Queering Courts

The discussion will focus on Queering Courts: Analysing Equal Marriage Rights Cases before the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the United States Supreme Court, a legal monograph by Masuma Shahid published by WJS Uitgevers. The book examines the jurisprudence of same-sex marriage and equal relationship rights across three key courts: the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the United States Supreme Court. It analyses how courts have shaped, constrained, and expanded legal recognition of LGBTQ+ relationships, focusing on the interaction between judicial reasoning, constitutional interpretation, and evolving norms of equality. The work situates these decisions within broader debates on human rights, gender, and sexuality, highlighting the role of courts in both advancing and limiting queer legal recognition. Across its comparative framework, the book explores how legal systems construct “equality” in different constitutional and cultural contexts, and how litigation strategies have influenced the development of marriage equality.

Dr. Masuma Shahid is an Assistant Professor in the field of LGBTQ+ rights (AI, queer data, equal marriage rights/same-sex marriage) and lecturer in European Union law and international law (human rights, specialised in LGBTQ+ rights) at the Erasmus School of Law. She has extensive experience in teaching, research, and organisational responsibilities in various areas of law (besides European Union law and international law). She is currently acting as a member of the Diversity Platform within the Erasmus School of Law. She is also a co-coordinator of the LGBTQI+ Working Group of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law (BCCE). She is the recipient of the 2025 Max van der Stoel Human Rights Award for best PhD Dissertation in the field of human rights in the Netherlands and Belgium 2023-2025..