Law 218 - Race and Sexuality (Prof. Robinson)

This course will examine the ways in which race and sexuality intertwine to shape the law, public discourse and society. We will also explore issues related to the experiences of LGBT people of color and their relationship to the broader LGBT community. The latter issues are related to broader questions of intragroup discrimination and the capacity of any one social movement to represent all people who share a trait, as exemplified by black feminist critiques of male dominance in the civil rights movement. We will approach these provocative issues from a comparative perspective; for instance, we will compare the stereotyping of black male sexuality and Asian male sexuality. Pedagogical methods will include not just reading cases and legal scholarship but analyzing literary texts, viewing and critiquing film and television and discussing issues with various guest speakers. Questions we will study include the following: How do media represent the sexualities and identities of people of color, and of LGBT people of color? To what extent do interrracial couplings reduce or reflect racial stereotypes? Do legal analysis and public discourse regarding "gay rights" issues tend to assume a white male "prototype" and thus exclude other LGBT experiences? Are LGBT people of color best served by working within the predominant gay rights movement or developing their own identities, rubrics and movements?