The College of Law Library is celebrating Pride Month! Observed during the month of June, Pride Month commemorates the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in June 1969 where patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York City fought back against unjust police harassment. The first Pride parades were held a year later, as a call-to-action surrounding various issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community, and a remembrance of the events that took place at the Stonewall Inn. In celebration of Pride, the College of Law Library is putting up a display of books from our shelves relating to LGBTQ+ issues and experience in the United States. The display can be found next to the Reference desk, and the books included are listed below with brief descriptions. Feel free to view the display and check any of the books out to read for yourself!

To learn more about the history of Pride, see this article: What is Pride Month? A Short History of Pride | Them

Books on Display:

Out and About: The LGBT Experience in the Legal Profession by the American Bar Association

This book is a collection of essays from the perspective of members of the legal profession who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender. Through their varying experiences, readers can get insight into how LGBTQ+ lawyers, jurists, and other legal professionals navigate their experience in the field and how their diverse identities impact that experience.

Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law, and Fascination in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco by Clare Sears

“In 1863, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors passed a law that criminalized a person’s appearing in public in ‘a dress not belonging to his or her sex.’ Adopted as part of a broader anti-indecency campaign, the cross-dressing law became a flexible tool for policing multiple gender transgressions, facilitating over one hundred arrests before the century’s end. Over forty U.S. cities passed similar laws during this time, yet little is known about their emergence, operations, or effects.” -from book jacket.

This book argues that rather than policing normative gender practices, these laws actually created them by codifying definitions of gender into law.

Why Can’t Sharon Kowalski Come Home? by Julie Andrzejewski and Karen Thompson

“Five years ago, Sharon Kowalski was brain-damaged in an automobile accident. A court battle ensued between her family and her lover, Karen Thompson, whose attempt to file for guardianship and subsequent appeals were thwarted despite conclusive evidence as to the nature of the women’s relationship. The book demonstrates that the courts ignored affidavits by therapists who witnessed Thompson’s determination in rehabilitating Kowalski, yet allowed into evidence one doctor’s out-of-court deposition asserting that the patient would be exposed ‘to a high risk of sexual abuse’ if Thompson were allowed to visit. Chronicling Thompson’s uphill struggle against the sexism and homophobia that permeate this country’s institutions, this controversial work reveals one woman’s personal journey from closeted lesbian to feminist activist while reconciling her Christian beliefs with her own sexuality. This is an important book told with candor and warmth, with major implications into the legal rights of disabled persons and lesbians and gay men. Included here are forms and instructions to create a durable power of attorney. The coauthors are professors at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.” –Publisher’s Weekly

Queering Reproductive Justice by Candace Bond-Theriault

“The futures of reproductive justice and LGBTQIA+ liberation are intimately connected. Both movements were born out of the desire to love and build families of our choosing–when and how we decide. Both movements are rooted in broader social justice liberationist traditions that center the needs of Black and brown communities, the LGBTQIA+ community, gender-nonconforming folks, femmes, poor folks, parents, and all those who have been forced to the margins of society. Taking as its starting point the idea that we all have the human right to bodily autonomy, to sexual health and pleasure, and to exercise these rights with dignity, Queering Reproductive Justice sets out to re-envision the seemingly disparate strands of the reproductive justice and LGBTQIA+ movements and offer an invitation to reimagine these movements as one integrated vision of freedom for the future.” -provided by the publisher

The Politicization of Trans Identity: An Analysis of Backlash, Scapegoating, and Dog-Whistling from Obergefell to Bostock by Loren Cannon

“The politicization of trans identity—also affecting gender non-binary and gender non-conforming persons—is a form of backlash in response to the Obergefell Supreme Court ruling, which legalized same-sex marriage and increased LGBTQ equality. The Politicization of Trans Identity: An Analysis of Backlash, Scapegoating, and Dog-Whistling from Obergefell to Bostock provides a moral and conceptual analysis of this politicization and a discussion of the notions of backlash, scapegoating, dog-whistling, and virtue signaling in relation to this timely issue.” -from book jacket

Banning Transgender Conversion Practices: A Legal and Policy Analysis by Florence Ashley

“Survivors of conversion practices–interventions meant to stop gender transition–have likened these to torture. In the last decade, bans on these deeply unethical and harmful processes have proliferated, and governments across the world are considering following suit. Banning Transgender Conversion Practices considers pivotal questions for anyone studying or working to prevent these harmful interventions. What is the scope of the bans? How do they differ across jurisdictions? What are the advantages and disadvantages of legislative approaches to regulating trans conversion therapy? How can we improve these prohibitions? Florence Ashley answers these questions and demonstrates the need for affirmative health care cultures and detailed laws that clearly communicate which practices are banned. Banning Transgender Conversion Practices centers trans realities to rethink and push forward the legal regulation of conversion therapy, culminating in a carefully annotated model law that offers detailed guidance for legislatures and policymakers.”-provided by the publisher