Biography

D Dangaran is an assistant professor of law. They teach and research constitutional law, family law, and civil rights.

Their published scholarship explores prison abolitionist theory and disability law claims centered on trans rights in prison. In 2025, they received a Dukeminier Award for their Essay, Bending Gender: Disability Justice, Abolitionist Queer Theory, and ADA Claims for Gender Dysphoria. Their current research deconstructs conservative religious claims regarding “gender ideology” and pro-trans claims under the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, and the Eighth Amendment. They are also co-authoring a paper on nonmarital family law and the abolition of family court.

Before joining the Richardson faculty, Professor Dangaran was the Director of Gender Justice at Rights Behind Bars, where they argued numerous federal appeals and trial matters, specializing in using litigation and other advocacy to help incarcerated trans people access necessary gender-affirming care.

Professor Dangaran was born and raised in Wahiawa, Hawai‘i. They attended ‘Iliahi Elementary School and graduated from Punahou School. They are a first-generation college graduate of Yale University and received their J.D. from Harvard Law School, where they were an articles editor on the Harvard Law Review. After law school, they clerked for Judge Corinne Beckwith on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and Judge Mark Bennett on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Professor Dangaran currently serves as the co-chair of the National Trans Bar Association. In that role, they lead efforts to support trans law students, lawyers, and legal professionals across the United States.

Publications

Special Information for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and/or Queer Incarcerated People, in A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual (14th ed. forthcoming 2026)

Inordinate Delay as Denial: Lessons from Seeking Gender-Affirmation Surgery in Prison, 49 Harv. J.L. & Gender (Nov. 3, 2025) (link)

Interwoven Remedies: The Healthcare–Disability Overlap in Gender-Affirming Care Behind Bars, 62 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1271 (2025) (PDF)

Defending Disability Law Claims for Gender Dysphoria, ABA Hum. Rts. Magazine (July 18, 2025) (link)

Farmer at 31: Historicizing Trans Rights in Prison Through Intergenerational Dialogue, 48 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 321 (2025) (with Dee Deidre Farmer) (PDF) (SSRN)

Strategies for Helping Black Trans Youth Surmount Structural Violence, ABA Hum. Rts. Magazine (Mar. 19, 2025) (with Daniella Carter) (link)

Bending Gender: Disability Justice, Abolitionist Queer Theory, and ADA Claims for Gender Dysphoria, 137 Harv. L. Rev. F. 237 (2024) (PDF) (SSRN) (2025 Dukeminier Award winner)

Abolition as Lodestar: Rethinking Prison Reform From a Trans Perspective, 44 Harv. J.L. & Gender 161 (2021) (winner of student note competition) (PDF) (SSRN)

Developments in the Law—Unjust Enrichment. Chapter Four: Aloha ‘Āina: Native Hawaiian Land Restitution, 133 Harv. L. Rev. 2148 (2020) (PDF) (SSRN)

Recent Case, Levenstein v. Estate of Frankel—South Africa Removes Statute of Limitations Distinction Between Rape and Other Sexual Offenses, 132 Harv. L. Rev. 2394 (2019) (PDF) (SSRN)

Recent Case, Gibson v. Collier, Harv. L. Rev. Blog (Apr. 12, 2019) (PDF)

In the News

Kathrina Szymborski Wolfkot, Reflections on the Supreme Court’s Decision Upholding a Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth, State Court Report (June 25, 2025) (link)

Jaclyn Diaz, Trans Community Fears Trump’s Actions Will Upend Legal Precedent On Prison Protections, NPR (Jan. 30, 2025) (link)

Zane McNeill, I Entered Law to Protect My LGBTQ Community. I Need Solidarity From Colleagues, Truthout (Dec. 31, 2024) (link)

Jaclyn Diaz, A Health Care Provider that Faced Dozens of Prisoner Lawsuits Is Filing for Bankruptcy, NPR (Dec. 27, 2024) (link)

Skrmetti: Trans Healthcare at SCOTUS, TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones (Dec. 5, 2024) (link)

Jireh Deng, “We’ve Created Medical Refugees.” LGBTQ+ Healthcare Workers Fight for Gender-Affirming Care Amid Rise in Anti-Trans Laws, L.A. Times (July 10, 2024) (link)

Awards & Honors

2024, Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40, National LGBTQ+ Bar Association.

2025 Dukeminier Award, The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law (for Bending Gender: Disability Justice, Abolitionist Queer Theory, and ADA Claims for Gender Dysphoria, 137 Harv. L. Rev. F. 237 (2024)) — Awarded annually to the best law review articles concerning sexual orientation or gender identity 

Links

LinkedIn | Academia | SSRN | Google Scholar