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In the last two decades, the LGBT movement has gained momentum that is arguably unprecedented in speed and suddenness when compared to other human rights movements. This book investigates the recent history of this transnational movement in Europe, focusing on the diffusion of the norms it champions and the overarching question of why, despite similar international pressures, the trajectories of socio-legal recognition for LGBT minorities are so different across states. The book makes the case that a politics of visibility has engendered the interactions between movements and states that empower marginalized people - mobilizing actors to demand change, influencing the spread of new legal standards, and weaving new ideas into the fabrics of societies. It documents how this process of 'coming out' empowers marginalized social groups by moving them to the center of political debate and public recognition and making it possible for them to obtain rights to which they have due claim

Research on state repression of protest focuses on two key factors: threat and weakness. States repress protest events when they threaten state authorities and social norms (threat), when they lack organizational strength and political voice (weakness), or when they do both. I test these competing explanations in the context of Western European protests from 1975 to 1989. This analysis goes beyond previous research by exploring the effect of threat and weakness in multiple domestic contexts. The findings suggest that threat is the most powerful explanation of repression, whereas weakness only occasionally predicts repression and depends on country-specific contexts. The importance of the findings lie in their ability to emphasize (1) the universality of situational threat to police "on-the-ground" over theories that view a calculating state "up-above," and (2) the seemingly unified perception (in advanced democracies) of protest as an increasingly legitimate form of political participation that does not beget repression.

In den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten ist die LGBT-Bewegung (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) in einer im Vergleich zu anderen Menschenrechtsbewegungen beispiellosen Geschwindigkeit gewachsen. Phillip M. Ayoub zeichnet die jüngere Geschichte dieser transnationalen Bewegung in Europa nach. Er zeigt, wie das »Coming-out« die marginalisierte Gesellschaftsgruppe ins Zentrum der politischen Debatte rückte und ihr zu längst fälligen Rechten verhalf. Neben der Analyse der von der Bewegung vertretenen Normen steht vor allem die Frage im Zentrum, warum die gesellschaftsrechtliche Anerkennung der LGBT-Minderheiten in den jeweiligen Staaten so unterschiedlich verläuft.

In den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten ist die LGBT-Bewegung (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) in einer im Vergleich zu anderen Menschenrechtsbewegungen beispiellosen Geschwindigkeit gewachsen. Phillip M. Ayoub zeichnet die jüngere Geschichte dieser transnationalen Bewegung in Europa nach. Er zeigt, wie das "Coming-out" die marginalisierte Gesellschaftsgruppe ins Zentrum der politischen Debatte rückte und ihr zu längst fälligen Rechten verhalf. Neben der Analyse der von der Bewegung vertretenen Normen steht vor allem die Frage im Zentrum, warum die gesellschaftsrechtliche Anerkennung der LGBT-Minderheiten in den jeweiligen Staaten so unterschiedlich verläuft. (Verlagstext)

Despite both unparalleled progress on and persistent backlash to LGBTI rights in world politics, LGBTIQ people are rarely centred in our work as political scientists. This article charts the status of LGBTIQ scholarship in political science, advocating the creation of new spaces for such scholarship in the field, including in the pages of journals like the European Journal of Politics and Gender. Drawing on recent studies of the profession and on the reflections of leading LGBTIQ thinkers on navigating their presence in the subfield, I argue that LGBTIQ scholars and their scholarship still face individual-level and structural discrimination in political science. This encompasses active and passive homophobia and transphobia in teaching, getting hired and promoted, gaining access to research funding, and the publication process.

ABSTRACTTeaching research design is a core component of a political science curriculum. In our pedagogy, we often do two things separately: expecting students to (1) read and digest the work of established scholars, and (2) explore their own interests in the form of a research design or research paper. In a reverse research design, I bridge these two components with a pedagogical tool. I use a published book or article relevant to the course and students retrace the published author's process, placing themselves in the author's shoes. Rewinding some years, students imagine that they are this author writing a grant proposal to conduct the (now-completed) study. This helps students to work through the steps of research design, putting aside until later the more intimidating hurdle of articulating their own research question and project. This article explains reverse research design and describes the teaching resources and methods for implementation.

With the rejection of claims made by LGBT movements in many states, and amidst a global politics marred by exclusionary populism and nationalism, LGBT rights are increasingly contradicted on the world stage. This chapter explores the tensions between the transnational diffusion of LGBT rights and a "traditional values" politics championed by an emerging global opposition – as well as LGBT activists' instrumental reframing and translation of "traditional values" and "family values" norms as a direct response. This chapter analyzes how LGBT rights advocacy, within distinct contexts, innovatively addresses these imagined contradictions in rights. It is this process that comes into play when contested rights clash with the arguments of rival movements and global counter norms. Faced with competing claims about new norms governing sexuality – especially those that problematically conflate sexual rights with the external imposition of "Western" power over the "vulnerable" states – local LGBT activists respond with the practice of translation.

This article is concerned with the question of why lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) rights legislation is introduced at higher levels in some cases and less so in others. To address this puzzle, the article analyzes changes in LGBT rights legislation across European Union (EU) member states between 1970 and 2009. It focuses on the diffusion of five different categories of such legislation (anti-discrimination, criminal law, partnership, parenting rights, and equal sexual offenses provisions) to new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe, compared with diffusion patterns in older EU member states. I argue that new-adopter states are more dependent on international resources for making new issues visible and are more inclined to see policy adoption as a means to gain external legitimacy and improve reputation. The analysis reveals that the transnational embeddedness of a state's LGBT advocacy organizations is a powerful statistical explanation for successful policy diffusion to new EU member states, alongside international channels that lead to LGBT visibility among society and state authorities. In addition to lending cross-national, empirical reinforcement to some of the theoretical expectations regarding the international sources of diffusion, the results suggest variability in the determinants of LGBT policy adoption between the 15 old and 12 new EU states. Domestic factors, particularly economic modernization, are more relevant for policy adoption in the older member states, whereas the newer member states display greater dependence on transnational actors and are more influenced by international channels.

This article builds on previous research on Europeanization and political opportunity structures (POS) for mobilization, to explore the processes of transnational LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) mobilization in the European Union (EU). In the case of LGBT activism, European integration affects contentious politics by altering POS – both vertically and horizontally – for mobilization and changing the tactics of LGBT activism. Using the cases of Germany and Poland to trace cross-border connections between norm entrepreneur and target state, the findings suggest that LGBT activism relies on transnational resources – primarily, social spaces and organizational capacity – that are scarce in many member states but readily available in others. These horizontal opportunities among member states, alongside top-down vertical ones provided by Brussels, serve as mobilizing structures that bring together distinct groups of international actors. Europeanization also alters the tactics that transnational actors use when engaging with authorities in the target state. Employing socialization mechanisms that highlight appropriate behavior, actors tactically frame their demands in a European discourse by associating the issue of LGBT acceptance with democratic responsibilities as members of the EU community.

Research on state repression of protest focuses on two key factors: threat and weakness. States repress protest events when they threaten state authorities and social norms (threat), when they lack organizational strength and political voice (weakness), or when they do both. I test these competing explanations in the context of Western European protests from 1975 to 1989. This analysis goes beyond previous research by exploring the effect of threat and weakness in multiple domestic contexts. The findings suggest that threat is the most powerful explanation of repression, whereas weakness only occasionally predicts repression and depends on country-specific contexts. The importance of the findings lie in their ability to emphasize (1) the universality of situational threat to police "on-the-ground" over theories that view a calculating state "up-above," and (2) the seemingly unified perception (in advanced democracies) of protest as an increasingly legitimate form of political participation that does not beget repression. Adapted from the source document.

This book explores the alleged uniqueness of the European experience, and investigates its ties to a long history of LGBT and queer movements in the region. These movements, the book argues, were inspired by specific ideas about Europe, which they sought to realize on the ground through activism