William L. Leap

William L. Leap, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the American University (Washington, DC) and an Affiliate Professor in the Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL). He is the founder of the Lavender Languages Conference and, with Heiko Motschenbacher, the founding co-editor of the Journal of Language & Sexuality. His writings about language and sexuality address topics as varied as race/class inequities, sexuality and gender differences, language socialization, homophobia/hate speech, gay pornography, trans-national circulations, subaltern voice, and problems of queer historiography. He is completing a study of language, sexuality and inequality in late apartheid Capetown, South Africa, and continues to explore materials documenting language use in the US before Stonewall. When not doing research or writing, he enjoys his swimming pool and the other benefits of low-maintenance living in sunny South Florida.