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Dr Alexander Maine

Senior Lecturer (Education and Research)

The City Law School Academic law programmes

Contact details

About

Overview

Dr Alexander Maine is Senior Lecturer at The City Law School and a specialist expert in Gender, Sexuality and the Law and Family Law.

Alexander’s research focuses on Family Law and Gender, Sexuality and Law, in particular relationship recognition, and the effect of law on the family life of LGBTQ people. His research has been published in leading journals including the Child and Family Law Quarterly, Sexualities, the Journal of Criminal Law, and he is Reviews Editor of the International Journal of Gender, Sexuality and Law. In 2022, Alexander and Professor Robin West (Georgetown) were appointed co-editors of the Gender and the Law research handbook series, published by Edward Elgar.

He is co-editor of the Research Handbook on Gender, Sexuality and Law (Edward Elgar, 2020) and Gender, Sexuality and Law: A Textbook (2024).

Alexander is co-editor with Prof Chris Ashford (Northumbria), of ‘Violence and Socio-Legal Interventions in Gender and Sexuality’ (2022) 86(2) Journal of Criminal Law. Along with Dr Flora Renz (Kent) and Dr Peter Dunne (Bristol), he is co-editor of 'The Gender Recognition Act and Civil Partnership Act at 20' (2025) 47(2) JSWFL, and a forthcoming special issue of the NQHR with Prof Ilias Trispiotis (Leeds) entitled 'Enforcing LGBTQ rights: criminality and coercion' (forthcoming 2026).

Alexander is an International Research Associate at the NOVA Centre for Gender, Family and Law, Lisbon.

Alexander is a co-investigator and External Partner on the 'LGBTQ+ Policymaking in the UK: From research to implementation' project. Alexander also sits on the Advisory Board of the Wellcome Trust funded project, 'Understanding and responding to intimate partner violence in the LGBTQIA+ community' headed by Dr Aine Travers (DCU).

In September 2025, he was awarded £10,000 by by the Leverhulme Small Research Grants for a project entitled 'Queer Families and the Law after ‘I do’: a socio-legal analysis of LGBTQ people’s relationship with marriage and law in England and Wales' (ref SRG25\250476). The project will explain how LGBTQ people navigate the complex world of legal relationship recognition when approaching their familial, sexual, and emotional relationships.

At CLS, Alexander convenes the Gender, Sexuality and Law module and is one of the three LLB Programme Directors. He sits as the EDI Lead for Sexual Orientation and Inclusivity Activities.

He is an External Examiner at Edinburgh Napier University, and Leeds Beckett University.

Teaching:

Gender, Sexuality and Law (LLM in Global Issues)

English Legal Systems (LLB)

Family Law (LLB)

Child Law (LLB)

Law in Practice (LLB)

Qualifications

  • LLB (Hons), Newcastle University, United Kingdom, September 2012 - June 2015
  • Fellow, Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom
  • PhD, Northumbria University, United Kingdom, September 2015

Employment

  • Senior Lecturer, City, University of London, United Kingdom, August 2023 - present
  • Lecturer, University of Leicester, United Kingdom, November 2019 - August 2023
  • Associate Lecturer, Northumbria University, United Kingdom, September 2016 - June 2019

Visiting appointments

  • International Research Associate, NOVA Centre for the Study of Gender, Family, and Law, May 2025 - present

Fellowships

  • Fellow, Higher Education Academy, May 2020 - present

Memberships of professional organisations

  • Society of Legal Scholars, September 2020 - present
  • Socio-Legal Scholars Association, September 2016 - present

Award

  • Leverhulme Small Research Grant (2025). Queer Families and the Law after ‘I do’: a socio-legal analysis of LGBTQ people’s relationship with marriage and law in England and Wales
    Ref SRG25\250476, £10,000

Publications

Publications by category

Books (2)

  • Ashford, C. and Maine, A. (2024). GENDER, SEXUALITY AND LAW: A TEXTBOOK.
  • Ashford, C. and Maine, A. (Eds.), (2020). Research Handbook on Gender, Sexuality and the Law. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 9781788111140.

Chapters (10)

  • Maine, A. (2024). Nullity Reform: Redefining Marriage. In Bendall, C. and Parveen, R. (Eds.), Family Law Reform Now Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781509962198.
  • Maine, A. and Grolimund, A. (2024). Laskey, Jaggard and Brown v United Kingdom (European Court of Human Rights): A Queer Judgment. In Raj, S., Moscati, M.F. and Ferreira, N. (Eds.), Queer Judgments Coventry: Counterpress. ISBN 9781910761229.
  • Maine, A. (2024). Consummating in court. Research Handbook on Marriage, Cohabitation and the Law (pp. 371-385). Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 9781802202649.
  • Maine, A. (2024). Relationship recognition. Gender Sexuality and Law A Textbook (pp. 197-219).
  • Maine, A. (2024). Queer Legal Theory. Gender Sexuality and Law A Textbook (pp. 30-51).
  • Ashford, C. and Maine, A. (2024). Pornography and expression. Gender Sexuality and Law A Textbook (pp. 156-176).
  • Ashford, C. and Maine, A. (2024). Introduction to Gender, Sexuality and Law. Gender Sexuality and Law A Textbook (pp. 1-6).
  • Ashford, C., Maine, A. and Zago, G. (2020). Normative behaviour, moral boundaries and the state. Research Handbook on Gender Sexuality and the Law (pp. 409-424).
  • Ashford, C. and Maine, A. (2020). Introduction to the research handbook on gender, sexuality and law. Research Handbook on Gender Sexuality and the Law (pp. 1-6).
  • Maine, A. (2020). The hierarchy of marriage and civil partnerships. Same-Sex Relationships, Law and Social Change (pp. 209-227). Routledge.

Journal articles (9)

Media (2)

  • Maine, A. What will the UK Supreme Court gender ruling mean in practice? A legal expert explains.
  • Ha, K. Soccer ban sparks fears of widening trans exclusion in the UK.

Professional activities

Editorial activity (2)

  • International Journal of Gender, Sexuality and Law, Reviews Editor.
  • Edward Elgar Research Handbooks in Gender and the Law, Co-Editor.