Summer Course: Global LGBTQI2S Rights (WOME-2111-ADE)

In "Global LGBTQI2S Rights," students will explore lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and two-spirit human rights in contemporary Canada and around the world.

Crossing the Global North/South divide, our queer political journey will take us to Canada, Argentina, South Africa, Belgium, India, the Netherlands, Poland, Jamaica, Indonesia, and beyond! Students will also learn about differences in queer rights within Canada, documenting disparities from province to province and across other geographical divisions, diasporas, and intersecting social identities. In what ways do queer rights signal something significant about citizenship and belonging in the nation? What  is the role of the state versus social movements in achieving queer rights and inclusion in particular countries? What role do international institutions and agreements play? How can we explain similarities and differences between nation-states when it comes to equality for LGBTQI2S people? How are "queer rights" much broader and deeper than simply the  legalization of same-sex marriage and other legal structures and changes (which we will consider in detail but also move beyond)? Finally, how do stereotypes and problematic ideologies about LGBTQI2S rights in different countries (for example, the construct of a "homophobic nation") operate to advance other oppressions and to obscure much more complicated legal and social realities and histories of queer inclusion, oppression, and activism? These are just some of the questions we will consider as we document and deconstruct a queer new world! 

Dr. Kyle Jackson is the instructor of this course. He has taught approximately 33 classes at the university level in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Political Science.