When States Come Out: Transnational Movements and the Diffusion of LGBTI Rights in Europe

Note long: 
The zoom link can be requested at sek-b@mzes.uni-mannheim.de
Time: 
19.04.2021 - 12:00
Location : 
Online via Zoom
Type of Event : 
AB B-Kolloquium
Lecturer: 
Prof. Phillip Ayoub
Lecturer affiliation: 
Occidental College, Los Angeles
Description: 

The Zoom link can be requested at sek-b [at] mzes.uni-mannheim.de.

In the last two decades, the LGBTI movement has gained momentum that is arguably unprecedented in speed and suddenness when compared to other human rights movements. This talk investigates the recent history of this transnational movement in Europe, as well as backlashes to it, focusing on the diffusion of the norms it champions and the overarching question of why the trajectories of socio-legal recognition for LGBT minorities are so different across states. The talk 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 double-edged process of 'coming out' empowers some 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.