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24 Dukeminier Awards: Best Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity L. Rev. 209 (2025)
Queer Outrage: Why the Legal Vindication of LGBTQ Feelings Can Transform Dignitary Tort Law

handle is hein.journals/dukemini24 and id is 219 raw text is: QUEER OUTRAGE: Why the Legal Vindication of LGBTQ Feelings Can Transform Dignitary Tort Law Gabriel L. Klapholz ABSTRACT This Note unearths the history of how LGBTQ people used the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) to vindicate their rights and protect their basic dignity, from the height of the AIDS epidemic until today. In so doing, the Note challenges the common view that IIED is a purely majoritar- ian tort that enforces prevailing communal norms of right and wrong. Instead, the history of LGBTQ IIED shows that the tort can serve as a tool for respond- ing to majoritarian domination and protecting those most vulnerable to hatred and abuse. The Note provides a path forward to reconcile the recent clash between IIED and the First Amendment, showing that-in light of IIED's abil- ity to bring more people to the expressive table-the two can be friends rather than foes. In this respect, LGBTQ law and experience can provide insight for the future of dignitary tort law more broadly. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS J.D. expected 2026, Yale Law School; B.A. 2022, Yale College. I am very grateful to Professor Ketan Ramakrishnan for helping me develop this Note, and to all the brilliant editors at the Dukeminier Awards Journal who gave me such thoughtful feedback as this Note took shape. I am also thankful for Mr. Jeffrey S. Haber for his generosity and support. As with everything I do, I dedicate my work to my family-my mother, father, brother, and sister- in-law-who are the people who keep me in the fight. All errors are my own. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................210 I. A PARADIGM SHIFT IN LGBTQ IIED ....................................................215 A. The Pre-1990s Period.................................................................. 215 B. The Turning Point........................................................................ 217 1. Taking LGBTQ Status Seriously............................................218 2. Outrage Per Se........................................................................218 © 2025 Gabriel L. Klapholz. All rights reserved. 209