Everyday Law for Gays and Lesbians: An Introduction
This is the (revised) introductory chapter of a book that I am currently writing. The book is titled "Everyday Law for Gays and Lesbians", and is part of Paradigm Publishers' Everyday Law series. The introductory chapter - indeed, the entire book - is built upon and around the power of narrative. I begin the chapter with a personal narrative that illustrates what I refer to as the current predicament of the lesbian and gay movement. In the first part of the chapter, I survey the social and legal landscape that surrounds the movement, explain why I view the current situation as a predicament, and consider the source of that predicament. Then, in the second part of the chapter, I set the stage - and the tone - for the remainder of the book by suggesting that the narratives of individual lesbians and gay men, told in their own words, are a radical and powerful tool for advancing us (meaning all lesbians and gay men) toward the unqualified acceptance that we seek. As I explain in the chapter, my goal in writing this book is to empower and inspire each of us to deploy these narratives in the most effective way possible. In keeping with this view of the power of the individual narrative, I argue that it is up to each of us to draw attention to and challenge the ubiquitous privileging of heterosexuality in our society. And, the title of the book and the series notwithstanding, I further eschew overreliance on legal strategies for effecting change; instead, in the course of the book, I discuss both potential legal and non-legal avenues for effecting change. I would greatly appreciate any comments that you might have on the chapter or any suggestions that you might have regarding coverage for the book.
The Internal Revenue Code as Sodomy Statute
44 Santa Clara Law Review 763 (2004)This article represents an attempt to bridge the gap between gay and straight understanding of the Internal Revenue Code's impact on same-sex couples. Through a combination of personal narrative and legal analysis, I try to explain how, from a gay perspective, the Code can be viewed as just another manifestation of the fluid mixture of hostility, bewilderment, and discomfort that generally characterize society's reaction to homosexuality. By explaining the experiences behind my perceptions of the Code, I hope to help my heterosexual colleagues to understand just how demeaning and oppressive the Code can seem to gays and lesbians - regardless of any net financial benefit that same-sex couples may receive, or any net financial detriment that they may suffer, under the Code.
Annual review article: Is it time to rethink the gender agenda in entrepreneurship research?
This article develops a critique of contemporary approaches to analysing the impact of gender upon entrepreneurial propensity and activity. Since the 1990s, increasing attention has been afforded to the influence of gender on women’s entrepreneurial behaviour; such analyses have highlighted an embedded masculinity within the entrepreneurial discourse which privileges men as normative entrepreneurial actors. While invaluable in revealing a prevailing masculine bias within entrepreneurship, this critique is bounded by positioning women as a proxy for the gendered subject. This is a potentially limiting analysis that does not fully recognise gender as a human property with myriad articulations enacted throughout entrepreneurial activity. To progress debate, we engage more deeply with the notion of gender as a multiplicity, exploring the implications of such for future studies of entrepreneurial activity.