Brianne Felsher

Stuart F. Smith Fellow

Education/Professional Certification

JD, UC Berkeley
BA, Columbia University

Expertise

Legal history of queer families and marriages

Biography

Brianne Felsher, a PhD candidate in the Jurisprudence and Social Policy program at Berkeley, is the Stuart F. Smith Fellow. The fellowship supports emerging scholars whose writing and research contribute to a more inclusive legal academy.

Felsher studies the legal history of queer families and marriages in the United States from the early 1800s through World War I. Their research examines how queer individuals navigated legal institutions, created contracts, and formed relationships, as well as the implications of queer legal history for constitutional law. Their paper, “‘Sex Changed by a Court’s Decree’: The History and Tradition of Gender Transitions in the United States,” was recently published in the Georgetown Law Journal.