GWST 3426

This course will consider the role of the state and other institutions in the social, moral and legal production and regulation of sex and gender, particularly in Western countries. It will begin with a brief historical overview of the role of religious prescriptions in the social and legal regulation of sex, and in the refinement of laws and policies that have been implicated in sex-and gender-based discrimination. We will also address a range of contemporary topics such as the decriminalization of homosexuality; hate crimes against sexual minorities; the politics of relationship recognition; state response to HIV/AIDS; gender-related refugee claims; and developments in the regulation of reproductive technologies.