Rubenstein, William Bruce

Rubenstein, William Bruce

William Bruce Rubenstein is a lawyer, law professor, and author who is recognized as a leading national expert on sexual orientation and the law. For eight years, Rubenstein was an attorney with and director of, the Lesbian and Gay Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Rubenstein was born on September 3, 1960, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Yale University in 1982 and earned a law degree from Harvard University in 1986. Rubenstein then served as a law clerk to a federal district court judge. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1986 and the District of Columbia bar in 1988.

In 1987, Rubenstein joined the national office of the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, which has its headquarters in New York City. The national office intervenes in legal disputes involving discrimination against gays and lesbians, acts as a public policy advocate for Gay and Lesbian Rights, and provides education for lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV and AIDS. The national office also works with local Lesbian and Gay Rights Project chapters on pending litigation and legislation.

Rubenstein is a noted legal scholar on sexual-orientation issues. He has published Rubenstein's Cases and Materials on Sexual Orientation and the Law (2d. ed. 1996), which is used in many U.S. law schools. In addition, he is the author of Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Law (1993). Rubenstein has taught courses on lesbian and gay law at Harvard and Yale Law Schools. He left the ACLU in 1995 and accepted a position as visiting professor at Stanford University Law School.

Rubenstein has continued to teach, write, and comment on significant legal issues involving sexuality and health. He has served as an expert witness in several Class Action cases and has testified before Congress on issues of legal procedure as well as sexuality and law. In 2003, Rubenstein taught at UCLA Law School and was the founding director of the Charles R. Williams Project on Sexual Orientation Law.

Further readings

Levin, Jack, and Jack McDevitt. 2002. Hate Crimes Revisited. New York: Westview Press.

Wintemute, Robert. 1997. Sexual Orientation and Human Rights: The United States Constitution, the European Convention and the Canadian Charter. New York: Oxford Univ Press.