Queering Law and Order

Kevin Leo Yabut Nadal is professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY).

In this vivid, powerful, and provoking text Nadal masterfully exposes how criminal justice policies, stereotypes, and fear have historically obscured rather than clarified the everyday realities of LGBTQ people—the perennial “other”—in the US. He charges that anti-gay policies, supported by certain social movements and the mentality of some, continue to strategically brutalize, marginalize, oppress, and silence non-straight people. Marshalling sound evidence and in vivid detail, Nadal argues that it is time we as a society acknowledge the brutality, intimidation, and oppression waged against LGBTQ people. Instead of pushing sexuality to the social margins, it should be situated at the center of our moral universe, prompting us to expose, accept, appreciate, and mobilize “othered” persons and correlating modes of thought, as we seek to humanize the existing (twisted) social contours of gender and sexual justice. Ultimately, this author challenges readers to understand, view, and treat sexuality for what it is—part of a person’s unique self. Broadly, this book calls for a transformation in moral, philosophical, legal, cultural, social, and public thinking about sexuality and criminal justice. The text addresses areas of philosophy, legal thought, sexuality, and gender studies, offering a must read for people vested in better understanding of, e.g., sexual violence, LGBTQ people, and sexual justice. Highly recommended.

• AcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionChapter 1: History of LGBTQ People and the LawChapter 2: Finding our Pulse: Hate Crimes, Historical Trauma, and InjusticeChapter 3: Not Protected, Not Served: LGBTQ People and Law EnforcementChapter 4: Gender and Sexuality on Trial: LGBTQ People and the CourtsChapter 5: Locked up in a Binary: LGBTQ People and IncarcerationChapter 6: The Workplace Closet: LGBTQ People and Workplace DiscriminationChapter 7: Queer, but Not TransParent: LGBTQ People, Family Law, and Child WelfareChapter 8: Over the Rainbow and Across the Border: LGBTQ People and ImmigrationChapter 9: The Queer Criminal Mind: LGBTQ People and Forensic PsychologyConclusionReferencesIndexAbout the Author