My Work
Policy Strategy
I help organizations and coalitions map opportunities and plot strategies for policy change.
Legal and Policy Analysis
I help clients understand what policy and legal developments mean for their work.
Policy Development
I develop organizational policies and proposed legislation and regulations.
Policy Writing
I write white papers, memos, briefs, testimony, and public comments on policy proposals and legal developments.
Policy Advocacy
I plan and execute advocacy efforts to make policy change happen.
Speaking and Training
I speak and train on topics such as policy processes, movement strategy, and building an advocacy career.
Clients I’ve supported
The 519 Church Street Community Center (Toronto)
American Civil Liberties Union
Association of Community Affiliated Plans
Center for American Progress
CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ Centers
Family Equality Council
interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Women’s Law Center
GLSEN
Human Rights Campaign
Transgender Law Center
Past advocacy campaigns
Securing and defending a strong U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regulation prohibiting anti-trans discrimination in federally-funded housing and shelter programs.
Securing and defending a groundbreaking U.S. Health and Human Services regulation on nondiscrimination in health care.
Securing improved federal policies for gender designation changes on U.S. passports, immigration documents, and Social Security, Veterans Health Administration, and federal personnel records, and removing gender from Medicare cards.
Eliminating discriminatory transgender exclusions in federal and state employee, Medicaid, and private health plans.
Strengthening collaboration between LGBTQI+ advocacy organizations and the sex workers rights movement.
Blocking extreme judicial nominees with records of overt anti-transgender bias.
Selected reports
Association of Community Affiliated Plans, Safety Net Health Plan Initiatives to Improve LGBTQI+ Health Equity (2021) (contributor).
GLSEN, States’ Use of the Every Student Succeeds Act to Advance LGBTQ+ Equity: Assessment of State Plans and Recommendations (2021) (coauthor).
Testimony, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations, Hearing on “Financial Services and the LGBTQ+ Community: A Review of Discrimination in Lending and Housing” (Oct. 29, 2019).
Testimony, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Transportation & Protective Security, Hearing on "The Public Face of TSA: Examining the Agency's Outreach and Traveler Engagement Efforts" (Feb. 27, 2018).
Selected op-eds and blog posts
“Displaying Gender on ID—Admin Law Solutions for Con Law Problems,” Take Care Blog, Feb. 25, 2021.
“Are There Five Textualists on the Supreme Court? If So, They’ll Rule for Transgender Workers,” Take Care Blog (May 6, 2020).
“Why HHS Can't Keep Cutting Corners As It Attempts To Undo Non-Discrimination Protections,” Take Care Blog (Mar. 30, 2020).
“The Flaws in HHS’s Proposed Repeal of The ACA Nondiscrimination Rules,” Take Care Blog (Dec. 16, 2019).
“The Senate Must Set an Example of How to Treat Survivors,” The Advocate (Sept. 21, 2018).
“Why Does the Government Need to Know Your Gender?,” The Advocate (April 11, 2018).
“Trump's New ‘Treatment Refusal’ Rule Puts Discrimination Ahead of Patients' Health,” Scientific American (Jan. 19, 2018).
“Rentboy.com Raid Shows Why Sex Work Should Be Legal,” MSNBC.com (Aug. 29, 2015) (with Hayley Gorenberg).
Selected scholarly publications
“Transgender Prisoners: Ground Zero for Prison Reform,” Harvard L. & Pol’y Rev. Blog: Notice and Comment (Nov. 25, 2019) (with Mateo De La Torre).
“Securing Equal Access to Sex-Segregated Facilities for Transgender Students,” 28 Wisc. J. L. Gender & Soc. 301 (2013) (with Jennifer Levi).
“Fair and Accurate Identification for Transgender People,” LGBTQ Policy Journal, 2011 Online Edition.
“Confronting Misinformation on Abortion: Informed Consent, Deference, and Fetal Pain,” 17 Colum. J. Gender & L. 111 (2008).
Selected presentations
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), Public Workshop for the Committee on Measuring Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation, July 19, 2021.
NASEM, Public Seminar on Amplifying Visibility and Increasing Capacity for Sexual and Gender Diverse Populations, August 5, 2019.
GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality Annual Conference, 2019.
US Conference on AIDS, 2019.
Lavender Law – Conference of the National LGBT Bar Association, 2010-2014, 2019.
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, 2018.
National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS), 2017.
National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Spring Meeting 2016; Summer Meeting 2018.
Women Working in Corrections & Juvenile Justice National Conference, 2016.
National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association National Conference, 2014.
Conference on the Rights of LGBT People in Europe, 2013.
Creating Change – The National Conference on LGBTQ Equality, 2010-2016.
Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, 2011-2015 (Keynote Speaker, 2014).
International LGBT Leadership Conference, 2013, 2017.
Aging in America – Conference of the American Society on Aging, 2012.
American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators – Spring Workshop Conference, 2012.