Florence Ashley

Florence_Ashley_Sedra

Florence Ashley

SJD student, Faculty of Law

2021–22 Adel S. Sedra Distinguished Graduate Award

““Florence is the model of an engaged scholar, doing high-quality research and always looking for new ways to reach out to the wider world through popular writing, policy work, and community engagement"”

Ashley is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Law and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health’s Joint Centre for Bioethics. Their doctoral project examines how science is deployed and used within the legal system to simultaneously bolster and undermine trans youth’s autonomy. Prior to their doctoral studies, they served as clerk to Justice Sheilah Martin (SJD 1991) of the Supreme Court of Canada (2019-2020), being the first openly transfeminine person to clerk at the highest court. Prior to clerking, they completed degrees in civil law and common law followed by a master’s in law and bioethics at McGill University. Ashley is the author of Banning Transgender Conversion Practices: A Legal and Policy Analysis​ (UBC 2022).

“Florence is the model of an engaged scholar, doing high-quality research and always looking for new ways to reach out to the wider world through popular writing, policy work, and community engagement.

Ashley’s expert commentary and op-eds have also appeared in multiple news outlets, including The Globe and MailCBC OpinionsMontreal Gazette, Huffington PostThe ConversationNOW Magazine, The AdvocateIRPP Policy OptionsLe DevoirLa PresseLe Journal de Montréal, and Journal Métro.

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