LGBTQ Politics

This course explores contemporary lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) politics in Canada and the US. The first unit is an overview of identities, histories and approaches that have shaped the LGBTQ movement. The second part of the course addresses key institutions in LGBTQ formal politics like the judiciary and the legislature. The third and final unit explores queer critiques of the contemporary North American movement. We discuss the LGBTQ movement’s investments in consumerism, critiques of same-sex marriage campaigns, and complicity in the continuation of settler colonial and imperial logics. By the end of the course, the students will be able to explain the political import of LGBTQ movements and politics and to discuss the relevance of queer theory to their everyday lives.