Sexual Orientation and the Law: A Research Bibliography Selectively Annotating Legal Literature through 2005 (original) (raw)

Queer Jurisprudence: Course Manual (Melbourne Law School, 2022)

This course encouraged a slant-wise approach to thinking about the topic of queer jurisprudence: not, as a first parsing of the phrase might suggest, a course about the legal regulation of non-heterosexual relations. Instead, we approached queerness as the open mesh of possibilities that become available to us when we transgress the normal, and jurisprudence as a training in lawful conduct that we might acquire from a diversity of sources which may or may not be conventionally considered “legal. Bringing these terms in relation to each other allowed us to explore a range of expressions of law that are playful and subversive.

Legal Protection From Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation: Findings From Litigation

Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2004

Since 1964 with the enactment of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the courts have held that although Title VII prohibits discrimination because of sex, sex has been construed to mean gender, but gender and sexual orientation are different. Traditionally sexual discrimination has been interpreted to protect women in male/female encounters. Thus protection for homosexuals based on sexual orientation has not been covered. However, there are some interesting aspects to the concept of discrimination due to sexual orientation, including defining same-sex harassment as being harassment, equal opportunity harassment, and sexual stereotypes. In addition, how homosexuals may be protected under state laws, unions, company policy, and the constitution is discussed as well as protection for public sector employees. An analysis of 98 litigated cases alleging discrimination based on same sex or sexual orientation harassment led to the development of a logit model predicting future case outcomes based on case characteristics. These are type of harassment, physical contact, type of employees, and whether there was equal opportunity harassment. Implications from the study are that the issues of protection from discrimination are complex and one cannot necessarily assume that this type of discrimination is not protected. Recommendations for more effective managerial actions are provided.