- Darren Spedale
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Darren Spedale is an entrepreneur and author who is known both as the Founder of the nonprofit organization StartOut as well 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] He has published articles on his research in such publications as the Wall Street Journal and Slate Magazine, and has appeared on such TV shows as the O'Reilly Factor to discuss his findings.
After his Fulbright research, Spedale received his JD and MBA degrees at Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business, respectively. He became a corporate attorney with the international law firm of White & Case in their New York office, and thereafter worked as an investment banker for Lehman Brothers in New York City.
Mr. Spedale is also known for his work in entrepreneurship. He spent two years as the co-founder of a technology-based start-up as vice president of marketing prior to attending Stanford. More recently, he co-founded the media company A-List Global Media LLC, the creators of PopCardz trading cards.
Based on his experiences in entrepreneurship, in 2009 Spedale created the idea for and co-founded StartOut, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering and developing entrepreneurship in the gay and lesbian community. StartOut currently attracts over 2,500 entrepreneurs to its events in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and has been covered in such publications as the New York Times. In June 2010 Spedale rang the Opening Bell on the New York Stock Exchange for StartOut, and has appeared on such shows as CNBC's Squawk Box to discuss StartOut's work to help build entrepreneurship in the LGBT community.
External links
- New York Times article on Spedale and StartOut
- Book Website for Spedale's Gay Marriage: For Better or For Worse?
- Spedale article on Scandinavia as appeared during the Hawaii debate over Baehr v. Lewin
- A more recent article on the Scandinavian registered partnership laws
- For a more in-depth analysis by Spedale (with Eskridge and Hans Ytterberg)
- Wall Street Journal article (27 October 2006)
- Spedale debates Bill O'Reilly on same-sex marriage (with co-author Eskridge)
Categories: Living people | Duke University alumni | Stanford Law School alumni | Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni
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