Sexual Citizenship: From Social Inclusion to Political Contestation

Abstract

This chapter introduces the concept of “sexual citizenship”, starting with a focus on citizenship as the crucial site where human rights and LGBTQI identities intersect. While the chapter highlights the intrinsic tension existing between citizenship and human rights, it also considers emerging models of non-national citizenship in the context of Europe as a unique opportunity to rethink exclusionary practices in the allocation of political membership and human rights entitlements in the European continent. The chapter also considers the issue of belonging to a national community from the perspective of “homonationalism” (Puar 2007), by which some queer identities become mobilised for the purpose of portraying and promoting national liberal values, to the detriment of other sexual and racial identities.