This book is about community activism around HIV/AIDS in Australia. It looks at the role that the gay community played in the social, medical and political response to the virus. Drawing conclusions about the cultural impact of social movements, the author argues that AIDS activism contributed to improving social attitudes towards gay men and lesbians in Australia, while also challenging some entrenched cultural patterns of the Australian medical system, allowing greater scope for non-medical intervention into the domain of health and illness. The book documents an important chapter in the history of public health in Australia and explores how HIV/AIDS came to be a defining issue in the history of gay and lesbian rights in Australia.
This book is about community activism around HIV/AIDS in Australia. It looks at the role that the gay community played in the social, medical and political response to the virus. Drawing conclusions about the cultural impact of social movements, the author argues that AIDS activism contributed to improving social attitudes towards gay men and lesbians in Australia, while also challenging some entrenched cultural patterns of the Australian medical system, allowing greater scope for non-medical intervention into the domain of health and illness. The book documents an important chapter in the history of public health in Australia and explores how HIV/AIDS came to be a defining issue in the history of gay and lesbian rights in Australia.
This study is aimed at gaining a better understanding of how people fight for change collectively in societies that, unlike the United States, have less of democratic processes, and fundamental civil-political rights, and, of how law matters to their processes of doing so. It focuses on a particular minority group, gay people, in one particular society - Singapore, an Asian country with shades of authoritarianism - and explored how gay activists make sense of their grievances, strategize and take action to achieve their goals, and evaluate their own efforts. Based on systematic collection and analysis of data, including in-depth interviews with 100 activists, the study found: Unlike what sociology of law has learned in the United States, law - in the form of legal rights - is neither a strategic nor symbolic resource for these activists. The role of law in collective fights for social change goes beyond that of rights, which are stymied by the very legal system set up by the powers in control. Gay activists in Singapore regard law as a key source of oppression that obstructs their movement. The ruling party, in control for the past 45 years, has used law's power of sanction and delegitimization not only to deter legally, but also to cultivate cultural norms that discourage its people from coming together to agitate for social change, to use rights, and to ask for change in the form of rights, which are painted as confrontational, and detrimental to their society's stability and economic progress.Hence, these activists focus on achieving social changes outside formal law, such as gaining acceptance from society at large, and the state to come out, speak out, and have their grievances heard, and to organize, and assemble more publicly as a group of people with shared concerns and interests. Rather than turning to the law to aid their cause, they resist it through "pragmatic resistance," a strategy that precariously balances movement survival, and advancement. To "live to fight another day," they abide by the law, and oppressive cultural norms so as to avoid legal sanctions that could lead to the repression of their movement, and demise of small gains already accumulated, thus reversing their hard work; meanwhile, to advance their goals, without changing formal law they imperceptibly push the boundaries of those cultural norms - which are backed by legal sanctions - on what are socially and politically acceptable. They are conscious of, and accept, their strategy as a trade-off between the accumulation of informal gains outside formal law, and the reification and reinforcement of legal power that perpetuates the cultural legitimacy of the existing political order.
The dogmatic, authoritarian 1950's triggered a massive emergence of movements and sub-cultures that sought to counter repressive McCarthy-era persecutions and reject mainstream American society. Openly gay and lesbian communities felt empowered by these movements and began advocating for their own equal rights, consolidated self-esteem, and group consciousness. Out of these existing queer communities, the Gay Peoples Union, a student-led organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, emerged and championed gay activism. This paper argues that while many queer organizations claimed the mantle of revolutionary sexual struggle, none embodied the gay liberation movement like the Gay Peoples Union as they utilized both mainstream and alternative media outlets to combat systemic oppression, promote political engagement, and destigmatize homosexuality. This paper uses primary sources from the Gay Peoples Union's newspaper publications and radio program as well as secondary sources examining the gay liberation movement as a whole from different historians to serve as historical evidence. ; Professor: Dr. Kathryn Schumaker. Graduate Teaching Assistant: Derek Donwerth ; undergraduate
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.
This article examines, using journalistic discourse as a primary source for analysis, theway in which theemergenceof HIV/AIDS inCosta Ricain the mid-1980s led toa process of sexual diversity´s criminalization, specially towards gay men. Thiscriminalizationisstructured througha dynamicwhere socialabjection was materializedinto actionby the state, foundinglegitimacy in the citizenship. The persecution ofpeople who practicedoridentifiedwith anon-normative sexuality, especially in keyplaces of socialization, resulted in organization and activism. This politicizationof identitiesis a process thatcontinuesto rebuild itselfand is part of theCosta Rican sociallandscape. ; El presente artículo examina, a partir de un análisis de los discursos periodísticos, la manera en que el surgimiento del VIH/SIDA en Costa Rica a mediados de la década de 1980 conlleva todo un proceso de criminalización de la diversidad sexual, principalmente enfocada a los hombres gay. Esta criminalización se estructuró a través de una dinámica donde la abyección social se materializó en acciones concretas por parte del Estado, las cuales encontraron legitimidad en la ciudadanía. La persecución de personas que practicaban o se identificaban con una sexualidad no normativa, especialmente en lugares de socialización claves, tuvo como resultado la organización activista. Esta politización de las identidades es un proceso que sigue reconstruyéndose y forma parte del paisaje social costarricense.
Este trabajo reflexiona sobre la potencialidad crítica encauzada en las prácticas poético-políticas del Grupo de Acción Gay, a principios de los ochenta en Buenos Aires, a partir del análisis de recursos discursivos y visuales materializados en sus diferentes plataformas comunicativas (volantes políticos, revistas, invitaciones a fiestas y banderas). En estos dispositivos de enunciación reconocemos tráficos, usos desviados y contaminaciones –que elegimos llamar montajes maricas–a los imaginarios heteronormados de la política, por un lado,y, por el otro, a los procesos de institucionalización del activismo gay de la posdictadura. ; This paper reflectson the critical potential of the poetic and political practices made by Grupo de Acción Gay, in the early eighties in Buenos Aires, from the analysis of discursive and visual resources materialized in their different communication platforms (political flyers, magazines, invitations and flags). In these sense, we recognize traffics, diverted uses and contaminations –montajes maricas–that criticize the heteronormative political imaginary and the processes of institutionalization of gay activism in the postdictatorship. ; Fil: Cuello, Nicolás. Universidad Nacional de la Plata; Argentina. ; Fil: Lemus, Francisco. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentina.
Este trabajo reflexiona sobre la potencialidad crítica encauzada en las prácticas poético-políticas del Grupo de Acción Gay, a principios de los ochenta en Buenos Aires, a partir del análisis de recursos discursivos y visuales materializados en sus diferentes plataformas comunicativas (volantes políticos, revistas, invitaciones a fiestas y banderas). En estos dispositivos de enunciación reconocemos tráficos, usos desviados y contaminaciones –que elegimos llamar montajes maricas– a los imaginarios heteronormados de la política, por un lado, y, por el otro, a los procesos de institucionalización del activismo gay de la posdictadura. ; This paper reflects on the critical potential of the poetic and political practices made by Grupo de Acción Gay, in the early eighties in Buenos Aires, from the analysis of discursive and visual resources materialized in their different communication platforms (political flyers, magazines, invitations and flags). In these sense, we recognize traffics, diverted uses and contaminations –montajes maricas– that criticize the heteronormative political imaginary and the processes of institutionalization of gay activism in the postdictatorship. ; Facultad de Bellas Artes
The concept of marriage as a union of a man and a woman was fundamentally challenged by the introduction of registered partnership in Denmark in 1989. "http://www.aup.nl/do.php?a=show_visitor_book&isbn=9789052603810">Odd Couples. A History of Gay Marriage in Scandinavia is the first comprehensive history of registered partnership and gay marriage in Scandinavia. It presents an outstanding study of the interaction between gay activism and traditional party politics. Based on interviews, parliamentary print and party documents, it gives a first-hand account of how the political stakeholders acted in a short and decisive period of Scandinavian history. The author traces the origins of laws which initially were extremely controversial - inside and outside the gay community - but have now gained broad popular and political support. The different experiences in all Scandinavian countries (Denmark -including Greenland and the Faroe Islands-, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland) are investigated in order to present a nuanced understanding of a fascinating political process that began in the 1960s and continues to change the ways we understand family, sexuality and nation.
This project looks at political collaboration between people who self-identify as gay men and those who self-identify as feminists. These two groups have been political aligned on numerous issues since the 1970s. The goal of this project is to see on which issues that political collaboration will continue moving forward. This research draws extensively on oral interviews conducted with gay men and feminists, as well as the current work of national advocacy organizations to see where political interest is high, and where networks already exist to foster future advocacy efforts. By focusing on these areas, this project predicts which issues will likely generate a large political coalition, and which ones will be faced with obstacles to political unity.
The invention of AIDS activism came soon after the AIDS epidemic emerged in gay communities in the United States in the early 1980s. AIDS activism by and for people with AIDS, distinct from gay activism responding to the threat of AIDS on the behalf of the whole community, started as a way of resisting the phenomenon of social death. Social death, in which people are considered "as good as dead" and denied roles in community life, posed a unique threat to people with AIDS. An organized political response to AIDS began among gay men with AIDS in San Francisco, California, and New York, New York, formalized in a foundational document later called the Denver Principles. The ideas and language of these first people with AIDS influenced later AIDS activism movements. They also help to illustrate the importance of considering an epidemic from the point of view of people with the disease.
This article focuses on the West German gay subculture and its early reactions to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It analyses how gay men coped with an uncertain epistemological situation in which the medical, social and political status of HIV/AIDS was far from being evident, and in which the ambivalent connection of AIDS, risk and gay sexuality became the object of strong scientific and public interest. The article argues that gay men distinguished between two dimensions of AIDS risk: risky sex and risky language. On the one hand, they developed a strong awareness for the riskiness of their sexual behaviour, resulting in the will to consider AIDS as a disease of their own. On the other hand, they were irritated by the ambiguity of the public AIDS discourse. Its imagery went far beyond AIDS as a medical entity and was believed to conceal antigay politics behind medical facts. In analysing the emerging gay risk strategies, the article points out that gay activists and organisations critically adopted virological knowledge and promoted Safer Sex practices, both strategies which eventually empowered them to represent their interests within the emerging expert networks of AIDS politics since 1985/6. Central to these strategies was the attempt to disentangle a sphere of politics and morality from a sphere of the natural world of viruses, an attempt which was aimed at ending the supposed dangerous spread of antigay AIDS metaphors in the public. The article concludes in trying to interpret the HIV/AIDS controversies as reactions to the general epistemological uncertainties of "risk societies" in the late 20th century.
This article is the first to explore Norwegian HIV/AIDS policy and activism. Drawing on a range of archival material and oral history interviews, it does this along two lines. First, it analyses how AIDS unfolded in the changing political landscape and health bureaucracy of the 1970s and 1980s. The question is addressed of how AIDS challenged and shaped social medicine, an important 'thought style' of the postwar health bureaucracy and an important factor in the creation of the welfare state. Second, the article contributes to a growing AIDS historiography tracing the genealogy of AIDS activism in gay and lesbian health activism in the preceding decades. At the advent of AIDS, formal and informal networks already existed between gay and lesbian communities, activist organisations and the authorities. The roles of gay and lesbian medical professionals and activists are traced, together with how they challenged paternalistic and heteronormative notions of social medicine and homophobic attitudes in the public healthcare system. By having one foot in the medico-political world and one in the queer communities, they were able to mediate and translate different kinds of expertise and knowledge to the authorities, the public and the affected communities. This 'amphibious' role gave them credibility with both the authorities and the communities when addressing public health issues and preventive work. However, this story demonstrates that gay AIDS activists were not immune to the reproduction of exclusionary or hierarchical mechanisms within the queer communities. It shows how the juggling of different roles sometimes posed difficult dilemmas for the activists and how challenging but important this amphibiousness was to them.
What do queer life, communities, and activism look like in contemporary China? The two books under review here provide some valuable answers to this question. Based mainly on ethnographic research conducted between 2004 and 2006, Elisabeth L. Engebretsen's book specifically studies the lalas (queer women) in China's capital, Beijing. Hongwei Bao's work, which draws on his field research from 2007 to 2009, attends to the more general issues of gay men and queer politics. Although actively engaged with recent scholarship on queer ethnography and Chinese studies, Engebretsen intentionally avoids academic jargon that might alienate the interested public; the result is an academically informed but highly accessible work. Bao's writing, by contrast, often invokes concepts, ideas, and theories of famous thinkers and theorists that risk muddling, rather than enhancing, his analysis of Chinese texts and situations. Together, however, the two studies, with their different focuses and writing styles, offer a rich picture of queer life and politics in China during the first decade of the new millennium.
Harvey Milk was an influential advocate for gay rights. His election, assassination, and the riots that resulted from it transformed how many LGBT individuals interacted with politics, activism, and society itself.
