UCLA is home to the Williams Institute, the first national think tank dedicated to sexual orientation law and policy, and has experts on a broad spectrum of topics related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and issues. These include the economic impacts of legalizing marriage for same-sex couples, the legal rights of LGBT individuals, workplace discrimination and employment protections, LGBT families, adoption and health care. Click an experts’ name for a detailed biography and contact information or to reach members of the Williams Institute you can contact Rachel Dowd at dowd@law.ucla.edu.
Policy, politics and health care
Brad Sears
Sears is executive director of the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, the country’s first national think tank dedicated to issues of sexual orientation law and policy and the only research center at a law school dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.
Jody Herman
Herman is public policy scholar at the Williams Institute, is an expert on anti-discrimination protections in public facilities for transgender and gender non-conforming people.
Dr. Nanette Gartrell
Gartrell is a visiting distinguished scholar at the Williams Institute, is an expert on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families.
Ian Holloway
Holloway is an assistant professor of social welfare in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and an expert on HIV and health behaviors of gay and bisexual men.
Arleen Leibowitz
Leibowitz, professor emeritus in the department of public policy in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, has done extensive work on policies designed to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and is an expert on gay men’s health.
Ilan Meyer
Meyer is a senior scholar for public policy at the Williams Institute, is an expert on public health issues related to minority health, in particular how stigma and prejudice affect LGBT people and also same-sex marriage.
Legal experts
Grace Ganz Blumberg
Blumberg, professor of law, is an authority on marital property, family law and social welfare. She has written extensively on non-marital cohabitation and has commented frequently in news stories about the legal status of same-sex couples.
Christy Mallory
Mallory is the senior counsel for the Williams Institute and an expert on sexual orientation and gender identity non-discrimination protections, state-level recognition for same-sex couples and other state- and local-level laws and policies affecting people who are LGBT.
Jonathan Varat
Varat is professor of law emeritus, is an authority on constitutional law, the Supreme Court, federal courts and the separation of powers.
Eugene Volokh
Volokh is the Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, is a nationally recognized expert on the Supreme Court.
Adam Winkler
Winkler is a professor of law and a specialist in American constitutional law whose scholarship has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. His research has focused on an array of topics, including judicial independence and constitutional interpretation.
To find more faculty members with expertise, search the Media Guide to UCLA Experts.
