LGBT Rights Research Articles

Debating Sex and Sovereignty: Uganda\u2019s New National Sexuality Education Policy

IntroductionThis article examines recent moral panics over sex education in Uganda from historical perspectives. Public outcry over comprehensive sexuality education erupted in 2016 over claims that children were being taught “homosexuality” by international NGOs. Subsequent debates over sex education revolved around defending what public figures claimed were national, religious, and cultural values from foreign infiltration.MethodsThis paper is grounded in a survey of Uganda’s two English-print national newspapers (2016–2018), archival research of newspapers held at Uganda’s Vision Group media company (1985–2005), analyses of public rhetoric as reported in internationally and nationally circulating media, textual analysis of Uganda’s National Sexuality Education Framework (2018), formal interviews with Ugandan NGO officers (3), and semi-structured interviews with Ugandan educators (3).ResultsUganda’s current panic over sex education reignited longstanding anxieties over foreign interventions into the sexual health and rights of Ugandans. We argue that in the wake of a 35-year battle with HIV/AIDS and more recent controversies over LGBT rights, both of which brought international donor resources and governance, the issue of where and how to teach young people about sex became a new battleground over the state’s authority to govern the health and economic prosperity of its citizens.ConclusionsEthno- and religio-nationalist rhetoric used to oppose the state’s new sexuality education policy was also used to justify sex education as a tool for economic development.Policy ImplicationsAnalyzing rhetoric mobilized by both supporters and detractors of sex education reveals the contested political terrain policy advocates must navigate in Uganda and other postcolonial contexts.

Migrant workers and LGBT activism: A comparative study of Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong

Situating LGBT activism in a gendered, Asian migratory context, this study asks why and how LGBT migrant workers are able to organize themselves and come out publicly as lesbians, bisexual women, or transgender people in Hong Kong. Which factors are enablers for this phenomenon? A comparison of two migrant groups, namely, the Filipinos and Indonesians, who reside in the same city, will shed light on both the commonalities and diversities of their understanding of LGBT rights as well as their approaches for engaging in the LGBT movement. The study examines the different immersed contexts of the two migrant groups rather than homogenizing “migrant domestic worker” as a universal description of these women. The study adopts an intersectional approach to examine how multiple subject positions, including gender, race, class, and non-citizen status, affect migrant domestic workers who have a same-sex relationship in the host city as well as their practices and activism. Besides, it also adopts an inter-Asia approach to shed light on the flows of knowledge as well as inequalities among Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Indonesia and provide insights into how LGBT activism in Asia is culturally hybrid and diasporic. Qualitative research methods, including participant observation and in-depth interviews, were conducted from 2016 to 2018. I attended LGBT parades and events and conducted in-depth interviews with three Filipinos, two Indonesians, and two Hong Kong people. I also used data from my earlier field work in 2010 to 2012.

Resistance as a form of resilience in sexual and gender minorities: Differential moderating roles of collective action on the discrimination–depression relationship among sexual minority men and women

BackgroundAs a fundamental means for transforming and advancing the conditions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, collective action has gained increasing attention in research, policy, and practice over the past decade. While collective action is influential in driving public awareness and policy changes, less is known about its psychological effects on individuals undertaking collective action. MethodsThe present study developed a scale to measure collective action for LGBT rights and examined the underlying dimensions of collective action in a sample of 1050 LGBT individuals in Hong Kong. The moderating roles of collective action on the relationship between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms were also examined. ResultsThe LGBT Collective Action Scale measured two dimensions of collective action, i.e., private and public collective action. Private collective action moderated the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms among sexual minority men and women; however, the moderating effect of public collective action was only found in sexual minority women. ConclusionsThese differential moderating effects could be attributed to gender role socialization and gender-specific coping mechanisms in response to minority stress. Although public collective action is more powerful in triggering structural changes than private collective action, individuals in less democratic societies may not necessarily have access to public collective action due to the absence of opportunity structures. Private collective action, which is able to be initiated and undertaken individually, can be directed to transform heterosexist biases in interpersonal context. For LGBT individuals in less democratic societies, private collective action may be a more manageable way to maintain mental health in the face of stigmatization.

Populism, religion and family values policies in Israel, Italy and Turkey

ABSTRACT There is a growing focus in political science on right-wing populist parties. But few comparative studies address their discourses and politics relating to family values, especially when involved with policy-making. Moreover, many comparative works about populism focus on a single region – often Western and Eastern Europe. This paper adopts a definition of populism with two different dimensions: the vertical (inclusive), which regards elites, and the horizontal (exclusive), which addresses ‘foreigners’. The use of family values in political discourse and policy pertains to the two axes of populism. On the one hand are elites who are accused of being uncommitted to traditional values and morally corrupt. On the other hand are demographic concerns regarding declining birth rates among native populations and immigrants with large families. The stress on family values can also originate from a value orientation – or merely a tactical move – engendered by political competition. This paper specifically examines the politics of family values in the context of policies concerning gender equality, family planning and LGBT rights in three countries: Israel, Italy and Turkey.

‘Traditional values’ and the narrative of gay rights as modernity: Sexual politics beyond polarization

Examining the Russian state’s turn to ‘traditional values’ in the 2010s, this article aims to understand traditionalist state discourses in a global context where LGBT inclusion has been incorporated into notions of national exceptionalism. It argues that the Putin regime has articulated, provided ideological coherence to, and made visible a narrative according to which resistance to LGBT rights appears as a logical choice for states seeking to position themselves in opposition to the ‘liberal West.’ That narrative both counters the homonationalist idea of ‘gay-friendliness’ as a signifier of modernity and good statehood and incorporates some of its elements, notably externalization of homophobia onto racialized, Muslim Others.

Diversity and equity in Ibero‐American universities: An ecological analysis and proposals for action‐research from psychology

AbstractDespite the numerous advances towards the recognition of LGBT rights worldwide, real equity has not yet been achieved. It is therefore necessary to take into consideration not only the socio‐political context but also the concrete practices that have been developed in specific settings. The university represents an important scene, which generates knowledge and development in societies. This study, from a Liberating Community Psychology approach, analysed five good practices related to LGBT issues and psychology placed in four countries with different socio‐cultural backgrounds: Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia and Spain. The results from an ecological SWOT analysis—based on interviews and questionnaires with diverse stakeholders and experts—showed the internal weaknesses (e.g., lack of resources) and strengths (e.g., high promoters' commitment, students acceptance) of the good practices, as well as their external opportunities and threats in the academic (e.g., social status of the university, curricula gaps), but also in the socio‐political context (e.g., protecting policies, attacks from conservative sectors). Additionally, action‐research proposals to improve equity in/from universities were suggested by stakeholders and prioritized by experts through a Delphi panel. The main theoretical and practical contributions are discussed. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Is COVID-19 Immune to Misinformation? A Brief Overview.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation is a major challenge, raising several social and psychological concerns. This article highlights the prevailing misinformation as an outbreak containing hoaxes, myths, and rumours. In comparison to traditional media, online media platforms facilitate misinformation even more widely. To further affirm this ethical concern, the researchers cite relevant studies demonstrating the role of new media in misinformation and its potential consequences. Besides other significant psychosocial impacts, such as xenophobia, psychological distress, LGBT rights violation, gender-based violence, misinformation is undermining healthcare workers’ psychological health and their efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. In view of the adverse consequences of misinformation, this article addresses it as a massive ethical challenge during the current outbreak. Thus, the researchers make relevant suggestions to evaluate misinformation sources and mitigate the psychosocial impacts attributed to misinformation during crises. They include forming mental health teams comprising of psychologists, psychiatrists, and trained paramedical staff; rapid dissemination of authentic and updated COVID-19 situation reports regularly; establishing helpline services; and recognizing a broader range of personal needs. All health authorities should make clear that they are listening and responding to public concerns. Much effort is needed to counteract COVID-19 misinformation.

The Cultural Politics of Dan Quayle and Mike Pence

This essay was part of an Indiana Law Review symposium on the five U.S. vice presidents who have hailed from Indiana. The Gallup polling organization classifies Indiana as a “pink” state, rather than a “red” state, meaning it leans Republican but is not solidly in the GOP column. Yet, if an image of Indiana persists in many people’s minds as a bastion of social conservatism and tradition, that image likely has been shaped in part by the two most recent vice presidents the Hoosier state has sent to Washington: Dan Quayle and Mike Pence. In selecting their running mates, major party presidential candidates typically look for someone with strengths or experience that the person at the top of the ticket lacks. Both Quayle and Pence were chosen, to a large degree, because they were seen as effective and important ambassadors to social and religious conservatives — a group that was not the natural constituency of their senior running mates, George H.W. Bush and Donald Trump, respectively. Barring some event that elevates Pence to the presidency, this is how both Quayle and Pence are likely to be remembered by history: As great favorites, even paragons, of the religious right, and as loyal political subalterns whose job was to carry the torch for “family values,” opposition to abortion and LGBT rights, and a greater role for religion in American public life.

Homonationalist and homocolonialist discourses in Hong Kong’s anti-extradition protests: Online evaluations and representations of LGBT rights

In this article I examine how some protesters perceived LGBT rights during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protest movement. Discourse analysis is deployed to scrutinize one discussion thread on the online forum LIHKG, a thread mainly addressing the topic of an event announced as “protesting with you on Hong Kong tongzhi parade”. The analysis focuses on how participants in the discussion thread evaluate and represent the event, LGBT rights, and the dyads of supporters/opponents of the activity, pro-democracy/pro-establishment Hong Kong citizens, and Hong Kong/Mainland people. The findings illuminate that while most participants use the discourse of freedom and democracy to express their support for LGBT rights and contest hegemonic heteronormative and heterosexist values, they largely enact and reproduce homonationalist and homocolonialist discourses, which I argue, can potentially limit the LGBT rights movement in Hong Kong.

Towards Categorical Visibility? The Political Making of a Third Sex in Germany and the Netherlands

AbstractAlthough international proclamations increasingly recognize legal sex beyond binary categories, domestic legislation is lagging behind. Germany and the Netherlands are the first countries in Western Europe where courts have ruled in favour of a third option. While the German constitution was amended to guarantee a third option, the Dutch government has refrained from implementing comparable legislation. What explains this difference? This article draws on parliamentary debates, newspapers and statements from activists to follow the trajectory of the third option. Building on literature on intersex rights legislation and the diffusion of LGBT rights norms, we find that an established progressive reputation can lead states like the Netherlands to take a back seat, while mobilization by activists was crucial in establishing the self‐determination of legal sex on the German political agenda. Our study contributes to unravelling the complex ways in which new norms shape – or fail to shape – domestic political outcomes.

The legalisation of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland

The saga which led to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland offers some important lessons about the processes of law-making for that jurisdiction, together with broader lessons about how the European Convention on Human Rights could be applied in strategic litigation elsewhere. This commentary analyses four episodes in that saga. It begins by evaluating several failed attempts to achieve legalisation at the Northern Ireland Assembly, before considering two legal challenges which also failed in the High Court of Northern Ireland. The developments which eventually led to legal change through the Parliament of the UK are assessed thereafter, followed by an appraisal of the most significant legal features in a set of judgments handed down by the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland shortly afterwards. It is concluded, in particular, that lessons in connection with how petitions of concern are deployed in the devolved legislature, as well as lessons about how the prohibition on discrimination contained in Article 14 of the Convention has been interpreted, are deserving of wider circulation and appreciation among LGBT rights campaigners in Northern Ireland and beyond.

The Visual Politics of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): Anti-Islam, Ethno-Nationalism, and Gendered Images

This article is an empirical investigation into the visual mobilization strategies by far-right political parties for election campaigns constructing Muslim immigrants as a “threat” to the nation. Drawing on an interdisciplinary theoretical approach of social movement studies and research on media and communication, I focus on the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has produced several widespread inflammatory series of visual election posters featuring anti-Islam rhetoric, combined with provocative images of gender and sexuality. By approaching visual politics through a perspective on actors constructing visual forms of political mobilization, I show how far-right populist “movement parties” are supported by professional graphic designers commercializing extremist ideologies by creating ambivalent images and text messages. My findings on the AfD’s visual campaign politics document the instrumentalization and appropriation of the rhetoric of women’s empowerment and LGBT rights discourse, helping the AfD to rebrand its image as a liberal democratic opposition party, while at the same time, maintaining its illiberal political agenda on gender and sexuality. Visual representations of gender and sexuality in professionally created election posters served to ridicule and shame Muslim minorities and denounce their “Otherness”—while also promoting a heroic self-image of the party as a savior of white women and Western civilization from the threat of male Muslim migrants. By documenting the visual politics of the AfD, as embedded in transnational cooperation between different actors, including visual professional graphic designers and far-right party activists, my multimodal analysis shows how far-right movement parties marketize and commercialize their image as “progressive” in order to reach out to new voters.

Bostock's Paradox: Textualism, Legal Justice, and the Constitution

The Supreme Court’s opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia—recognizing that anti-gay and anti-trans discrimination are forms of sex discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act—has already gained a steady reputation as a textualist statutory interpretation decision. The reality of the ruling is far more complicated than that. Bostock is a textualist decision, but, as the argument here shows, Bostock also offers a construction of Title VII’s sex discrimination rule that sounds in a rule-of-law norm of legal justice about LGBT equality that itself traces roots to the Supreme Court’s constitutional LGBT rights jurisprudence. Bostock’s rule-of-law norm of legal justice, which expands and diffuses constitutional norms of LGBT equality in new ways, does more than shape Bostock’s interpretation of Title VII. Through it, Bostock supplies state actors, including courts, with instruction on how to treat all claims of lesbian, gay, and now trans rights, whether they formally involve constitutional rights claims or, as in Bostock, do not. In Bostock’s wake, state actors must ordinarily treat LGBT persons just the same as their cisheterosexual counterparts, affording them the same benefits of established and new legal protections that cisheterosexuals receive. The path to this larger picture proceeds through an account that explains Bostock both is—and is not—a textualist decision. The opinion’s textualist self-accounting, tracked in these pages, lacks normative justificatory punch on the central interpretive question raised by the claims it decides: whether Title VII’s sex discrimination ban covers anti-gay and anti-trans discrimination. A careful reading of Bostock shows the opinion both disparaging and then ultimately embracing “extratextual” reasons for choosing to read Title VII’s sex discrimination rule in the pro-gay and pro-trans directions that it does. The most telling of these reasons, in a dramatic turn, abandons the majority’s textualist hunt, and reaches for a general, rule-of-law ideal of legal justice—a distinctive understanding of formal equality involving LGBT persons—that emerges from, and extends to new levels, the legal foundations of the U.S. Supreme Court’s pro-lesbian and pro-gay constitutional rights jurisprudence, whose pro-trans legal implications are expressly recognized by the Supreme Court in Bostock for the first time. Bostock’s announcement of the operations of legal justice in the case—a stylized extension of operative constitutional norms—has far-reaching implications for the interpretation of other statutes that may benefit LGBT persons, as well as other legal rules that, now or in the future, implicate LGBT rights. Understanding how Bostock follows a line of justification found in the Supreme Court’s constitutional promises of equal dignity and respect for lesbian women, gay men, and trans people frames an account of what is legally misguided about the textualist approaches taken up by the Bostock dissents. These opinions, which indulge both anti-gay and anti-trans sentiments as touchstones for their own preferred choices for how to read Title VII’s sex discrimination ban, flout constitutional values that strip those choices of their own easy claims to legality. Having identified the legal flaws of the dissents’ textualist analytics, discussion turns to the most significant of the likely reasons why the Bostock majority opinion does not expressly avow the constitutional and rule-of-law grounds for its decision. No matter, the recognition of Bostock’s foundations in constitutionalism recasts the pressures the Supreme Court will face in future cases taking up questions that Bostock formally brackets, as well as other wonders about its own text’s meaning. With time, Bostock may prove to be an even bigger breakthrough for LGBT equality and rights under law than at first glance it seems.

The Revolution of Dignity and instrumentalisation of LGBT rights: How did attitudes towards LGBT people change in Ukraine after Euromaidan?

The aftermath of Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity provoked a lot of criticism among the students of LGBT topics. The principles of non-discrimination and protection of LGBT rights are an exemplary manifestation of European values to which Euromaidan declared adherence. The Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, which was signed after the Revolution, as well as visa-free travel, which was granted to Ukrainian citizens, obliged this country to liberalise LGBT-related laws due to the EUʼs policy on the instrumentalisation of LGBT rights. However, there is a view that this step may cause conflicts in Ukrainian society, which is still predominantly homophobic, and only lead to a superficial change in the condition of LGBT people owing to pressure from the European Union. Some scholars (e.g. Shevtsova [2020], Wannebo [2017]) claim that the instrumentalisation policy has even resulted in a backlash against the LGBT community and worsened the overall situation for them. But has this backlash (if it really happened) entailed a corresponding change in public opinion on LGBT issues? Surprisingly, the dynamics of public attitudes towards the LGBT community and their rights remain unexplored. The paper proposes to fill this gap by a comparative analysis of two cross-sectional surveys on this topic, which were conducted before (in 2013) and after (in 2016) the Revolution of Dignity in several regions of Ukraine. Within the framework of the study, three research questions have been posed: 1. Have Ukrainians’ attitudes towards the LGBT community changed since Euromaidan? 2. How different (e. g. positive) were the attitudes towards LGBT people among Euromaidan supporters? 3. Have the events that happened after the Revolution of Dignity, such as Russia is hybrid war against Ukraine, been able to affect attitudes towards LGBT rights? The results show that there have been modest, albeit statistically significant positive changes in Ukrainians’ attitudes towards the LGBT community since Euromaidan. However, practically no change in terms of support for LGBT rights has been recorded. Our findings are consistent with other relevant nationally representative surveys according to which public perception of LGBT individuals has not worsened. This fact suggests that the instrumentalisation of LGBT rights has not faced any backlash, at least from the general population. Other data in our study indicate that not all proponents of the Revolution of Dignity displayed favourable attitudes towards LGBT people; nevertheless, they held more positive views on the LGBT community and same-sex marriage than those who did not take part in Euromaidan. The respondents who have experienced the impact of the Donbas conflict also demonstrated relatively better attitudes to LGBT individuals and expressed support for their rights. Still, this may be linked to a significant percentage of Euromaidan participants among them.

LGBT Rights as Mega-politics: Litigating before the ECtHR

Contestations over LGBT rights are now occurring worldwide at multiple levels of governance. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or Strasbourg Court) has become a focal point for these contestations. This article, part of a symposium in Law and Contemporary Problems on International Courts and the Adjudication of Mega-Politics, analyzes the increase in LGBT rights cases before the ECtHR. We argue that two divergent forces are pushing these cases to Strasbourg. First, the Court has dynamically interpreted the European Convention on Human Rights to expand protections for gay men and lesbians by taking account of progressive trends in national laws and policies. Second, the ECtHR has received numerous complaints against Russia, Eastern European, and former Soviet states that routinely violate the bodily integrity and political rights of sexual minorities. To understand these trends, we coded all ECtHR lesbian and gay rights cases. We divide the case law into three periods—1950 to 1998, 1999 to 2009, and 2010 to 2020—that mark the Court’s evolving approach to these rights. We identify the number of cases in each period, describe important doctrinal trends, and discuss watershed cases that mark shifts in ECtHR jurisprudence. We then pose three questions to investigate the explosion of LGBT legal issues before the ECtHR over the last decade: Why the increase? Why Strasbourg? And why LGBT rights? We conclude by considering the implications of our findings for the ECtHR as a forum for mega-political contestation.

Reframing LGBT rights advocacy in the context of the rule of law backsliding

Adopting the methods of institutional analysis and case law analysis, the paper answers how specific elements of rule of law backsliding impact advocacy for minorities’ rights’ recognition. The phenomenon is analysed in the case of Poland, a state that since 2015 has been experiencing directed erosion on rule of law standards. Between 2018 and 2020, governmental leaders in Poland targeted lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the context of electoral campaigns. The paper discusses long-term legal, political, and social factors contributing to creating an environment where such anti-LGBT campaigns are possible. It further demonstrates that specific elements of rule of law backsliding, such as politically subordinating the Constitutional Tribunal and the office of the Prosecutor General, enable authorities to apply discriminatory legal instruments to limit the targeted minority’s rights and also make resistance to it with legal means more complex. Against this backdrop, the paper argues that human rights defenders’ immediate responses—private civil lawsuits, artistic projects, and monitoring of discriminatory actions of the authorities—were key for drawing domestic and international attention to anti-LGBT campaigns, which later led to the European Union’s institutions concrete actions and an independent Commissioner for Human Rights’ legal actions. Cumulatively, these actions contributed to reversing elements of the anti-LGBT campaign in Poland.

The everyday abnormal and the quest for normalcy

Illiberal regimes and societies test resilience and provoke resistance, especially from targeted minority groups. But this abstraction can obscure the complexity of specific events and participants’ emotional motivation. What are the emotional and cognitive responses of protest participants within illiberal contexts? This article investigates this question by focusing on LGBT-rights protest participants in contemporary Poland. Using testimony from in-depth semi-structured interviews with participants from 2019 equality marches, we identify emotional and cognitive responses that centre around a quest for normalcy. Illiberal politics in Poland, especially when contrasted with perceptions about LGBT acceptance in neighbouring countries, have made everyday life 'abnormal,' where LGBT individuals fear increasing violence and feel unable to act normally. Protest participation opens a space where LGBT individuals and allies can feel normal. This experience of normalcy effectively claims recognition of one's 'normal' humanity. In turn, this builds resilience within participants to endure the deterring effects of everyday life and to continue their advocacy for LGBT rights.

Voices of Latin America: Social Movements and the New Activism ed. by Tom Gatehouse

Reviewed by: Voices of Latin America: Social Movements and the New Activism ed. by Tom Gatehouse Emily Billo Tom Gatehouse, ed. Voices of Latin America: Social Movements and the New Activism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2019. xiv + 285 pp. References and index. $32.00 paperback (ISBN 978-1-58567-797-1); $89.00 cloth (ISBN 978-1-58367-798-8); $25.00 electronic (ISBN 978-1-58367-799-5). Voices of latin america: social move-ments and the New Activism, a collection of essays edited by Tom Gatehouse, head of the "Voices Team" at the Latin America Bureau (LAB), situates social movements in political, economic, and social context in Latin America. Many of the movements supported pink-tide governments, while also holding those governments accountable for their so-called progressive politics. This collection of essays was published just prior to significant political and economic upheaval in the region. A return to the right fueled by the (re)instatement of neoliberal policies, [End Page 280] resulted in widespread, organized protest in many countries. In Brazil, conservative Jair Bolsonaro won the presidential election in 2018 with a majority of the popular vote. In the last months of 2019 and into early 2020, student-led protests in Chile challenged neoliberal policies in that country and intensified efforts to replace the constitution imposed during the Pinochet era. At the same time, protestors in Colombia took to the streets to fight for increased governmental protection of human rights, social programs, and the environment. Meanwhile, in Bolivia, contested presidential elections in 2019 led to the ouster of Evo Morales through a political coup, and the installation of a conservative government. Finally, in Ecuador, country-wide Indigenous protests over the government's agreement with the IMF to end fuel subsidies forced the government to cancel the IMF mandate. In all cases, these were violent protests that resulted in deaths and injuries at the hands of state law enforcement. Even as scholars and activists in this collection identified new social movements to explore progressivism and democracy in Latin America, their critical analysis illustrates that discussion of progress in the region must be tempered by rising inequality, ongoing resource extraction, gender-based violence, and a return to neoliberalism. Each chapter in the volume focuses on a distinct social movement, grounded in stories by activists situated in countries across the region. Interviews with activists and scholars underpin the analysis and discussion. As Gatehouse acknowledges in the introduction, these interviews contribute to a "book of many voices" (p. 1). Interviews, conducted between 2016 and 2018 by those involved in the project, were all translated into English. Gatehouse writes that interviews "testify to an extremely sensitive and uncertain moment in the history of Latin America" (p. 1). The introduction outlines the current challenges facing the region, rooted in resource extraction. Specifically, concerns related to human rights violations, land ownership, and more broadly socio-ecological impacts that intersect with gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and so on all inform movement organization. Sociologist Maristella Svampa outlines four types of movements in Latin America: eco-territorial, unions, socio-territorial urban movements, and women's movements. She argues that "environmental, popular, anti-neoliberal and anti-patriarchal narratives should all, at some point, come together" (p. 21). Without this joining of movements, the Latin American left "won't exist at all" (p. 21). Following the introduction, there are 10 chapters organized around the following issues: fighting machismo, LGBT rights, the student revolution, Indigenous peoples, the hydroelectric threat, mining, state violence, spaces of everyday resistance, the new journalism, and cultural resistance. Journalists, academics, a photographer, activists, and consultants wrote chapters, all with extensive lived experience in Latin America. Limited by space, I will only focus on a few of the chapters in this review. Chapter 2, Fighting machismo: women on the front line by Louise Morris, examines gendered resistance. Specifically, "Latin America currently has the second-highest level of female political representation in the world" [End Page 281] (p. 26), yet ongoing violence against women still constructs women's everyday lives. The author focuses on social structures informed by patriarchy and intersectionality to make sense of how women are situated differently on the basis of race/ethnicity...

Lesson for LGBT Rights Advocates from Who's the Bigot?

Lesson for LGBT Rights Advocates from Who's the Bigot?

Divine Monarchy, Spirited Sovereignties, and the Timely Malagasy MSM Medium-Activist Subject

Amid ongoing political instability, sarimbavy — same-sex-desiring and/or gender-expansive male-bodied persons — are increasingly rendered opportune subjects ripe for intervention across Madagascar by HIV prevention industries, homonationalist LGBT rights projects backed by the United States Embassy, and many Christian institutions. This article diverges from these biomedical and moral panics by attending to the shifting temporal allegiances of sarimbavy spirit medium-activists. Interlocutors’ roles as mediums to spirits of former reigning monarchs (tromba) necessitated an onerous dedication to Malagasy history (tantara) and tradition (fombandrazana); simultaneously, many sarimbavy mediums were also men who have sex with men (MSM) activists, and thus deeply committed to moving beyond what they saw as the stigma-ridden past and present. These activist engagements and the sarimbavy counterpublics that they produced were uncannily facilitated by mediumship social networks. Through these practices of monarchic veneration, sarimbavy medium-activists implicitly challenged Western expectations that queer social movements must emerge through the subversion of social norms and secular, liberal, democratic reform. In surrendering to the seemingly antidemocratic weight of divine queen-kingship, sarimbavy mediums became “possessed” by political organizations irreducible to the modern nation-state and its colonial genealogies and, furthermore, produced human-spirit relationalities that thwarted Western juridicolegal visions of a bounded, rights-bearing subject.