The Remarkable Rise of Transgender Rights by
"While medical identification and treatment of gender dysphoria have existed for decades, the development of transgender as a "collective political identity" is a recent construct. Over the past twenty-five years, the transgender movement has gained statutory nondiscrimination protections at the state and local levels, hate crimes protections in a number of states, inclusion in a federal law against hate crimes, legal victories in the courts, and increasingly favorable policies in bureaucracies at all levels. It has achieved these victories despite the relatively small number of trans people and despite the widespread discrimination, poverty, and violence experienced by many in the transgender community. This is a remarkable achievement in a political system where public policy often favors those with important resources that the transgender community lacks: access, money, and voters. The Remarkable Rise of Transgender Rights explains the growth of the transgender rights movement despite its marginalized status within the current political opportunity structure"--Publisher's website
Queering International Law by 
Law, Politics and the Gender Binary by 
The Boundaries of Desire by
"The act of reproduction, and all of its variants, have been practiced in roughly the same ways since the beginning, but our ideas about the meaning and consequences of sex are in constant flux. At any given point in time, some forms of sex have been encouraged, while others have been punished without mercy. Jump forward or backward a century, or cross a border, and the harmless fun of one society becomes the gravest crime in another. Beginning at the point when courts guarded the sanctity of the "family home" by permitting men to rape their wives, continuing on through the "sexual revolution," a period that transformed traditional notions of childhood and marriage, and extending into the present day (where debates surrounding gay marriage, sex trafficking, and sex on the internet are part of our daily lives), Berkowitz explores the ways nearly every aspect of Western sexual morality has been turned on its head, with the law always one or two steps behind. By focusing on the experiences of real people who played central roles in the formation of our sexual rights, Berkowitz adds a compelling human element to what might otherwise be faceless legal battles-ultimately arguing that compassion for others is always preferable to sanctimonious condemnation, and that questions about morals and sexual laws are too complicated and volatile to resolve through simple, catch-all solutions. "-- Provided by publisher
Legal Path Dependence and the Long Arm of the Religious State by
Bringing together theoretical perspectives from both comparative politics and public law, this book examines the reasons why certain countries criminalize same-sex activities while others have carved into law the requirement that sexual minority communities be protected. The authors break new ground by using cross-national yearly data over decades?focusing on sodomy laws, death penalty provisions for same-sex sexual relations, and sexual discrimination practices - to develop a Gay Rights Index comparing treatment of such groups in various parts of the world. The book includes legal and large-N analyses, historical examples, and case studies underscoring important changes and key trends during the last several decades. Also highlighted are the significant human rights violations still being committed in various parts of the world against sexual minorities, and the continuing role religion plays
