Katherine Franke

Columbia Law School

Katherine Franke is a Professor of Law
and Director of the Gender and Sexuality Law Program at Columbia Law
School. She teaches courses in gender equality, police brutality,
sexuality and queer legal theory.
Her research has focused on gender and racial equality and well as the
regulation of sexuality in domestic, transnational and international
contexts. Her website is: http://www2.law.columbia.edu/faculty_franke/index.htm,
information about the Gender and Sexuality Law Program is at http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/gendersexualitylaw/,
and the Program’s blog is: http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/genderandsexualitylawblog/.

Running Like A Girl: Sex-Stereotyping in the Olympics

Katherine Franke

Male athletes--think Armstrong, Phelps, jockeys--have "physical traits" considered responsible for superior performance, while elite female athletes are increasingly being tested and "treated" for "Disorders of Sexual Development."

The Queering of Health Reform

Katherine Franke

Just as it is wrong to make better health care available only to those who can afford it, so too, it is wrong to make coverage contingent on a life that looks like the Brady Bunch. Good health care should not depend on wealth or hetero-patriarchy.

“Gender Verification in Sports:” We All Have a Stake in Caster Semenya’s Medal

Katherine Franke

When South African athlete Caster Semenya won the 800 meter track competition last month in Berlin, some observers questioned Semenya’s “real” sex and she was forced to undergo testing.

Queer-Baiting: A Homophobic Strategy Whose Day Never Came

Katherine Franke

In the intervening almost 20 years since David Souter was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Bush the First, much has changed. Let's hope that the issue of the nominee's personal life is one of them.

Good News On U.S. Anti-Trafficking Policy

Katherine Franke

The White House's appointment of Luis de Baca to be the head of the Trafficking In Persons office suggests that it appreciates the importance of a harm reduction approach to the problem of trafficking.

Exemptions from Military Service: Mothers in the Military and Fathers at Home?

Katherine Franke

Should the Army have exempted a mother from active-duty service because she has two young children, when her husband could have cared for them?

“Homeland” Security Under Napolitano, Key Player in Fight Against Trafficking

Katherine Franke

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and her team are important players in setting a new agenda for fighting human trafficking. But we have reason to be concerned about how they'll do it.