Nancy D. Polikoff (born 1952) is an American law professor,

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

activist, and author. She is a professor emerita at

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleyto ...

. Polikoff's work focuses on LGBT rights,

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage, ...

, and

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

issues. She authored '' Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law'' (2008).

Education

Polikoff completed a Bachelor of Arts in English from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1972. She earned a J.D. from

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

in 1975. In 1976, Polikoff was a co-author of one of the first law review articles about the custody rights of

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

mothers. In 1980, she completed a Master of Arts in women's studies from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Career

From 1975 to 1976, Polikoff was an instructor at

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univ ...

Columbus School of Law The Columbus School of Law, also known as Catholic Law or CUA Law, is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. More than 400 Juris Doctor students attend Catholic Law ...

. She was an attorney and founding partner at Hunter, Polikoff, Bodley & Bottum, P.C. Washington D.C. Feminist Law Collective from 1976 to 1981. Polikoff was a staff attorney for the

Women's Legal Defense Fund The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)3 organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, the National Partnership works on public policies, education and outreach that focuses on women and familie ...

from 1982 to 1987. She joined the faculty at

as an assistant professor in 1987. She helped coordinate the representation for protesters arrested at the

United States Supreme Court Building The Supreme Court Building houses the Supreme Court of the United States. Also referred to as "The Marble Palace," the building serves as the official workplace of the chief justice of the United States and the eight associate justices of th ...

in October 1987 for

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

in protest of the ''

Bowers v. Hardwick ''Bowers v. Hardwick'', 478 U.S. 186 (1986), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld, in a 5–4 ruling, the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults ...

'' ruling''.'' She worked as an associate professor from 1990 to 1993 before becoming a full professor. She was the

James E. Rogers College of Law University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law is the law school at the University of Arizona located in Tucson, Arizona and was the first law school founded in the State of Arizona, opening its doors in 1915. Also known as University of Ar ...

visiting professor at

University of Arizona Law School University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law is the law school at the University of Arizona located in Tucson, Arizona and was the first law school founded in the State of Arizona, opening its doors in 1915. Also known as University of Ar ...

from 2004 to 2005. She was the

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

visiting McDonald/Wright Chair of Law and the faculty chair of the

Williams Institute The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, usually shortened to Williams Institute, is a public policy research institute based at the UCLA School of Law focused on sexual orientation and gender ident ...

from the fall of 2011 to fall of 2012. Polikoff was a visiting professor at Georgetown University Law Center the spring of 2015. Polikoff was the chair of the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non ...

section on

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

and gender identity issues. She is a member of the National Family Law Advisory Council of the

National Center for Lesbian Rights The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a non-profit, public interest law firm in the United States that advocates for equitable public policies affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, provides free legal ...

. , Polikoff is a professor emerita at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

Washington College of Law. Her work focuses on LGBT issues and same-sex parenting law. She is a contributing blogger to the Bilerico Project and Beyond Straight and Gay Marriage.

Awards

Polikoff was a finalist for the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

Best LGBT Non-Fiction in 2009 for her book, '' Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage''. She received the

Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA) of Washington, D.C. is a United States nonprofit organization, not-for-profit organization that works to secure legal rights for gays and lesbians in the District of Columbia. GLAA is a non-partisan ad ...

Distinguished Service Award in 2009. She received the

National LGBT Bar Association The National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, formerly the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association and the National LGBT Bar Association, is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliated ...

Dan Bradley award in 2011.

Personal life

Polikoff's father was lawyer Harry Polikoff. She is a

and was married to filmmaker Cheryl Swannack until March 15, 2020, when Swannack died due to Parkinson's disease.

Selected works

Books

* Reviews of ''Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage'': * * * * * * *

Journal articles

* * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polikoff, Nancy Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women writers Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni American LGBT rights activists University of Pennsylvania alumni Washington College of Law faculty American women legal scholars American legal scholars American lesbian writers LGBT lawyers Lesbian academics 1952 births American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers George Washington University alumni Columbus School of Law faculty LGBT educators