Out Law: What LGBT Youth Should Know about Their Legal Rights (Queer Action/ Queer Ideas) [Paperback]

Lisa Keen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2007 | Series: Queer Action/ Queer Ideas

The enormous advances of the civil rights movement have made it easier for LGBT youth to be "out," yet their increased visibility has led to myriad legal issues involving such critical matters as freedom of expression, sexual harassment, self-chosen medical care, and even their right to privacy within their own families.

In this accessible guide, Lisa Keen illustrates how some laws limit the rights of LGBT youth and others protect them. Out Law lays out the basics about federal, state, and local laws that frequently impact LGBT youth and explains how legal authority and responsibility is often vested in local officials, such as school principals.

Keen explains how laws treating LGBT people differently came to exist, evolved over time, and are subject to significant changes even today. Out Law discusses the shifting legal terrain for such issues as when schools can censor messages on T-shirts or library computer research into LGBT-related Web sites. It gives youth tips on how to document efforts to curb their rights and where to turn for help in protecting those rights.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ajournalist covering LGBT issues and gay legislation for more than 20 years, Keen delivers a sharp and coherent analysis of legal issues affecting LGBT kids today. After expertly guiding readers through a brief, easily digestible history of gay legislation, Keen empowers young gay people to not only know what their rights are but to stand up for them—whether facing threats or harassment from police, a teacher or a kid at school. In each case, she spells out what those rights are and how to properly assert them. Along the way, Keen relates some horrifying and tragic accounts of civil and constitutional rights abuse against LGBT kids, as well as extraordinary examples of those who stood up and made a difference, not only in their own communities, but in shaping the overall climate of gay legislation today. Geared to LGBT teenagers, this important, eye-opening book is also an essential read for any parent with a gay child. Loaded with appendixes, Keen's book gives useful information such as how to look up a law, a time line of legal landmarks, how and where to find legal help and organizations for LGBT youth. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Established journalist Keen has written an indispensable introduction to the legal rights of LGBT youth. Though she's not trained in the law, Keen has clearly done her research, and the result is a systematic and comprehensive survey that belongs in every library. The second title in Beacon's Queer Action/Queer Ideas series, this well-organized and clearly written volume is, as Kevin Jennings notes in his foreword, "something of a survival guide for LGBT students." Though not intended to be a self-help guide, the book does a fine job of introducing students--and their parents, teachers, friends, and advocates--to the system of law, ranging from the Constitution to local statutes, that articulates their rights to free speech, privacy, assembly, and more. Eight appendixes, a glossary, and 14 pages of notes provide essential additional information and documentation. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807079669
• ISBN-13: 978-0807079669
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #833,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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