LGBT Activism and the Making of Europe

2014

Europe has long been regarded as a unique place for the promotion and furthering of LGBT rights. This important and compelling study investigates the alleged uniqueness and its ties to a relatively long history of LGBT and queer movements in the region. Contributors argue that LGBT movements were inspired by specific ideas about European democratic values and a responsibility towards human rights, and that they sought to realize these on the ground through activism, often crossing borders to foster a wider movement. In making this argument, they discuss the 'idea of Europe' as it relates to LGBT rights, the history of European LGBT movements, the role of European institutions in adopting LGBT policies, and the construction of European 'others' in this process.

The Oxford Handbook of Global LGBT and Sexual Diversity Politics, 2019

Europe matters to contemporary LGBTQ politics. In this chapter, we map out various political articulations connecting Europe and LGBT rights today, arguing that Europe has played a central role in much of the LGBTQ movement's history, but that this relationship is complex and multifaceted depending on the vast space of what "Europe" means to many different actors. In other words, Europe has been imagined and unimagined as LGBTQ-friendly by various actors and for various purposes. In making this argument we present "Europe" from four different angles, exploring the association between the continent and "LGBT rights" in each: Europe as an institutional entity, Europe as an activist project, Europe as exclusionary and Europe as a threat. We take a position on how the relationship is defined in each section, highlighting both the opportunity and risk that entails for LGBT rights and people on the continent. In doing so, we highlight the ways European states and institutions have gradually endorsed some activist goals, embedding LGBT rights into the version of Europe understood as an institutional entity. Problematically, however, we show that this project also generates different forms of exclusion. Moreover, while many actors articulate an idea of Europe as associated with LGBT rights, these actors also compete to define the nature and the content of this association. Europe as an idea is thus multifaceted in its relation to LGBTQ politics, depending on the angle from which we view it.

Oxford Handbook, 2020

Europe matters to contemporary LGBTQ politics. This chapter maps out various political articulations connecting Europe and LGBT rights today, arguing that Europe has played a central role in much of the LGBTQ movement's history but that this relationship is complex and multifaceted depending on the vast space of what "Europe" means to many different actors. In other words, Europe has been imagined and unimagined as LGBTQfriendly by various actors and for various purposes. In making this argument the chapter presents "Europe" from four different angles, exploring the association between the continent and "LGBT rights" in each: Europe as an institutional entity, Europe as an activist project, Europe as exclusionary, and Europe as a threat. It takes a position on how the relationship is defined in each section, highlighting both the opportunity and risk that entails for LGBT rights and people on the continent. In doing so, the chapter highlights the ways European states and institutions have gradually endorsed some activist goals, embedding LGBT rights into the version of Europe understood as an institutional entity. Problematically, however, it shows that this project also generates different forms of exclusion. Moreover, while many actors articulate an idea of Europe as associated with

2013

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.

This article considers how the influence of the early Christian church in Europe led to the legal framework in which LGBT people could be persecuted. It then considers the response of European nations to the Nazi genocide of World War II, and how this led to the development of two parallel jurisdictions in Europe, one economic, one based in Human Rights. The article then considers how the features of these two jurisdictions have contributed to the development of a legal framework in which LGBT rights can now be increasingly recognised within the law, and asks whether this has led to a process of normative and ethical law in which LGBT rights are natural and given

Politics, Groups, and Identities, 2019

When States Come Out offers new insight into processes of social and political change, not only into the issues of LGBT rights, but in the area of progressive politics more readily, especially when it is read in the broader context of current work on gender, sexuality and policy change. The book is particularly valuable in its holistic analytic approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, and examining not just policy change but also the attitudinal change that accompanies it. The book grapples with the breathtaking changes that have taken place in LGBT politics over the last few decades, offering new explanations for both the pace of change and the uneven outcomes across EU states. The book contributes to work on social change, human rights, international norms, transnational politics and social movements. Ayoub's identification of the "politics of visibility" as a central them has much to offer both political science and progressive politics. Contemporary political debates in the US in the aftermath of the 2016 electionespecially in the popular realmhave focused on the distinction between "identity politics" and economic issuesbut this work adds to other current work in demonstrating the indivisibility of the material and the ideal Violence and privilege related to "coming out" is not merely about cultural politicsit's a matter of life and death-but the ideational elements of this issue cannot be denied. This book joins a growing body of work in showing the impact of social movements as sources of progressive change, sometimes even more important than left parties or descriptive representation of marginalized groups (Weldon 2002a, 2012b; Strolovich 2007; Beer 2018; Htun and Weldon 2018), especially adding to the understanding of the transnational and regional dimensions of this phenomenon. Ayoub shows that social Movements and transnational solidarity can be powerful forces. Especially powerful is the evidence that Ayoub gives for the way international activist networks rally to overcome domestic opposition. This could be seen as pointing to an additional pathway to progressive change-though Brexit, the election of 2016 and its aftermath may be shattering any complacency about the liberal International order that scholars may have taken for granted as background to studies of international norms and human rights. Extant research shows that this social movement impact, especially its connection to international norms, is more powerful for some kinds of issues than others (Htun and

his article considers how the new ‘Europes’ of the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE) have tackled the problems of a historical Judeo-Christian based legal framework in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) were persecuted within nation states. It addresses the late medieval and early modern developments which took the values of what was initially Church religious law and transferred these into state and secular laws; laws which were to prosecute and for many years, judicially kill LGBT people. It also looks at the rare cases where nation states did not embody these former religious rules, and why, and to what extent that protected LGBT people. The article also reviews the differences, historically, in how the two legal systems in Europe, the Civil Codified ‘Roman’ Law of Continental Europe and the Common Law of Great Britain, addressed the determination of a person’s sex for the purposes of legal decision making and property inheritance. This was important for determining whether or not a person was committing a criminal offence by their sexual activity. The article then discusses the response of European nations to the Nazi genocide of World War II, and the development of the two parallel European jurisdictions, one economic, one based in Human Rights. These jurisdictions have created a new moral sensibility, a standard by which the law of Europe is in itself to be judged. A new ‘rule of law’ which has contributed to a social as well as a legal framework in which LGBT people’s rights have been increasingly recognized. The article contrasts this with the history of national persecutions of LGBT people, and discusses how the new versions of Europe have led to a process of creating normative and ethical law in which LGBT rights are natural and given.

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2014