Suchergebnisse

Questioning the emancipatory potential of hate crimes activism for sexual and gender non-normative people, this paper outlines the limits of criminal justice remedies to problems of gender, race, economic and sexual subordination. The first section considers some of the positive impacts of hate crimes activism, focusing on the benefits of legal "naming" for disenfranchised constituencies seeking political recognition. In the next section the authors outline the political shortcomings and troubling consequences of hate crimes activism. First, they examine how hate crimes activism is situated within a "mainstream gay agenda," a term they use to designate the set of projects prioritized by large, national gay rights organizations. The authors question the assimilationist drive of mainstream gay activism, and illustrate how such activism fails to reflect commitments to anti-racism, feminism, and economic redistribution. Second, they critique how the rhetoric of hate crimes activism isolates specific instances of violence against queer and transgender people, categorizing these as acts of individual prejudice, and obscures an understanding of the systemic, institutional nature of gender and sexuality subordination. Finally in this section, the authors interrogate hate crimes statutes as a practice of "identity politics" that, despite accomplishing certain goals, nonetheless dangerously reifies constructs of homosexual identity. In the third and final section, they look at how work on hate crimes occupies a place of "legitimacy" in the world of lesbian and gay activism. Preserving a sense of what hate crimes activism hopes to accomplish, they suggest other political strategies that pursue broader work for social and economic justice and build coalitions across identity categories.

Outlines history of human rights abuses suffered by homosexuals, and examines impact of international gay and lesbian activism on international institutions, international law, and nongovernmental organizations.

"I don't believe they (lesbians and homosexuals) have any rights at all."President Robert Mugabe, 2 August 1995I remember that it was a Monday. I had been running with my partner over lunch time and we had just returned to my office in town. The doorbell rang and standing outside were about nine policemen and women. Demanding entry, one of the senior officers brandished a search warrant for "pornographic material."I was so angry I didn't know what to do with myself. I had been targeted simply because I worked for the national Zimbabwean lesbian and gay organization. Furthermore, the police had no broader agenda other than to intimidate and harass me under the pretext of searching for pornography.

Examines the impact of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) community activism on Canadian AIDS policy, drawing on various print materials, but more substantially on interviews (N not specified) with activists & policymakers (mostly conducted 1990/1991) in Montreal (Quebec), Toronto (Ontario), Vancouver (British Columbia), & Ottawa (Ontario). It is argued that health policy is normally resistant to influence from groups outside of medically expert circles, & that the marginalization of the gay population most affected by AIDS created impediments to shifting public health authorities from their traditional top-down approach to the management of disease. The circumstances of this epidemic, though, & the characteristics of the gay male population most at risk, created unusual openings through which activists could influence public policy at all three levels of government. There are indications that officials are seeking to regain some of the initiative & some of the capacity to define the issues lost 1985-1990, but AIDS activism has dislodged state policy from a number of its traditional moorings. AA

Reflects on the experience of participating in the gay & lesbian protest in San Francisco, CA, against the Persian Gulf War. Gays & lesbians have considerable political clout in San Francisco, especially since 1990, when three of the eight members of the Board of Supervisors were openly gay. Further, because of its experience of organizing in the face of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome epidemic, the gay & lesbian community has developed important skills, resources, & traditions for political activism. However, the mainstream press rarely portrayed the extent of gay & lesbian involvement in the antiwar protest. To become more visible & politically effective, it is suggested that gays & lesbians form larger coalitions with other subordinate groups to express their grievances. The university is an excellent place to mobilize across groups. While it is acknowledged that racism & homophobia pervade the university as they do all institutions in US society, gays & lesbians must work to break down these walls if positive change is to occur. D. M. Smith

From film festivals to university campuses, from private homes to first-run theaters, people everywhere are viewing and discussing gay, lesbian, queer, bisexual, and transgender films and videos. Between the Sheets, In the Streets considers these videos and films, testifying to the unavoidable connections between sexuality (the sheets) and activism (the streets) for all who identify as gay, lesbian, or queer in the 1990s. This first collection of essays to focus exclusively on queer, lesbian, and gay documentary argues that documentary films and videos speak with a sense of political and socia

This article examines the effects of Jeffrey Dahmer's serial killings on Milwaukee's lesbian and gay movement. It argues that Dahmer became a symbol of sexuality and homophobia in both the gay and lesbian community and in the larger culture in vastly different ways. Activists had to defend themselves against a wave of personal and political attacks following Dahmer's arrest. These events shaped the nature of gay identity in what activists perceived to be both positive and negative ways. The emergent meanings of gay in turn affected the nature of activism in their community, including the meanings and risks associated with coming out.