Queering Conflict: Examining Lesbian and Gay Experiences of Homophobia in Northern Ireland. By Marian Duggan (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2012, pp. 55.00 hb)

Abstract

While religious and sectarian divisions are commonly understood to have dominated the lives of those caught up in ‘the Troubles’ of Northern Ireland, social conflicts can rarely be summarized in such a straightforward way. Various other divisions and exclusions exist within such wide-ranging and long-lasting conflicts, with unique impacts on diverse communities. In Queering Conflict, Marian Duggan explores homophobic violence and discrimination experienced since the 1970s by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities as set against the backdrop of the Troubles. Based on a mixed-methods study including ethnographic research, documentary analysis, life story interviews, focus groups with members of the LGBT communities and a survey exploring the unique experiences of women from these communities, this book foregrounds the stories of participants. It offers a vivid account of their lives, the impact of homophobia upon them and the way that these forms of discrimination drew from, and found support in, broader social divisions produced by the Troubles. The presentation of such a wide range of experiences allows for a variety of readers—including sociologists, queer theorists and LGBT historians—to be rewarded by reading this book. I will focus here on what is likely to be of interest to criminologists.