Abstract The decision to advocate for, and achieve, the inclusion of the term “gender identity” in the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act has been criticized by some scholars and activists as a mistake in strategy for the transgender movement. This paper first examines the reasoning and strategies of transgender advocates […]

ABSTRACT This paper examines and dismantles the body of claims used to exclude LGBTQ individuals from fostering and adopting children. LGBTQ individuals continue to face stigma and discrimination in the United States, including in the child welfare system, which significantly shapes their views of family and society. These experiences of marginality may actually enhance their […]

“Western rational thought is not an innate human characteristic; it is learned and is the great achievement of Western civilization.  In the villages of India, they never learned it.  They learned something else, which is in some ways just as valuable but in other ways not.  That’s the power of intuition and experiential wisdom.”  –Steve […]

Today, more Latinos are attending college than ever before. During the 2012 academic year, there were 2.4 million Latinos enrolled in college, comprising 19% of the total college-going population. Despite this surge in college enrollment, only 9% of the total Latino population between the ages of 25 and 29 holds a bachelor’s degree. This paints a bleak picture for Latinos as they strive for the American Dream, as enrolling in college without attaining a degree will not necessarily facilitate upward socioeconomic mobility. Further, Latino college students are also grappling with this generation’s greatest financial burden—student loan debt.

An interview with Allister Chang, President of KSSG By: Malik Siraj Akbar MC/MPA ‘15 Web Editor Malik Siraj Akbar is conducting interviews with student group leaders to highlight the work of these student activities around campus. Here’s the first of the series, with Kennedy School Student Government (KSSG) President Allister Chang. The series will continue […]

As the Supreme Court sends its strongest signal yet that full marriage equality is coming to the United States, President Obama sat down last week with Buzzfeed News’ Ben Smith and Chris Geidner where he predicted a favorable outcome for same-sex couples this spring: “My sense is that the Supreme Court is about to make […]

BY CAITLIN RYAN How will Americans say “I love you” this Valentine’s Day? Through $18.9 billion in gifts to our darlings, according to the National Retail Federation. Over half of us will purchase candy, including an estimated 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate. Yet as we hand our honeys that box of tasty morsels, do […]

In the opening to her seminal 2003 memoire and manifesto, My Husband Betty: Love, Sex, and Life with a Crossdresser, Helen Boyd describes a scene of a wife dressing up in her husband’s clothes. The wife smells the fabric of his shirt, thinking of him. She admires the way it looks in a full-length mirror. […]

As the chief executive of the country’s fourth largest city, Houston Mayor Annise Parker is arguably the most visible out-LGBT policymaker in the country. Parker sat down with Crosby Burns, the LGBTQ Policy Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, earlier this week to discuss her tenure as mayor, reflect upon her career in public service, and talk about the […]

BY DAVEDE ALEXANDER and JUSTIN OSSOLA America has been made very aware of the difficult, polarizing dynamics that can exist when the social experience of leadership and authority skews so drastically from those being served. Tinderbox situations between communities and law enforcement – such as that in Ferguson and, to a lesser extent, the current […]

On March 31st 1994, a historic decision was made at the United Nations (UN) regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) human rights. The UN Human Rights Committee ruled that an Australian law criminalizing all sexual relations between consenting adult men violated the human rights of Tasmanian activist Nicholas Toonen, and subjected him to the […]

There is a general optimism that the American economy is on an upswing, slowly recovering as it emerges from one of the worst recessions since the 1930s. Yet, one of the fundamental factors that caused the recession—housing finance—continues to be a barrier rather than an opportunity for millions of Americans, especially Latinos.