, as evidenced by the terms contained in the Library of Congress Subject Headings discussed below. However, the range of legal issues that overlap with the legal issues of sexual orientation is wide and not necessarily predictable. Use a specialized legal dictionary (see bibliography below) to develop effective terminology at the beginning of research. As research progresses, scan sources for new terminology and/or synonymous terms, and incorporate them into your searches. In this regard, and for further understanding the wide range of legal issues which intersect legal issues of sexual orientation, scan the tables of contents from treatises in the bibliography below. Secondary Legal Materials
With the recent growth and development in this area of law, and as it remains a dynamic and rapidly changing area, it is very important to do timely and up-to-date research. Using current legal resources is essential. Legal periodical literature is particularly important, because it very effectively addresses current and changing legal issues better than some of the more static publication alternatives. Secondary legal literature includes law reviews and other legal periodicals, legal treatises, annotations, and a wide variety of other resources. A recent article is likely to identify primary legal materials and to provide relevant analysis and commentary as well. Secondary legal literature is therefore excellent for the researcher's own understanding and interpretation of the primary materials as well as for finding primary sources such as cases and statutes or ordinances. Using Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
The Library of Congress classification system is vast and attempts to organize human knowledge and resources topically. Accordingly, it is how libraries assign call numbers and LCSHs to every title. "K" is the class for law. "KF" is the sub-class for American law. Most of our secondary legal materials relevant to the legal status of gay people (but not necessarily all) are classed in the "KF 4754.5" call number range. Browse. Library of Congress subject headings are assigned to individual titles just as call numbers are. Use them to search for books in library catalogs and for articles in some legal periodical indexes (see below). A list of the LCSHs that have been assigned to relevant titles in our collection can be found at the end of this guide. Finding Books
* Use MNCAT Discovery Catalog- For finding books in the University of Minnesota Libraries.* Use WorldCat (WCAT) Finding Articles
Legal Periodical Indexes:
- National Journal of Sexual Orientation Law. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, 1995-.This is the first on-line law journal in the country and the second devoted exclusively to legal issues affecting lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. Its primary purpose is to disseminate information and ideas about law and sexual orientation in an efficient and timely manner, but without duplicating the recent inclusion of articles on sexual orientation in traditional law reviews. The Journal specializes in four distinct types of works:- reports and studies germane to gay and lesbian legal issues Finding Annotations
The chief source of legal annotations is American Law Reports, Annotations and Cases. Rochester, NY: Lawyers Co-operative Pub. Co., (currently published by West Group) 1919-. Successive series are as follows:A.L.R. Fed. (1969-) -- federal topics Primary Legal Materials
Primary legal literature is that which is the law, and it includes authoritative pronouncements and publications from the three branches of government -- judicial, legislative, and executive or administrative. As mentioned above, gay people in recent decades have engaged the legal system and developed the law of sexual orientation primarily in the courts. Activities in the legislative arena have also been on the rise. Administrative law is an area much less likely to involve legal issues relating to sexual orientation and is therefore not included further. One of the easiest ways to identify, locate, and understand primary materials is through the use of secondary materials. One recent law review article, an annotation, or even a treatise (see the bibliography below) can can do just that; identify and provide citations for key cases and statutes. This is the recommended case finding method for those who are not in need of complete, exhaustive, and authoritative research. In this section, traditional tools for finding primary law are discussed for those who must dig deeper. Finding Cases
See also our guide on Finding Cases) As mentioned, the easiest way to find cases may be to find articles and/or books (see the bibliography below) about the legal topic being researched. Throughout the text and in footnotes, cases and statutes will be cited. Books may also contain a "table of cases" and/or a "table of statutes" just as they contain "tables of contents". Finally, Lesbian/Gay Law Notes (above) provides excellent access to cases. Digests provide a more "traditional" method of finding cases in reporters, and they exist for most jurisdictions, i.e., state(s) and/or federal. Determination of jurisdiction will determine which digest(s) and reporter(s) to use. For further assistance in making this determination, see our guide, Finding Court Cases (Case Law) at: http://library.law.umn.edu/researchguides/caselaw.html. Having located the relevant digest, begin with the volumes labeled Descriptive Word Index to search for cases by keyword and/or topic. References will be to topics and key numbers with each digest's topical volumes arranged alphabetically and broken down into sub-sections by key numbers, each representing particular points of law. Within each key number, short blurbs or annotations describe cases touching on the point of law represented by that particular key number. Based on the facts underpinning one's research, compare those with the facts in the blurbs to find relevant cases. If you have the name of a specific case, use the digest volumes labeled "Table of Cases" to find the citation for that case. If there is a particular statute at issue and you already have a citation for it, simply look it up in the annotated statutory code for that jurisdiction (see our guide on Researching Federal and State Statutes at: http://library.law.umn.edu/researchguides/statutes.html). Cases will be listed in the annotations following the text of the statute itself. They are often listed under the heading "Notes of Decisions" or "Interpretive Notes and Decisions" depending upon publisher. If a relevant statute can be identified, this is one of the best methods for finding all relevant case law. Finding Legislation (Statutes)
See also our guide on Researching Federal & State Statutes As mentioned elsewhere in this guide, the easiest way to find cases may be through secondary literature. Find articles and/or books (see the bibliography below) about the legal topic being researched. Throughout the text and in footnotes, cases and statutes will be cited. Books may also contain a "table of cases" and/or a "table of statutes" just as they contain "tables of contents". If there is a particular statute at issue and you already have a citation for it, simply look it up in the annotated statutory code for that jurisdiction (see our guide on Researching Federal and State Statutes at: http://library.law.umn.edu/researchguides/statutes.html). If you do not already have a citation, there are more traditional methods of finding statutes. Statutory codes for all American jurisdictions, both federal and state(s), contain comprehensive topical indexes. They are usually located at the end of these multi-volume sets. Use relevant terms from your research vocabulary in the index. Codes contain a variety of tables, most of which are beyond the scope of this guide. However, among the tables in most codes is one called the "popular name table" or "table of popular names." If you know the popular name of a statute, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Minnesota Human Rights Act, finding it in the popular name table will provide its citation and where to find it within the statutory code. GLBT Legal Organizations & Associations
Minnesota: OutFront Minnesota National: An extensive listing of GLBT organizations and associations many of which deal with legal issues is at: http://www.qrd.org/qrd/orgs/. Selective Bibliography
Abramson, Paul R. et. al. (editors). Sexual Rights in America: The Ninth Amendment and the Pursuit of Happiness. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2003. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF9325 .A93 2003. Achtenberg, Roberta (editor). Sexual Orientation and the Law. New York, NY: Clark Boardman Co., 1985-. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5 .S48 1985. The first comprehensive legal treatise on sexual orientation issues. Anderson, Ellen Ann. Out of the Closets and Into the Courts: Legal Opportunity Structure and Gay Rights Litigation. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2005. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call Number: KF4754.5 .A96 2005. Ayres, Ian and Jennifer Gerarda Brown. Straightforward: How to Mobilize Heterosexual Support for Gay Rights. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. Location: Law Library Second Floor. Call Number: HQ76.8 .U5 A97 2005. Bamforth, Nicholas (editor). Sex Rights: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 2002. Oxford; New York, NY; Oxford University Press, 2005. Location: Law Library Second Floor. Call Number: HQ1236 .S49x 2005. Boele-Woelki and Angelika Fuchs (editors). Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Couples in Europe. Antwerpen; New York: Intersentia; Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers, 2003. Location: Law Library Fourth Floor. KJC1159 .L44x 2003. Boschenek, Michael. Hatred in the Hallways: Violence and Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students in U.S. Schools. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch, 2001. Location: Law Library Fourth Floor. Call number: LC212.82 .B67x 2001. Chauncey, George. Why Marriage?: The History Shaping Today's Debate Over Gay Equality. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2004. Location: Law Library Second Floor. Call Number: HQ76.8 .U5 C43 2004. Curry, Hayden and Frederick Hertz. A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples. 15th. ed. Berkeley, CA: Nolo Press, 2010. Eskridge, William N. Gaylaw: Challenging the Apartheid of the Closet. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: Reserve KF4754.5 .E84 1999. Dupuis, Martin. Same-Sex Marriage, Legal Mobilization, & the Politics of Rights. New York: Peter Lang, 2002. Location: Law Library Second Floor. Call number: HQ1034 .U5 D86 2002. Gerstmann, Evan. The Constitutional Underclass: Gays, Lesbians, and the Failure of Class-Based Equal Protection. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Location: Law Libary Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5 .G47 1999. Gerstmann, Evan. Same Sex Marriage and the Constitution. Cambridge; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Location: Law Library Plaza Level. Call Number: KF539 .G47 2004. Goldberg-Hiller, Jonathan. The Limits to Union: Same-Sex Marriage and the Politics of Civil Rights. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002. Location: Law Library Second Floor. Call number: HQ1034 .U5 G65 2002. Gregory, Raymond F. Unwelcome and Unlawful: Sexual Harassment in the American Workplace. 1st. ed. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call Number: KF3467 .G74 2004. Halley, Janet E. Don't: A Reader's Guide to the Military's Anti-Gay Policy. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999. Location: Law Library Fourth Floor. Call number: UB418 .G38 H35 1999. Harvard Law Review. Sexual Orientation and the Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5 .S492 1990. Hirsch, H.N. The Future of Gay Rights in America. New York: Routledge, 2005. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call Number: KF4754.5 .F88 2005. Hunter, Nan D., et. al. The Rights of Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, and Transgender People: the Authoritative ACLU Guide to a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender Person's Rights. 4th ed. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5 .Z9 H86 2004. Keen, Lisa and Susan B. Goldberg. Strangers to the Law: Gay People on Trial. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF228 .E94 K44 1998. Knauer, Nancy J. Gay and Lesbian Elders: History, Law and Identity Politics. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub., 2010 Call number: KF4754.5 K59x 2011. Knutson, Donald C. (editor). Homosexuality and the Law: a Special Double Issue of the Journal of Homosexuality (fall 1979-winter 1980), volume 5, nos. 1 and 2. New York, NY: Haworth Press, 1980. Koppelman, Andrew. The Gay Rights Question in Contemporary American Law. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2002. Levy, Sydney (ed.) Asylum Based on Sexual Orientation: A Resource Guide. San Francisco, CA: International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, 1996. Location: Law Library Reserve. Call number: K3230 .R45 A89x 1996. MacKinnon, Catharine A. Sex Equality. Lesbian and Gay Rights. New York, NY: Foundation Press, 2003. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5 .M33x 2003. Mello, Michael. Legalizing Gay Marriage. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2004. Location: Law Library Second Floor. Call Number: HQ1034 .U5 M45 2004. Minnesota State Bar Association, Continuing Legal Education. Elimination of Bias on the Basis of Sexual Orientation. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Continuing Legal Education, 2003. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call Number: KF209 .M54x no. 67. Moats, David. Civil Wars: A Battle For Gay Marriage. 1st. ed. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2004. Location: Law Library Second Floor. Call Number: HQ1034 .U5 M62 2004. Mohr, Richard D. The Long Arc of Justice: Lesbian and Gay Marriage, Equality, and Rights. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2005. Location: Law Library Second Floor. Call Number: HQ76.3 .U5 M642 2005. Murdoch, Joyce and Deb Price. Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians v. the Supreme Court. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2001. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5 .M87x 2001. Pierceson, Jason. Courts, Liberalism, and Rights: Gay Law and Politics in the United States and Canada. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2005. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call Number: KF4753.5 .P54 2005. Pinello, Daniel R. Gay Rights and American Law. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call Number: KF4754.5 P56 2003. Richards, David A. J. The Case for Gay Rights: From Bowers to Lawrence and Beyond. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 2005. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call Number: KF4754.5 .R525 2005. Richards, David A. J. Women, Gays, and the Constitution: the Grounds for Feminism and Gay Rights in Culture and Law. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5 .R53 1998. Robson, Ruthann. Martin Duberman (general editor). Gay Men, Lesbians, and the Law. New York, NY: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995?. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5.Z9 R63 1995. Robson, Ruthann. Lesbian (Out)law: Survival Under the Rule of Law. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1992. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5 .R63 1992. Robson, Ruthann. Sappho Goes to Law School: Fragments in Lesbian Legal Theory. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1998. Location: Law Library Third Floor. Call number: K349 .R63 1998. Rollins, Joe Neil. AIDS and the Sexuality of Law: Ironic Jurisprudence. 1st Palgrave Macmillan ed. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call Number: KF3803 .A54 R65 2004. Ronner, Amy D. Homophobia and the Law. 1st. ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2005. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call Number: KF4754.5 .R66 2005. Rubenstein, William B. Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Law. 1st ed. New York, NY: New Press: 1993. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5.A7 L48 1993. Stewart, Chuck. Homosexuality and the Law: a Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001. Location: Law Library Plaza. Call number: KF4754.5.A68 S74 2001. Wardle, Lynn D. et. al. (editors). Marriage and Same-Sex Unions: A Debate. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003. Location: Law Library Second Floor. Call Number: HQ1034 .U5 M37 2003. Library of Congress Subject Headings
Civil rights -- United States. End Notes
1. Law & Sexuality: A Review of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Legal Issues; at http://www.law.tulane.edu/tlsjournals/tlas/index.aspx (last visited 5/12/2008). (Return)
2. The National Journal of Sexual Orientation Law, available at http://www.ibiblio.org/gaylaw/ (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
3. Lesbian/Gay Law Notes, hardcopy at Law Library (KF4754.5.A15 L47) and online via MNCAT Discovery. (Return)
4. Id at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/search.html (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
5. OutFront Minnesota at http://www.outfront.org/aboutus (last visited 5/11/2009). (Return)
6. Introduction to Minnesota Lavender Bar Association at http://www.mnlavbar.org (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
7. American Civil Liberties Union, Lesbian & Gay Rights at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/index.html (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
8. Amnesty International USA, OUTfront! Human Rights and Sexual Identity at http://www.amnestyusa.org/outfront/ (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
9. Human Rights Campaign, What We Do: An Overview, The Human Rights Campaign & The Human Rights Campaign Foundation: Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equal Rights at http://www.hrc.org/about_us/what_we_do.asp (last visited 5/12/2008). (Return)
10. Id at http://www.hrc.org/about_us/what_we_do.asp (last visited 5/12/2007). (Return)
11. About Lambda Legal at http://www.lambdalegal.org/about-us/ (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
12. About NCLR at http://www.nclrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_overview (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
13. Id at http://www.nclrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_overview (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
14. About NGLTF at http://www.thetaskforce.org/about_us/ (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
15. National Lesbian & Gay Law Association at http://www.nlgla.org/ (last visited 5/25/2007). (Return)
16. About SLDN at http://www.sldn.org/templates/index.html (last visited 5/12/2007). (Return) Links verified 4/16/2009 |
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