Enshrined in the Bill of Rights of South Africa's Constitution[1] are a number of rights that affirm the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom. Section 9(3) states that 'The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.' Despite these rights, which are also embodied in policy and law at the highest levels internationally, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people are subjected to discrimination, abuse, violence and even death because they do not fit into the expectations of what certain sectors of society consider to be the 'norm'.
The Nordic countries have often been depicted as progressive societies regarding sexual diversity and gender equality. These progressive changes in sexual minority issues, however, have not brought about radical changes in educational policies in addressing gender and sexual equality in schools. Both compulsory and upper secondary education often lack coherent protection of queer students. The same applies to specific policies on queer issues within the education system; they are hidden in the depths of many national curricula. In fact, a discrepancy exists in broader social policies supporting equality based on sexual orientation in the educational context. The main objective of this article is to investigate this discrepancy and justify it. In doing so, we will discuss in detail the educational policies and practices on sexualities currently operating in the Nordic area, particularly in Finland and Iceland. We analyse curricula documents, legislation, research reports, and other data from our own research projects, including ethnographic interviews, observation data, survey data, and written material. ; Academy of Finland (Strategic Research Council) [Grant number 292883] and University of Iceland ; Pre-print version
Abstract So-called "sexual reorientation therapies" represent a challenge to the scientific and professional development of Psychology, and to the exercise and free expression of sexual orientation as a human right. Since 1999 the Brazilian Federal Council of Psychology (CFP) has implemented a ban against the pathologization of homosexuality. The validity of that normative instrument, known as Resolution 01/99, has been contested by moral entrepreneurs within the profession, self-identified as Evangelical Christians, who pose a broader challenge to Psychology, standing as a secular, science-based profession. The controversy created by the challenge to CFP's positions on homosexuality and on religion extrapolates the domain of Psychology and its regulation as a science and profession, and becomes one more dispute related to sexual politics in Brazil. In this paper we explore the process by which sexual diversity has become a contentious issue for Brazilian Psychology, affecting the politics and regulation of the profession.
This article intends to talk about a democratic initiative of the Brazilian Bar Association to promote human rights and sexual diversity in Brazil. Brazil is walking up the road to protect LGBTI citizens and to legally recognize same-sex couples. The country has guaranteed many rights to homosexual couples and their children, but the lack of a specific act to rule these matters is a problem in a country whose legal system is still very dependent to legal acts and positivism. This work tries to show the state of art of homosexual couples' rights in Brazil and how the proposal of a new statute to protect the rights of LGBTI people, in all aspects of their daily life could protect them and contribute for a democratic society.
Enshrined in the Bill of Rights of South Africa's Constitution are a number of rights that affirm the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom. Section 9(3) states that 'The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.' Despite these rights, which are also embodied in policy and law at the highest levels internationally, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender and intersex (LGBTI) people are subjected to discrimination, abuse, violence and even death because they do not fit into the expectations of what certain sectors of society consider to be the 'norm'. ; http://www.samj.org.za ; am2016 ; Immunology
African lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) organizations face various strategic dilemmas in contexts characterized by political hostility to gender and sexual dissidents. In Malawi, one such context, we examine how an LGBTIQ social movement organization (SMO) in Malawi, the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), navigated one particular strategic dilemma—the dilemma of whether to adopt a less politicized public-health approach or a more nimble, grassroots-oriented, and social-justice approach to their advocacy work—and the consequences of the organization's strategic decisions. Scholars interpret these approaches as signifying differential political engagement among organizations, with the social-justice approach indicating political engagement and the public-health approach signaling political disengagement. This difference has led critics to argue that a public-health approach is poorly suited to generating social and legal reform because it de-politicizes LGBTIQ issues over time, while a social-justice approach exerts constant pressure on political and religious elites. Drawing on qualitative interview data with Malawian LGBTIQ activists and news media data reflecting public debate around homosexuality in the country, we illuminate how this SMO metamorphosed from an organization ostensibly focused only on public health and HIV/AIDS to one that advances social justice for gender and sexual dissidents. We argue for an understanding of the indigenous development of a hybrid strategy integrating the public-health and social-justice approaches.
El Área Mujer y Diversidad Sexual, dependiente de la Subsecretaría de Acción Social del Gobierno de la Ciudad de Santa Fe, a través de la cual se aborda la problemática de violencia hacia las mujeres, comenzó a funcionar en 2012, en sintonía con la entrada en vigencia de la Ley 26.485 de Protección Integral a las Mujeres. Desde la perspectiva de género, el espacio se creó para dar contención y orientación a las mujeres y también a los varones, centrando su trabajo en la transformación de las relaciones humanas en experiencias equitativas. Este trabajo da cuenta de la metodología empleada y de los resultados alcanzados. ; The Area Woman and Sexual Diversity, dependent on the Subsecretary of Social Action of the Government of the City of Santa Fe, across which the problematics of violence is approached towards the women, began to work in 2012, in tuning in with the entry in force of the Law 26.485 of Integral Protection to the Women. From the perspective of género, the space was created to give containment and orientation to the women and also to the males, centring his work on the transformation of the human relations on equitable experiences. This work realizes of the used methodology and of the results reached by this area. ; Facultad de Periodismo y Comunicación Social
Purpose: This article explores different strands of educational discourse about sexual diversity in Portuguese schools, from the students perspectives. Method: The methodological approach consisted in conducting focus groups discussions: 36 with 232 young students (H = 106, M = 126) in 12 public secondary schools. Findings: Students reveal a polyphony of discourses that gravitate between liberal acceptance, conditional acceptance and intolerance. Research implications: Attention is drawn not only to discriminatory processes that question school as a democratic place for LGBT youth, but also to the gap between what is legally decreed and a lack of know-how in the approach to sexual diversity in school.
Purpose: This article explores different strands of educational discourse about sexual diversity in Portuguese schools, from the students' perspectives.Method: The methodological approach consisted in conducting focus groups discussions: 36 with 232 young students (H = 106, M = 126) in 12 public secondary schools.Findings: Students reveal a polyphony of discourses that gravitate between liberal acceptance, conditional acceptance and intolerance.Research implications: Attention is drawn not only to discriminatory processes that question school as a democratic place for LGBT youth, but also to the gap between what is legally decreed and a lack of know-how in the approach to sexual diversity in school.
The current article is the result of a wider research that seeks to generate discussion about the actual challenges of social work in the construction of alternatives of social intervention on sexual diversity contexts in Chile. The crisis of the heterosexual regulation reflects a contemporaneity marked by the visibility of the historically excluded groups, as a reflection of the sensitivity and questioning of a dominant manhood inherently excluder and unreachable, as political and positioning processes of a current group, but until recently hidden in our country. Through ethnographic technics and the incorporation of the concept of market as a vehicle of visibility, this works proposes ideas coherent with the construction of a cross-curricular praxis that responds to the new definition of social work, globally discussed, as well as the questioning processes and citizen movements during last decade. ; El presente artículo es fruto de una investigación de largo alcance que busca generar discusión en torno a los desafíos contemporáneos del Trabajo Social en la construcción de alternativas de intervención social en contextos de diversidad sexual en Chile. La crisis de la norma heterosexual refleja una contemporaneidad marcada por la visibilidad de los grupos históricamente excluidos, reflejo de la sensibilización y cuestionamiento de una masculinidad dominante intrínsecamente exclusora e inalcanzable, como también de procesos de posicionamiento político y cultural de un colectivo presente, pero hasta hace poco invisibilizado, en nuestro país. A través de técnicas etnográficas y la incorporación del concepto de mercado como vehículo de visibilidad, el trabajo propone ideas coherentes con la construcción de una praxis transdisciplinar que responde a la nueva definición de Trabajo Social, en discusión a nivel mundial, como de los procesos de cuestionamiento y mudanza ciudadanos revitalizados en la última década.
Since its beginnings in 2012, this research is situated in the crossroad between sociosemiotics and gender studies, analyzing the ways sexual diversity, non-normative sexual identities and new family models have been reconfigured in different sections of social discourse in Argentina in the two first decades of the 21st century. Our theoretical path builds a genealogy that thinks the relationships between Foucault's technologies of the self, Teresa de Lauretis' gender technologies, Haraway's and Preciado's contributions, and the relations between feminist theory and affective turn (Sarah Ahmed, Cecilia Macón, Leonor Arfuch). We revisit Laclau's, Lotman's, Angenot's definitions of Rhetoric, to think the political and persuasive dimension of discourse as a naturalization technology, in the analysis of a variety of discourses (literature, written press, educational materials, performances, audiovisual fiction, etc.), building on the hypothesis that the acceptability of non-heteronormative identities and affectivities, as discursive politics is grounded in the social validation of the emotions they put in play and articulate fundamental social evaluations and ideologemes. ; Desde sus inicios en 2012, el proyecto se enmarca en el cruce entre la sociosemiótica y los estudios de género, analizando los modos en que la diversidad sexual, las identidades sexuales no normativas y los nuevos modelos de familia han sido reconfigurados en distintos sectores del discurso social argentino de las dos primeras décadas del s. XXI. Nuestro recorrido teórico construye una genealogía que piensa las relaciones entre las tecnologías del yo de Foucault, las tecnologías de género de Teresa de Lauretis, las propuestas de Haraway y Preciado, y las relaciones entre teoría feminista y giro afectivo (Sarah Ahmed, Cecilia Macón, Leonor Arfuch). Retomamos las definiciones de la retórica de Laclau, Lotman y Angenot para pensar la dimensión política y persuasiva de los discursos como una tecnología de la naturalización en el análisis de una variedad de discursos (literatura, prensa escrita, materiales educativos, performances, ficción audiovisual, etc.), partiendo de la hipótesis de que la aceptabilidad de las identidades y afectividades no heteronormativas, como política discursiva, se sustenta en la validación social de las emociones que se ponen en juego en ellas, que articulan valoraciones sociales e ideologemas fundamentales.
Engaging key populations, including gender and sexual minorities, is essential to meeting global targets for reducing new HIV infections and improving the HIV continuum of care. Negative attitudes toward gender and sexual minorities serve as a barrier to political will and effective programming for HIV health services. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), established in 2003, provided Gender and Sexual Diversity Trainings for 2,825 participants including PEPFAR staff and program implementers, U.S. government staff, and local stakeholders in 38 countries. The outcomes of these one-day trainings were evaluated among a subset of participants using a mixed methods pre- and post-training study design. Findings suggest that sustainable decreases in negative attitudes toward gender and sexual minorities are achievable with a one-day training.
Engaging key populations, including gender and sexual minorities, is essential to meeting global targets for reducing new HIV infections and improving the HIV continuum of care. Negative attitudes toward gender and sexual minorities serve as a barrier to political will and effective programming for HIV health services. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), established in 2003, provided Gender and Sexual Diversity Trainings for 2,825 participants including PEPFAR staff and program implementers, U.S. government staff, and local stakeholders in 38 countries. The outcomes of these one-day trainings were evaluated among a subset of participants using a mixed methods pre- and post-training study design. Findings suggest that sustainable decreases in negative attitudes toward gender and sexual minorities are achievable with a one-day training.
This paper argues the case for critical regional enquiries in East and South East Asia into the study of gender and sexual diversity. The concept of 'regions' is here seen as a partial and provisional way of describing both the various ways in which an area of the world is imagined as being separate and distinct, and of describing the flows of people, goods and ideas through which a particular region or world area is made. Further, it is suggested that the idea of regions is a theoretically and politically necessary fiction. On the one hand, a critical regional perspective provides a vantage point from which to problematize naïve and uncritical writing on globalization, including the 'globalization' of gender and sexual identities. On the other hand, it enables us to think about the wider networks of material and symbolic relations within, and through which, gender and sexuality are made and experienced in particular locales.
This paper argues the case for critical regional enquiries in East and South East Asia into the study of gender and sexual diversity. The concept of 'regions' is here seen as a partial and provisional way of describing both the various ways in which an area of the world is imagined as being separate and distinct, and of describing the flows of people, goods and ideas through which a particular region or world area is made. Further, it is suggested that the idea of regions is a theoretically and politically necessary fiction. On the one hand, a critical regional perspective provides a vantage point from which to problematize naïve and uncritical writing on globalization, including the 'globalization' of gender and sexual identities. On the other hand, it enables us to think about the wider networks of material and symbolic relations within, and through which, gender and sexuality are made and experienced in particular locales.
