The LGBTQ Thread

[kates]

Hey all, is anyone looking at schools to *study* LGBT issues, like sexuality and gender law? I've been researching the number of classes, clinics, externships, and journals related to sexuality/gender, but I'd love to hear what other people are coming up with. So far my strong ones are Michigan, Georgetown, Cornell, UVA, American, Cardozo, Temple, and Rutgers-Camden. Deloggio says Georgetown spent ten years in court trying to prevent a gay & les group from forming, but it does seem academically strong in queer issues, so I don't know...

Anybody else hunting up a career at Lambda Legal?

[Miss P]

Hey all, is anyone looking at schools to *study* LGBT issues, like sexuality and gender law? I've been researching the number of classes, clinics, externships, and journals related to sexuality/gender, but I'd love to hear what other people are coming up with. So far Columbia and NYU are my dreamy dream schools. Other strong ones are Michigan, Georgetown, Cardozo, Temple, and Rutgers-Camden. Deloggio says Georgetown spent ten years in court trying to prevent a gay & les group from forming, but it does seem academically strong in queer issues, so I don't know...

Anybody else hunting up a career at Lambda Legal?

Since you mention Cardozo --
I spent some time talking to Ed Stein when I was trying to make my decision, and he was really helpful and supportive.  I think he'd be a great professor/mentor type, and some of his work is very interesting. 

[butter tart]

Hey all, is anyone looking at schools to *study* LGBT issues, like sexuality and gender law? I've been researching the number of classes, clinics, externships, and journals related to sexuality/gender, but I'd love to hear what other people are coming up with. So far Columbia and NYU are my dreamy dream schools. Other strong ones are Michigan, Georgetown, Cardozo, Temple, and Rutgers-Camden. Deloggio says Georgetown spent ten years in court trying to prevent a gay & les group from forming, but it does seem academically strong in queer issues, so I don't know...

Anybody else hunting up a career at Lambda Legal?

Lambda Legal or the ACLU all the way, baby!!! My dream school is definitely Michigan but I don't know if I have the numbers to get in. Hopefully I'll get a bump for being both LGBT and in-state, but I doubt it.     As you said, Michigan has a great LGBT Law practice area in its public interest law program.  I live in Michigan and the only problem is that the state is somewhat hostile towards LGBT people (Ann Arbor is definitely not though!!!)  But that is what makes me want to pursue LGBT law, so it is definitely a motivator!!!

[bridget]

I'm interested in public interest work more broadly, but working for Lambda Legal would definitely be cool.  I'm just afraid to limit myself now before I've even started law school.

[butter tart]

I'm interested in public interest work more broadly, but working for Lambda Legal would definitely be cool.  I'm just afraid to limit myself now before I've even started law school.

I know what you mean.  I'm very aware that my interests are bound to change a bit which is why I'm sticking to a broad legal education while taking a few classes in my area of interest.  I just hope my interests don't change too much though!!!

[kates]

Yaaay I'm so happy to get these responses! I've been feeling like the only one!

Miss P: Ditto about Ed Stein! I emailed one of the co-chairs of Outlaw at Cardozo, and he said Stein's class was tres popular. What other schools did you look at? My problem with Cardozo is that there is a "feminist jurisprudence" class and a "women and the law" class listed online, but neither of them show up on the class list in their brochure. My source also seemed to know nothing about feminism classes. That leaves me with just the one "sexual orientation, gender & the law" class! Bummer!

[kates]

I'll post my list of schools with student-edited journals on gender or women & the law, because it's a key factor in my decision-making, and it might be for others. Usually if it has either women or gender in the title they're addressing LGBT topics too. I know Cardozo's having a special intersex issue this spring! Rad! The *only* school with a sexual orientation-specific journal is Tulane.

American
Berkely
Buffalo
Cardozo
Columbia
Duke
Georgetown
Harvard
Hastings
Iowa
Maryland
Michigan
Rutgers
Texas
UCLA
Villanova
W & M
Wisconson
Yale

Comments/updates welcome!

[butter tart]

I'll post my list of schools with student-edited journals on gender or women & the law, because it's a key factor in my decision-making, and it might be for others. Usually if it has either women or gender in the title they're addressing LGBT topics too. I know Cardozo's having a special intersex issue this spring! Rad! The *only* school with a sexual orientation-specific journal is Tulane.

American
Berkely
Buffalo
Cardozo
Columbia
Duke
Georgetown
Harvard
Hastings
Iowa
Maryland
Michigan
Rutgers
Texas
UCLA
Villanova
W & M
Wisconson
Yale

Comments/updates welcome!

Michigan State has a "Journal of Gender Law".

[Miss P]

Yaaay I'm so happy to get these responses! I've been feeling like the only one!

Miss P: Ditto about Ed Stein! I emailed one of the co-chairs of Outlaw at Cardozo, and he said Stein's class was tres popular. What other schools did you look at? My problem with Cardozo is that there is a "feminist jurisprudence" class and a "women and the law" class listed online, but neither of them show up on the class list in their brochure. My source also seemed to know nothing about feminism classes. That leaves me with just the one "sexual orientation, gender & the law" class! Bummer!

I unfortunately didn't have many places to consider because of my remarkably bad undergraduate record.  But I am at Brooklyn (a school I chose entirely based on financial inducements), and Cardozo was the other place I visited and hung out.  I enjoy Brooklyn, and I think it wouldn't be a bad place to do LGBT law stuff either.  Nan Hunter is fantastic and there's a supportive administration and a fairly active Outlaws group.

I'm actually not planning to do gaylaw -- I want to be a public defender -- and my interest is mostly an intellectual holdout of my interest in queer theory more generally.  But I do think that Cardozo is probably a better place to study gender and sexuality than it is to be queer, based on my totally partial take on campus life.  This is something you should press the Outlaws to be really frank with you about if you are seriously considering going there. 

[kates]

Sweet sweet queer theory! Can you elaborate about why it wouldn't be so great to be queer @ Cardozo? I will press my Outlaw boy too, thanks for the advice!