Brenda Cossman (born 1960) is a professor of law at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. She was the director at the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies from 2009 to 2018. In 2012, Cossman was named a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

Education and career

Cossman holds degrees in law from Harvard and the

, and an undergraduate degree from Queen's University. In 2002 and 2003, she was a Visiting Professor of Law at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, she was associate professor at

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. Her teaching and research is in the area of family law, feminist theory, law and film, and sexuality and the law. She is actively involved in law reform, particularly in the area of same sex couples and definitions of family. She authored reports for the Law Commission of Canada as well as the Ontario Law Reform Commission on the legal regulation of adult relationships. Cossman is also a frequent commentator in the media on issues relating to law and sexuality, most frequently for ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' and the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

. She is prominently featured as a commentator in

John Greyson John Greyson (born March 13, 1960) is a Canadian director, writer, video artist, producer, and Activism, political activist, whose work frequently deals with queer characters and themes. He was part of a loosely affiliated group of filmmakers to ...

's CBC documentary ''After the Bath'' (1996) about the London sex scandal. She also served as a member of the

Pink Triangle Press Pink Triangle Press is an independent, Canadian media organization specializing in LGBTQ2S+ journalism, television and online interactive media. Founded in 1971, Pink Triangle Press is one of the longest-publishing LGBTQ2S+ media groups in the wo ...

Board of Directors for 10 years, working as a frequent contributor to their main publication,

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former p ...

Selected publications

* ''The New Sex Wars: Sexual Harm in the #Metoo Era,'' New York University Press, 2021. * ''Sexual Citizens: The Legal and Cultural Regulation of Sex and Belonging,'' Stanford University Press, 2007. * ''Privatization, Law, and the Challenge to Feminism'', co-editor, University of Toronto Press, 2002. * ''Bad Attitudes on Trial: Pornography, Feminism and the Butler Decision,'' co-author, University of Toronto Press, 1997. * ''Censorship and the Arts: Law, Controversy, Debate, Facts,'' Ontario Association of Art Galleries, 1995.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110108025341/http://www.uc.utoronto.ca/content/view/284/1809/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20110106023257/http://www.law.utoronto.ca/index.asp {{DEFAULTSORT:Cossman, Brenda 1960 births Living people Lawyers in Ontario Canadian legal scholars Academic staff of the University of Toronto University of Toronto alumni Queen's University at Kingston alumni Harvard Law School alumni Canadian lesbian writers Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women lawyers Women legal scholars Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people