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In a recent statement, Pope Francis became the first leader of the Catholic church to endorse same-sex civil unions. The statement has led some leaders in the LGBTQ community to wonder whether the same protections that same-sex married couples enjoy in the United States will be extended to people in other countries. IU McKinney Professor Jennifer Drobac discussed the issue for a story that appeared on Indianapolis television station WISH.

The leader of Indy Pride indicated that he would like to see laws passed that would provide same-sex married couples another layer of protection in addition to the United States Supreme Court ruling in 2015 that made such unions legal in all 50 states. Professor Drobac indicated that may not be entirely necessary, noting that such rulings are seldom overturned.

“Let’s say hypothetically that Indiana decided not to permit same-sex marriage,” Professor Drobac said in the story. “That would mean everyone who got married in California and moved to Indiana, their marriage would evaporate at the border.” Many of those marriages have resulted in children, and any reversal of the ruling would create havoc on those families. “I don’t think those conservatives are going to want the chaos that will result from another reversal.”

Professor Drobac is a widely known expert in sexual harassment law. She is an author of the textbook, Sexual Harassment Law: History, Cases and Practice, recently published by Carolina Academic Press. She co-authored the book with Professor Carrie N. Baker of Smith College and Professor Rigel C. Oliveri of the University of Missouri School of Law.  Professor Drobac is at work on her next book, The Myth of Consent, which is under contract with Cambridge University Press. That work will explore the neuroscience of adult decision making and how the science should influence law reform, particularly the law of consent. She is a Samuel R. Rosen Professor of Law.