Darren Spedale

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Darren Spedale (born March 17, 1974) is an author and investment banker who is known as one of the world's foremost experts on the Scandinavian registered partnership laws, which beginning in 1989 (in Denmark) allowed same-sex couples to enter into legal unions and thereby receive the rights and benefits of marriage. Spedale began his research on same-sex unions while an undergraduate at Duke University, where he wrote a thesis on domestic partnership laws in the United States, later published internally within Duke University. The arguments in his thesis were later used by Duke faculty and staff to help secure domestic partnership benefits for Duke employees.

In 1996, having been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship after his undergraduate work, Spedale enrolled at the University of Copenhagen and spent two years in Denmark researching the experiences of the first countries in the world to offer the rights and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex couples. His published articles and public lectures have reflected on the results of the Scandinavian experiences with same-sex unions, and have helped Americans reflect upon what they might expect as a result of same-sex marriage if it were legalized in the United States. (For example, Spedale's research was widely discussed in Hawaii in the aftermath of Baehr v. Lewin). In June 2006, his book, entitled Gay Marriage: For Better or For Worse? was published by Oxford University Press (with co-author Professor William Eskridge).[1]

After his Fulbright research, Spedale spent two years working for a technology-based start-up as vice-president of marketing before returning to graduate school. In 2004 he received his JD and MBA degrees at Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business, respectively. He thereafter became a corporate attorney with the international law firm of White & Case in their New York office. He currently works as an investment banker in New York City. He continues his work on same-sex marriage through his pro bono activities, including work for the non-profit organization Freedom to Marry.

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