CSU Law Library Blog

Just in time for the end of PRIDE month is our recently updated Sexual Orientation & the Law Research Guide.  The guide covers books in our collection, journals, blogs, websites and databases.

Our newest database addition highlighted in the guide is HeinOnline’s LGBTQ+ Rights database. The database charts the gay rights movement in America and Includes government documents, case opinions, case briefs, books and pamphlets, as well as a curated scholarly article collection and interactive timeline.  Users can browse and search seven collections in the database: Marriage and Family; Employment Discrimination; AIDS and Health Care; Military service; Public Spaces and Society; Supreme Court Briefs; and Historical Attitudes and Analysis.

On December 16, 2020 a federal judge in Ray v. McCloud struck down Ohio’s policy that prohibited transgender people born in Ohio from correcting the gender markers on their Ohio birth certificates.

To comply with the Court’s order, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has established new procedures that allow transgender people to correct the gender or “sex” marker on Ohio birth certificates.

The ACLU and Lambda Legal have put together a FAQ handout on the procedure.

If you’re writing a seminar paper, independent study requirement, or note on a gender-related topic, we have plenty of resources for you. Secondary sources like journal articles are a great way to start your research, see what has and hasn’t been written, and get ideas for your own paper. Here is a list of some of the law and gender journals available to you. Check  Scholar, the library catalog, to find out how to access each journal.

• Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice
• Cardozo Journal of Law & Gender
• Columbia Journal of Gender and Law
• Duke Journal of Gender, Law and Policy
• Gender Issues
• Harvard Journal of Law and Gender (formerly Harvard Women’s Law Journal)
• Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law (formerly American University Journal of Gender and the Law)
• Michigan Journal of Gender and Law
• The Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law
• Yale Journal of Law and Feminism

Law and gender topics lend themselves to interdisciplinary research, so don’t limit yourself to the familiar law databases. The Michael Schwarz Library lists several core databases for women’s studies:

• Gender Studies Database
• GenderWatch
• LGBT Life with Full Text
• Viva Database
• Women’s Studies International

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a proposed rule on the nondiscrimination section (ie, Section 1557, 42 USC 18116) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, PL 111-148).  This section of the ACA prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in health programs and activities, any part of which receive Federal financial assistance.  The proposed rule includes prohibitions on gender identity discrimination, as well as requires reasonable steps to effectively communicate with individuals with limited English proficiency and with individuals with disabilities.  The proposed rule will be published in the September 8th issue of the Federal Register, and public comments are due by November 6th.  For additional information see the HHS Fact Sheet: Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities Proposed Rule.

C|M|Law’s own Professor David F. Forte was cited in the newest landmark decision handed down by the US Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges which legalized same-sex marriage late last week. Kudos to Professor Forte on this accomplishment!

The work cited was Professor Forte’s article “The Framers’ Idea of Marriage and Family” within the book The Meaning of Marriage : Family, State, Market, and Morals.

David F. Forte C|M|Law Faculty Profile

Selected Works of Professor David F. Forte