Ryan Kendall

As a young, gay teen, Mr. Kendall was sent by his parents to a so-called conversion therapist in a desperate attempt to somehow “fix” him. The practice of conversion therapy, combined with familial rejection, virtually destroyed his sense of place in the world. At the age of 16, Mr. Kendall surrendered himself to the Colorado Department of Human Services and sought to have his parents’ custody of him revoked. What followed were dark years filled with depression, drug abuse, thoughts of suicide, and periods of homelessness. In 2010, Ryan told his story in the district trial of Hollingsworth v. Perry, to show to the world that sexual orientation is an immutable trait and to illustrate the fact LGBT people have been subjected to an ugly history of discrimination and abuse, often from members of their own families. Today Mr. Kendall studies political science at Columbia University and continues his work to ensure that no child is subjected to the discredited and dangerous practice of conversion therapy.

Ryan Kendall is the author of Prop. 8: Advancing Civil Rights Through Cultural and Constitutional Change.

Danieli Evans

Danieli Evans graduated from Yale Law School in 2012. She is currently a law clerk for Judge Diane P. Wood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Starting this fall, she will clerk for Judge Harry T. Edwards on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Danieli is involved with Yale Law School’s Cultural Cognition Project, researching the way that cultural backgrounds subconsciously influence how people perceive facts and risks, and investigating communication strategies for detaching empirical questions about disputed facts from cultural identity. She is passionate about civil rights, democratic governance, constitutional law and social change. Other writing projects (some published, others in progress) pertain to citizen enforcement in administrative law, inter-branch cooperation in statutory interpretation, the evolution of Equal Protection, reforming anti-discrimination law, and enhancing voter information and participation. Before law school Danieli attempted a career as an equestrian, and still moon-lights as one (training with the horse, Jolie, that she surreptitiously acquired during law school), as well as regularly practicing yoga, being outdoors, and skiing whenever possible.

Danieli Evans is the author of Imagining a Same-Sex Marriage Decision Based on Dignity: Considering Human Experience in Constitutional Law.

Graham Gee

Graham Gee is a lecturer in law at the University of Birmingham in England. His primary research interest is the British constitution and is currently working on a three-year AHRC-funded project on “The Politics of Judicial Independence in Britain’s Changing Constitution”. He has written on the legal regulation of same-sex relationships in Massachusetts, Canada and South Africa.

Graham Gee is the author of Same-Sex Marriage and Perry: A Case for Judicial Minimalism?.

Melissa Murray

Melissa Murray joined the Berkeley Law faculty in 2006. She teaches Family Law, Criminal Law, and Advanced Topics in Family Law. Murray is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she was a Jefferson Scholar and an Echols Scholar, and Yale Law School, where she was notes development editor of the Yale Law Journal. While in law school, she earned special recognition as an NAACP-LDF/Shearman & Sterling Scholar and was a semifinalist of Morris Tyler Moot Court.

Following law school, Murray clerked for Sonia Sotomayor, then of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, and Stefan Underhill of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Murray is a member of the New York bar.

Her research focuses on the roles that criminal law and family law play in articulating the legal parameters of intimate life, and encompasses such topics as marriage and its alternatives, the criminal regulation of sex and sexuality, the marriage equality debate, and the legal recognition of caregiving. Her publications have appeared (or are forthcoming) in the California Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Iowa Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Virginia Law Review, and Yale Law Journal, among others.

Her article, “Marriage as Punishment,” won the Association of American Law Schools’ 2010-2011 Scholarly Papers Competition for faculty members with fewer than five years of law teaching. “Marriage as Punishment” was also selected by the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Women in Legal Education as a winner of the 2010-2011 New Voices in Gender Studies scholarly paper competition. In 2010, Murray was awarded the Association of American Law School’s Derrick A. Bell Award, which is given to a junior faculty member who has made an extraordinary contribution to legal education, the legal system, or social justice. In 2011, Murray was elected to the membership of the American Law Institute.

Professor Murray is the author of Paradigms Lost: How Domestic Partnership Went From Innovation to Injury.