Consulting legal secondary sources is one of the best ways to begin your research on LGBTQ+ law. This page provides selected lists of relevant secondary sources for researching LGBTQ+ law. This page highlights general resources for LGBTQ+ law.
Banning Transgender Conversion Practices: A Legal and Policy Analysis, Florence Ashley. This texts examines laws banning transgender conversion. Available online.
Feminist and Queer Legal Theory : Intimate Encounters, Uncomfortable Conversations. Ed. Martha Albertson Fineman, Jack E. Jackson, Adam P. Romero. This book brings together voices in feminist and queer theory to cover interrelated issues such as gender, identity, intimacy, and privacy. The authors engage in a rigorous exploration of the legal, political, social and cultural implications of their theoretical approaches to these subject. Available in print and online.
The First Amendment and LGBT Equality: A Contentious History. Carlos A. Ball. This text examines the crucial role played by the First Amendment in the first few decades of the gay rights movement, and contrasts that with today's conservative arguments using the First Amendment to defend religious liberty. Available in print.
Gay Priori: A Queer Critical Legal Studies Approach to Law Reform. Libby Adler. Adler offers a comprehensive critique of the mainstream LGBT legal agenda in the United States, showing how LGBT equal rights discourse drives legal advocates toward a narrow array of reform objectives that do little to help the lives of the most marginalized members of the LGBT community. Available online.
Gay Rights vs. Religious Liberty?: The Unnecessary Conflict. Andrew Koppelman. This text examines the basis of antidiscrimination law in the LGBTQ+ context, including the complex idea of dignitary harm. Available in print and online.
Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Workplace: A Practical Guide. Ed. Michelle Duffy et al. This work covers major topics in LGBTQ+ employment discrimination law. Available online.
Judging the Boy Scouts of America: Gay Rights, Freedom of Association, and the Dale Case. Richard J. Ellis. This text tracks Boys Scouts of America v. Dale from its initial filing in New Jersey through the final decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to examining the legal issues at stake, including the effect of the Supreme Court's ruling on the law of free association, Ellis also describes Dale's personal journey and its intersection with an evolving gay rights movement. Available in print.
A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples, Frederick Hertz and Emily Doskow. Part of the NOLO series, this guide offers practical advice for many aspects of life for lesbian and gay couples, including family law and property law. Available in print, and a new edition is released every few years.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Family Law. Courtney G. Joslin et al. This treatise offers coverage of major family law legal issues like adoption, custody and visitation, assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and marriage. Available online.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans People and the Criminal Justice System. Charlotte Knight et al. This book explores the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) communities as victims, offenders and staff within the criminal justice system. Available in print.
Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnerships, and Civil Unions, Frederick Hertz and Emily Doskow. Part of the NOLO series, this text offers practical guidance on same-sex marriage, domestic partnerships, and civil unions. Available in print.
Out and About: The LBGT Experience in the Legal Profession. Published by the American Bar Association. This text addresses the experience of LGBT attorneys, academics, and jurists in the legal profession. Available in print.
Religious Freedom, LGBT Rights, and the Prospects for Common Ground by William N. Eskridge Jr (Editor); Robin Fretwell Wilson (Editor)
Research Handbook on Gender, Sexuality, and the Law. Chris Asford et al. The Research Handbook explores not only current debates in the area of gender, sexuality and the law but also points the way for future socio-legal research and scholarship. Available in print.
Same-Sex Relationships, Law and Social Change. Ed. Frances Hamilton and Guido Noto La Diega. This edited collection provides a forum for rigorous analysis of the necessity for both legal and social change with regard to regulation of same-sex relationships and rainbow families, the status of civil partnership as a concept and the lived reality of equality for LGBTQ+ persons. Available online.
Sexual Orientation and the Law, Karen B. Moulding et al. This text contains extensive coverage of the full range of legal issues facing lesbian and gay clients, offering both discussion of the relevant laws and legal theories as well as sample agreements, practice pointers, and forms. Available online.
Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and International Human Rights Law. Ed. Priyamvada Tarnell. This practitioners guide offers an overview of LGBTQ+ issues in international law. Available online.
Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and the Law in a Nutshell, Ruth Colker. This entry in the popular Nutshell series provides a brief overview of major topics and primary law. Available in print and online, though editions may vary.
Sexual Orientation, Gender Identities, and the Law: A Research Bibliography, 2006-2016. Ed. Dana Neacs̜u, David Brian Holt, et al. This volume provides a bibliometric analysis of legal scholarship to evaluate scholarly trends, patterns, and the development of major themes and voices. Available online.
Transgender Persons and the Law. Ally Windsor Howell. This text covers major legal issues like identification documents, public facilities, housing, military service, family law, education, and more. Available in print and online.
Transgender Rights: From Obama to Trump. Susan Gluck Mezey. This book examines the transgender community's struggle for equality over the last decade, comparing the Obama and Trump administrations' stance on transgender rights policies. Available in print.
