Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2022 -

In this complex, captivating exploration of sexual identity and the law, Vogler (Univ. of Chicago) uses the seemingly very different examples of LGBTQ asylum seekers and sex offenders to show how empirical evidence and stereotypes, including racial stereotypes, come into play when making determinations about sexuality and how these individuals are treated by the legal system. LGBTQ asylum seekers want to prove their sexual identities in order to qualify for asylum in the US and are often treated as credible narrators of their own identities. Conversely, sex offenders are seen as untrustworthy, and evidence of their sexuality (and thus their likelihood of reoffending) is often sought from their bodies rather than from their stories. For asylum seekers hoping to gain access to the benefits of US citizenship and sex offenders seeking to not have them taken away, the legal question is the same: What future risk does their sexuality pose? Will asylum seekers be persecuted for their sexuality if denied asylum? Will sex offenders reoffend if allowed to return to civil society? "In both cases, sexuality works as a mechanism for sorting the moral from the immoral subject, the benign from the dangerous" (p. 9). This is a truly fascinating and eye-opening book, richly researched and engaging.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.