Misclassified: Equal Protection and Gender Identity in an Age of Animus In-Person
Join us at the University Library for Dr. Kathryn J. Perkins’ Faculty Research Series talk, Misclassified: Equal Protection and Gender Identity in an Age of Animus.
Are transgender Americans protected under the U.S. Constitution from discrimination based on their gender identity or transgender status? With the recent deluge of anti-trans state and local laws and ordinances, this question is more relevant than ever. Yet, though federal judges have grappled with it for decades, the answer is still unclear. In Holloway v Arthur Anderson (1977), the Ninth Circuit established a negative precedent determining that transgender status was not a suspect classification and thus not entitled to elevated constitutional scrutiny and protection. However, in Norsworthy v. Beard (2014), a federal judge found that transgender status is a suspect classification and ushered in a new area of legal and judicial debate over the issue. This paper examines this constitutional discourse in trans jurisprudence to better understand the arguments for, and against, heightened scrutiny for gender identity and/or transgender status and evaluates the impact of these constitutional politics on the broader political struggle for transgender rights.
This Event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Request disability-related accommodations at LIB-Events@csulb.edu
Dr. Kathryn J. Perkins is Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science at California State University, Long Beach. She also serves as the 2024-2025 Chair of the LGBTQIA+ Campus Climate Committee and on the President’s Commission on the Status of Women. Her scholarly research focuses on constitutional law, feminist legal theory, and LGBTQ politics, and her recent work has been published in Transgender Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Lesbian Studies, the Research Handbook in Feminist Political Thought, and the Journal of Homosexuality. She is also co-editing a forthcoming special issue on LGBTQ politics for the journal Politics, Groups, and Identities, and was recently elected as incoming Chair of the Sexuality and Politics section of the American Political Science Association.