Dr. Laidlaw (they/he) is a white settler trans scholar who brings an interdisciplinary approach to Gender and Women’s Studies. Their research and teaching interests are informed by their work in the fields of critical criminology, trans studies, and Indigenous studies. Their SSHRC-funded dissertation, Confined in the Binary: The Colonial (Re)Production of (Trans)Gender Normativity in Cases of Trans Imprisonment, explored the introduction of trans rights into Canadian prisons from an abolitionist and decolonial lens. Dr. Laidlaw is currently in the process of publishing his dissertation as a book with Fernwood Publishing (expected release Fall 2027).

Classes Taught: Making Sense of Gender (36.162), Prison Abolition (90/36:373)

Research Interests: Trans Rights, Gender and Trans Theory, Theories of Justice, Prison Studies, Abolition, Indigenous Rights, Decolonization

Select Publications:

Laidlaw, L. (2025). Review of Murray Sinclair’s Who we are: Four questions for a life and a nation. Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 4(2), 1-2.

Laidlaw. L. (2024). Searching for justice: Indigenous self-determination over the landfill search as a matter of justice for MMIWG2S. Decolonization of Criminology and Justice,
6(2), 51-74.

Laidlaw, L. (2024). Prison abolition for collective freedom: Facilitating co-resistance to binary colonial prisons. Feminist Legal Studies, 1-21.

Laidlaw, L. & Stirrett, N. (2023). Unsettling the conversation on trans rights: From rights to responsibilities on stolen land. Transgender Studies Quarterly, 10(3-4), 484-507.