Is bisexuality invisible? A review of sexualities scholarship 1970–2015

This article provides a review of sexualities scholarship within the social sciences between 1970 and 2015. It takes an innovative approach by focusing on the way in which bisexuality is addressed in this body of literature. The article reveals the marginalisation, under-representation and invisibility of bisexuality within and across the social sciences in relation to both bisexual experience and identity. Reasons for this varied across the different eras, including the heterosexist nature of the literature, the impact of gay and lesbian-focused identity politics, and queer deconstructionism. In addition, patterns of bisexual erasure and invisibility were uneven, with some scholarship taking inclusive approaches or criticising prejudice against bisexuality. The initial findings of the review were enriched by critical commentary from key relevant sociologists and political scientists. The article concludes that future sexualities scholarship could be enhanced by greater consideration of bisexuality

Means to an End: An Assessment of the Status-blind Approach to Protecting Undocumented Worker Rights

This article applies the tenets of bureaucratic incorporation theory to an investigation of bureaucratic decision making in labor standards enforcement agencies (LSEAs), as they relate to undocumented workers. Drawing on 25 semistructured interviews with high-level officials in San Jose and Houston, I find that bureaucrats in both cities routinely evade the issue of immigration status during the claims-making process, and directly challenge employers’ attempts to use the undocumented status of their workers to deflect liability. Respondents offer three institutionalized narratives for this approach: (1) to deter employer demand for undocumented labor, (2) the conviction that the protection of undocumented workers is essential to the agency’s ability to regulate industry standards for all workers, and (3) to clearly demarcate the agency’s jurisdictional boundaries to preserve institutional autonomy and scarce resources. Within this context, enforcing the rights of undocumented workers becomes simply an institutional means to an end

Brief of Amici Curiae in United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry of National Women's Law Center, Williams Institute, and Women's Legal Groups

A group of eight Williams Institute-affiliated scholars on sexual orientation and gender law joined with the National Women’s Law Center and eight other leading women’s legal groups to file a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that, like laws that discriminate based on sex, laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation warrant heightened judicial scrutiny because, among other considerations, such laws are based on overbroad gender stereotypes.  The scholars on the brief were Nancy Polikoff, Vicki Schultz, Nan D. Hunter, Christine A. Littleton, Devon Carbado, Cheryl Harris, Seana Shiffrin, and Brad Sears.  Counsel on the brief were David Codell, the Williams Institute’s Visiting Arnold D. Kassoy Senior Scholar of Law and Legal Director; Marcia Greenberger and Emily Martin of the National Women’s Law Center; and the law firm of Paul Hastings LLP

Brief of Amici Curiae in United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry of National Women's Law Center, Williams Institute, and Women's Legal Groups

A group of eight Williams Institute-affiliated scholars on sexual orientation and gender law joined with the National Women’s Law Center and eight other leading women’s legal groups to file a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that, like laws that discriminate based on sex, laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation warrant heightened judicial scrutiny because, among other considerations, such laws are based on overbroad gender stereotypes.  The scholars on the brief were Nancy Polikoff, Vicki Schultz, Nan D. Hunter, Christine A. Littleton, Devon Carbado, Cheryl Harris, Seana Shiffrin, and Brad Sears.  Counsel on the brief were David Codell, the Williams Institute’s Visiting Arnold D. Kassoy Senior Scholar of Law and Legal Director; Marcia Greenberger and Emily Martin of the National Women’s Law Center; and the law firm of Paul Hastings LLP