Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2016

Publication Title

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Publication Title (Abbreviation)

Duke J. Gender L. & Pol'y

Volume

23

Issue

2

First Page

223

Last Page

261

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, constitutional jurisprudence will have to more clearly define sexual orientation itself. The Obergefell majority describes sexuality as binary and suggests that any sexual orientation is immutable, normal, and constitutive of individual identity. Other scholars have shown how the kind of binary created by Obergefell excludes those with more fluid sexual identities and experiences from legal protection.

This Article illuminates new problems with Obergefell’s approach to sexuality by putting that definition in historical context. While describing sexuality as a matter of orientation may now seem inevitable, this Article shows that nothing could be further from the truth. In the 1970s, leading GLBTQ activists considered and rejected the language of sexual orientation. Instead, movement members battled for civil-rights laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual or affectional preference.

The rhetoric of preference gained support for reasons that remain relevant to sexual-orientation jurisprudence today. Drawing on the history of debates about sexual orientation, this Article proposes a definition that protects individuals on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation. A perceived-orientation approach addresses problems mentioned in leading studies as well as those spotlighted by activists in over time. First, this strategy will make it harder for discriminators to separate conduct and status. This approach also protects those who do not fit within established heterosexual or homosexual categories, but does not depend for its success on the rejection of those entrenched binaries. Perhaps most importantly, a perceived-orientation approach promises relief to all victims of orientation-based stereotyping, not only to those who can prove their “true” status.

Rights

© 2016 Mary Ziegler

Comments

First published in Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Faculty Biography

http://www.law.fsu.edu/our-faculty/profiles/ziegler

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