Monro, S (2017) ‘Intersectionality and research methods: The case of research about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues’. In: Intersectionality in Social Sciences Research, 9th June 2017, De Montfort University

Monro, S., Crocetti, D. and Yeadon-Lee, T. (2017) ‘Gender Pluralism: How useful is it in supporting the health of transgender people?’. In: 2nd bi-annual EPATH conference Contemporary Trans Health in Europe, 6-8th April 2017, Belgrade

Monro, S (2017) ‘Social sciences and transgender : the highlights since the first EPATH conference’. In: 2nd bi-annual EPATH conference Contemporary Trans Health in Europe, 6-8th April 2017, Belgrade 

Embodied Citizenship: Mediating the State Through the Self  (BSA) Conference

Invited keynote presented, January 18^th, University of Nottingham.

Title: Bodies, Belonging and (Sexual) Citizenship
Author: Diane Richardson, Newcastle University
Abstract: This paper is part of a bigger project that seeks to examine the limits to and limitations of ‘sexual citizenship’, both in terms of its conceptual construction and in relation to political activism. Which communities do we have in mind when we think about sexual citizenship? Does the concept have a universal or particularist reach? In what ways have movements for social change and neoliberal states informed practices of sexual citizenship? To progress the field theoretically, I argue that there is a need for a timely revisioning that includes a de-centering of the ‘western-centric’ focus in order to advance understandings of how sexual citizenship operates both in the Global North and South. The focus of this paper is on the sexualisation of citizenship in terms of ideas about how individuals should and can be (sexual) citizens and how the ‘body’ is significant in struggles over rights of  (sexual) citizenship. Debates over the ontology of sexualities, in particular biological essentialism, have been central to the ways in which both support and opposition to (sexual) citizenship has been rationalised.  In the case of lesbians and gay men, for example, it is largely through being configured as non-choosing sexual subjects that rights of sexual citizenship have been advanced.

Monro, S (2016) ‘LGBTQI rights in Europe: Trends, opportunities, and challenges’. Proud In Europe?’. In: Proud In Europe? LGBTI Emancipation in Comparative Perspective, 4th-5th August 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Monro, S (2016) ‘Bisexual studies: Where have we been and where are we going?’. In: First European Bisexual Research Conference (EuroBiReCon): Bisexuality and (Inter)National Research Frontiers, 28th-31st July 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Monro, S (2016) ‘LGBT Equality Policies –Key Debates’. In: Second European Rainbow Cities conference, 20th-21st May 2016, Barcelona, Spain

Monro, S (2016) ‘Bisexuality: Issues of Identity, Inequality, and Citizenship’. In: British Sociological Association Annual Conference 2016, 6th - 9th April 2016, Aston, UK

Monro, S (2016) ‘Beyond Gender Binaries: Issues of liminality, categories, and equalities’. In: sexgen Northern Network: Trans Studies: Reflections and Advances, 23rd March 2016, Leeds, UK

Monro, S. and Van der Ros, J. (2016) ‘Non-Binaried Genders: Citizenship and the State in Norway’. In: 24th World Congress of Political Science: Politics in a World of Inequality, 23rd - 28th July 2016, Pozna?, Poland 

Transforming Citizenship? Implementing LGBT Equalities Initiatives

Author: Diane Richardson
Type: Paper presentation
Date: March 30th, 2015
Location: Centre for Gender and Sexuality Law, Law school, Columbia University, New York, USA.
Abstract: "Transforming Citizenship? Implementing LGBT Equalities Policy Initiatives" will address advances in citizenship status for LGBT people, in relation to the challenges faced by those progressing LGBT equalities within a context of neoliberal diversity politics. This is illustrated by using UK local government responses to equalities legislation to examine both drivers of processes of change as well as resistance to implementing equality measures. The paper will draw on a recent study of LGBT equalities initiatives in local government that examined the views of those who now have a 'public duty' to implement legislative and policy shifts in relation to 'sexual orientation' and 'gender reassignment.

LGBT Rights Around the World

Authors: Diane Richardson
Type: Paper presentation
Date: April 13th, 2015
Location: Columbia University Law School, New York, USA

European Sociological Association ‘Differences/Inequalities and Sociological Imagination’

The Limits to Sexual Citizenship

Authors: Diane Richardson
Type: Paper presentation
Date: August 25-28th, 2015
Location: Prague
Abstract: What are the limits to and limitation of ‘sexual citizenship’? This question can be addressed in a number of different ways, both in terms of its conceptual construction and in relation to political activism. This paper maps the literature on sexuality and citizenship and identifies four main areas of critical framing: work that contests the significance of sexuality to citizenship, critiques that focus on the possibilities and limitations of mobilising the language of citizenship in sexual politics, and literature that critically examines how debates about sexual citizenship (re)articulate forms of western imperialism and may be understood as constituting neo-colonial and orientalist practices. To progress the field theoretically, the paper argues for a timely revisioning that includes a de-centering of the ‘western-centric’ focus in order to advance understandings of how sexual citizenship operates both in the global north and south. It addresses the limits to sexual citizenship by focusing on two key aspects of its conceptual construction: the (sexual) citizen-subject and the spaces of sexual citizenship.

4th European Conference on Politics and Gender

Democracy and Transgender

Authors: Surya Monro and Shaun McDaid
Type: Paper presentation
Date: June 11th to 13th, 2015
Location: Uppsala University, Sweden
Abstract: Transgender has been largely overlooked by scholars concerned with gender and politics. This paper provides an exploration of key issues for democracy and transgender people. The paper uses empirical material from several sources as well as a range of materials provided by trans* activist and support organisations. Beginning with representative democracy, the paper addresses topics such as role of trans* politicians, the impact of different electoral systems on the possibility of trans* representation, and the issue of gender quota systems, which currently rely on notions of a discrete male-female gender binary. The paper challenges political science approaches (and political processes) which re-inscribe gender binaries, asking questions about whether gender quota systems should address transgender, and if so, how people who identify as neither male nor female will be included. It also addresses broader issues concerning public opinion, the impact of the global recession on human rights and equalities agendas, and the rise of xenophobia in some European Member States, as these impact on the representation of trans* persons’ interests via the electoral system. The paper then moves on to scope out some of the key issues regarding participatory democracy and trans* people. It provides case studies of trans* activists’ engagement in participatory democratic mechanisms and processes, and the mechanisms that are provided by governments for trans people to engage in. These can include consultations, research, and joint service planning. The activist organisations that engage with these mechanisms vary in their agendas and strategies. They sit within a broader context, affected by other structures and mechanisms, such as those relating to religious groups and medical lobbies.

Equal Is Not Enough Conference

Gender Variance: From individual pluralities to institutionalised equalities?

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 4th - 6th February 2015
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Abstract: In Europe and the USA, the last few years have seen a shift from a uniformly binary sex/gender system to one in which there is some space for trans* identities that are gender queer, or neither male nor female, or gender fluid, or androgynous, or multiply-sexed and gendered. This can be theorised using the gender pluralist model that I developed in the early 2000s. It is now possible to talk more easily of both gender and sex in terms of spectra, with a range of subject positions. Within certain subcultures, gender-diverse identities have proliferated. Within mainstream culture, gender queer is visible. These developments mark a major cultural and discursive shift, and a shift in personal possibilities. However, at present there is a major dysjunction between individualised expressions of gender queerness or non-binarism, and the social and political structures that underpin central social instiutions including those of employment, education, and healthcare. The challenges that trans* raises in terms of law, language and bureaucracy have not been fully addressed. This paper explores one element of the challenges concerning the inclusion of gender-diverse people: the discursive, normative elements of this. Drawing on institutional theory, it looks at the ways in which the institutional and cultural fields associated with queer and bisexual subcultures are constructed in opposition to mainsteam, binaried cultures. It addresses the sedimentation of gender binaries and heterosexism within dominant cultures. The paper develops some indications concerning the types of attitudinal changes, cultural shifts and discursive developments that may be required before gender-diverse people can be socially included. It draws on empirical material from a number of research projects.

Bisexuality: Theoretical and political challenges

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 3rd February 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Abstract: Bisexuality has for many years been a marginalised topic within academia. Bisexual people have also historically been marginalised by both the lesbian and gay, and the heterosexual, communities. This lecture examines the erasure of bisexuality, and the academic and political implications of this. Drawing on empirical material from the UK and Columbia, it also discusses bisexual activisms, and the ways in which bisexual people exercise agency in democratic societies.

Compulsory Sexualities Seminar, Sexgen Northern Network

Biphobia and the Hypersexualisation of Bisexuality

Author: Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 28th February 2014
Location: Huddersfield

The Psychology of Sexualities Section Conference

Intersectionality and Sexualities: Multiple trajectories, empowered selves

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: December 13, 2014Location: London
More: Intersectionality and Sexualities: (PDF)

Sexuality and Citizenship. Remaking Boundaries of Tolerance and Acceptance

Authors: Diane Richardson
Type: Invited Paper
Date: November 18, 2014
Location: Department of Sociology, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), USA.
More: Blog available: www.csw.ucla.edu

Workshop: Transgender and Political Science in Europe: a comparative approach

Professor Monro, together with Joz Motmans at University of Antwerp, as Principle Investigator and Janneke van der Ros, University College of Lillehammer as second Co-Investigator, organised a workshop bringing together key established and emerging European scholars working in the trans field in September 2014 in Brussels. The workshop addressed the themes of citizenship and recognition, welfare regimes, and social movements. The workshop raised important questions concerning the direction and scope of political science in relation to gender diversity, including the gender binaried nature of much current theorising, and in so doing it advanced the discipline more broadly. It was funded by the European Social Fund.

Seminar Series: Diversity and Equality in Social Policy Research

Sexuality, Equality and Diversity. Policy Change and Forms of Resistance to Implementing Sexualities Equalities Initiatives

Authors: Diane Richardson
Type: Invited Paper
Date: July 1, 2014
Location: Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of YorkVideo of talk available at www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/RichardsonJuly2014.mp4

Recognising Diversity? Gender and Sexual Equalities In Principle and Practice conference

Bisexuality, Diversity and a Lack of Recognition

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: June 20-21, 2014
Location: Leeds

‘Trans’ as Everyday Culture: Social networks, social movements, everyday lives and everyday repertoires seminar

Theorising Gender Diversity: Current trans, future directions

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: May 23, 2014
Location: Warwick
More: Theorising Gender Diversity:(PDF)
Video of talk available at transseminars.com/resources/trans-as-everyday-culture/surya-monro/

The Future of Social Relations: Rethinking Prejudice and Togetherness in Times of Crisis, Live Difference Conference

Transforming Citizenship? (Re)making Sexualised Borders on In/Tolerance

Authors: Diane Richardson and Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: May 21-23, 2014
Location: Sheffield
More: Transforming Citizenship? (PDF)

Minorities and Migrations: States, Minorities, Identities. CITSEE Conference

Contesting the existing frameworks of citizenship: Sexuality, gender and feminism

Authors: Diane Richardson
Type: Invited discussant
Date: June 2013
Location: University of Edinburgh
No abstract 

Recognising Diversity? Gender and Sexual Equalities in Principle and Practice Conference

Bisexuality, Diversity and a Lack of Recognition

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: June 2013
Location: Leeds University
More: No abstract

Recognising Diversity? Gender and Sexual Equalities in Principle and Practice Conference

Mind the Gap: Policy Change and Forms of Resistance to Implementing Sexualities Equalities Initiatives

Authors: Diane Richardson
Type: Paper presentation
Date: June 2013
Location: Leeds University
More: Since the 1990s the politics of sexuality has increasingly been about demanding equal rights of citizenship. These citizenship demands have been, at least to a degree, been answered via a raft of recent legislation including the Civil Partnership Act (2004) and the Equality Regulations (Sexual Orientation) 2007, and by associated changes in policy making and practice that emphasise equality and diversity. This paper will develop and extend previous work on sexuality, equality and diversity (Richardson and Monro, Palgrave Macmillan 2012), drawing on findings from a large ESRC funded study on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equalities initiatives in local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It will examine processes of resistance to implementing sexualities equalities initiatives at both individual and organizational levels and identify a range of factors of that appear to make sexualities equalities different from other forms of equalities work.

Human Sciences Research Council

Categories and their discontents: The trials and tribulations of using the terms ‘LGBT’ and ‘MSM/WSW’

Authors: Surya Monro
Date: February 2013
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract: Do we need the terms ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender’? How useful are the categories of ‘Men who have Sex with Men’ and ‘Women who have Sex with Women?’ In what ways do these labels construct, contain and constrain us? Do we need them, as a basis for forging identities, as a foundation for activism, for research, for policy making and practice? This talk explores the ways in which sexual and gender categories structure the forms of identity that we consider possible, looking at the absences that occur when ‘shorthand’ style categories are used, at attempts to dismantle or move beyond categories, and at the politically strategic use of sexual/gender categories. It draws on a number of original empirical studies including a study about transgender in the UK in the 1990s, a large research project about LGBT equalities in local government (2007-2010) and a project about bisexuality (current).

Human Sciences Research Council

Overcoming Barriers: Strategies for supporting LGBTQI human rights across the South African and UK contexts

Authors: Surya Monro
Date: February 2013
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract: This workshop provides facilitated space for constructive discussion about LGBTQI human rights issues. In comparing the South African and UK situations we will be able to identify common barriers and strategies, and we aim to identify opportunities for the progression of this important work. The workshop will combine our collective insights (activist, political, research, theoretical) across some of the key contemporary themes for LGBTQI work:
• Structural constraints to LGBTQI human rights, including economic barriers, and those associated with imperialism and post colonialism, apartheid, racism, and gender inequalities;
• Issues of faith and traditionalism, as well as related cultures and values;
• Difficulties with rigid sexual orientation and gender categories (for example intergroup conflict, the erasure of certain groups and identities);
• Our roles as academics, activists, researchers, policy officers and diplomats – What are the hazards of working in this field? How can we be most effective?
The workshop will enable focused work on these themes and we ask that you come prepared to talk briefly about at least one of them, drawing on your personal/professional experiences. The workshop findings will be anonymised and written up afterwards as a short brief which will be made available. We will finish the workshop by providing space for the identification of collaborative opportunities.

Critical Diversities@ the Intersections: Policies, Practices, Perspectives ESRC Seminar Series

Sexuality, Equality and Diversity

Authors: Diane Richardson and Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: January 2013
Location: Leeds University

The ESRC Festival of Social Sciences, ESRC funded

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equalities: Surviving Austerity

Authors: Surya Monro and Diane Richardson
Type: Paper presentation
Date: November 2012
Location: London
More: View details

Workshop: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equalities: Surviving Austerity

This workshop provided a forum for stakeholders, community activists, and service users to discuss current developments in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equalities field. It included presentations by key community organisations and introduced the recently published book Sexuality, Equality and Diversity (Diane Richardson and Surya Monro, Palgrave MacMillan 2012). The workshop was funded by the ESRC as part of the Festival of Social Sciences.

Speakers:

• Alice Ashworth (Stonewall)
• Petra Davis (Bi.UK)
• Louis Bailey (Transgender Resource and Empowerment Centre – TREC)
• Professor Diane Richardson
• Dr Surya Monro

Date & Location: 6 November 2012, National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), Camden, London.

Rhetorics of Moderation: Politics, Religion and the Market , ESRC conference

Faith-Sexuality Intersections and the Rhetorics of Tolerance: The case of LGBT equalities initiatives in local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Authors: Surya Monro and Diane Richardson
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 2011
Location: University of Huddersfield
Abstract: In recent years the UK has seen a raft of new legislation concerning equalities and human rights, including protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. This legislation, and broader policy and cultural changes, have meant that work around lesbian, gay and transgender equality has become a normalised aspect of the local authority remit to a degree. The shift has taken place within the context of a rhetorics of moderation in the policy statements and practices of local authorities and their statutory and community sector partners. Partnership organisations such as local strategic partnerships, and consultations which seek to represent local stakeholders such as LGBT people, rely on day to day processes of tolerance in which tensions between and within community groups are moderated by hard and soft rules of engagement.

This paper addresses the policies and practices of moderation within the context of local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, focusing on the ways in which conflicts and divergences around the equalities agenda are being managed. It looks in particular at the relationship between faith-based and sexuality-related equalities work, as this is a site of particular tension within the equalities field. In Northern Ireland, the way in which sexualities equalities work is structured along sectarian lines provides an interesting spin on notions of moderation and its opposite.

We look at the ways in which certain LGBT equalities-related activities are seen as extreme, whilst others are easier to justify. We also discuss the trend towards notions of lesbian and gay people as ‘good gay citizens’ and the ways in which this discourse of assimilation is challenged from within the LGBT ‘communities’.

The paper is based on findings from a large Economic and Social Research Council-funded project which utilised qualitative research methods, including innovative Action Learning Sets which enabled us to directly observe the processes by which a rhetorics of tolerance is produced.

Pacific Sociological Association Annual Meeting

Intersectionality and Sexuality: The case of sexuality and transgender equalities work in UK local government

Authors: Surya Monro and Diane Richardson
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 10-13 March 2011
Location: Seattle, Washington (USA)
Abstrract: The last twenty five years has seen the introduction and expansion of studies concerning intersectionality. Intersectionality is claimed by some authors as a central aspect of feminist thinking, one which has transformed the conceptualisation of gender in research. This paper applies notions drawn from intersectionality theory, specifically McCall's (2005) typology of intracategorical, anticategorical, and intercategorical intersectionality, to the field of sexuality and transgender equalities intitiatives in UK local government. McCall's typology provides a device with which to examine the complexities and divergences within groups currently subsumed under the acronym 'LGBT', to look at the way in which there are some indications of discomfort with the LGBT categories themselves, and to explore relationship between the different equalities strands used within the local authority context. The paper helps to fill a gap in the scholarship regarding sexuality and gender. It explores what intersectional LGBT-focused analysis means for understandings of inequality, identity and difference, within a particular social context: local government in the UK. The inclusion, or erasure, of LGBT identities and concerns by local authorities is set within the context of complex and sometimes competing claims for legitimacy and resources, amongst and within different 'equalities' groups, and between 'equalities' groups and others.

Annual Association of American Geographers

Public Duty and Private Prejudice

Authors: Diane Richardson, Ann McNulty and Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentationDate: 12-16 April 2011
Location: Seattle, Washington (USA)
Abstracts: Legislative and policy development in the formation of new sexualities equalities have prompted research and debate into the likely effects of such policies on social insitutions like family and marriage, on individuals sense of belonging and identity, as well as debates concerning governmentality, intersectionality and models of citizenship. Underlying many of these debates is the broader question of how in increasingly diverse/plural neoliberal democracies a model of universal citizenship based on equality as similtude can be maintained. As I will argue, this involves a complex economy of 'seeing and not seeing' difference, where two forms of recognition are in play. Recognition of the right to belong and to be assimilated into public life as part of the 'common good' and, at the same time, recognition of difference that is typically privatised. These policy shifts in relation to sexuality and transgender equalities are, then, associated with a particular model of citizenship and 'politics of recognition', where there is an emphasis on individual and not group rights and the mobilisation of particular forms of governance of difference that perpetuate individualism. Linked to this, the making of citizens has become increasingly privatised, within a neoliberal discourse that depoliticizes as it individualises and privatizes. In this article I consider how the implementation of sexualities equalities policies is related to processes of privatisation and individualisation. This is illustrated by drawing on findings from an ESRC funded study of LGBT equalities initiatives in the UK, which examined the views of those who now have a public duty to implement recent legislative and policy shifts and are obliged to develop equalities initiatives concerning 'sexual orientation' and gender reassignment.

Annual Association of American Geographers

'New' Gendered and Sexual Politics for 'New' Equalities Landscapes?

Authors: Diane Richarson
Type: Invited Roundtable Discussant
Date: 12-16 April 2011
Location: Seattle, Washington (USA)

Understanding the Social World

Identity complexity, Intersectionality and Sexuality: A headache for policy makers?

Authors: Surya Monro, Diane Richardson and Ann McNulty
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 13-15 July 2011
Location: Huddersfield
Abstract: UK policy makers and practitioners have to address identity categories in a number of ways. Policy documents relating to the statutory sector, for example health and social care, have routinely included performance measurement indicators which address the extent to which the needs of different populations are met by service providers. The raft of equalities-rated legislation which has been introduced over the past few years in the UK has driven this agenda, and statutory sector agencies have responsed by developing complex mechanisms for assessing the impact of their activities on different social groups.

This paper addresses a key debate within intersectionality studies, and scholarship in the field of sexuality and gender; the debate around categorisation and anti-categorisation. It does so via the prism of LGBT equalities initiatives in local government. Local government work forms a useful means of addressing this debate, because policy makers are forced to amalgamate individual members of their populations into groups, in order to develop group-based interventions. However, grouping people on the basis of particular social characteristics, such as sexuality, risks erasing the intersectional nature of their identities. We explore the ways in which policy makers grapple with the complexities of LGBT and heterosexual identities, in the context of broader social forces such as heterosexism, biphobia and transphobia, as well as the constraints of the current economic climate. The paper draws on empirical material from a large ESRC funded project. 

AHEAD Project Conference (Against Homophobia, European Local Administration Devices)

Challenges for Anti-Homophobia Policies

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 14/15 October 2010
Location: Barcelona
Abstract: Recent years have seen a quiet revolution in UK policies and legislation concerning LGBT equalities. This has taken place in the context of a broader cultural and political shift towards equality, particularly for lesbians and gay men who are seen to be ‘good citizens’. This talk explores the barriers that remain, focusing on the UK local government situation. It uses findings from a large study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council UK.

Transforming Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Lives: Activism and Research for Gender and Sexual Liberation

Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Trans Equality at a Local Level: Where are we at? What Challenges await us?

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Invited Keynote speech
Date: 15 September 2010
Location: Brighton
Abstract: The New Labour era has witnessed a sea change in LGBT equality in the UK, in terms of public opinion, legislation, and equality implementation mechanisms. There has been a cultural shift towards valuing diversity, so that to a degree, LGBT identities have become normalised. The raft of equalities legislation (as well as the repeal of Section 28) underpins this shift, as do developments such as the introduction of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. Changes have also taken place in the communities, including a movement towards the combination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people within the LGBT acronym, and the professionalisation of the community sector to a degree. There are still substantial challenges concerning LGBT equalities. The inequalities that LGBT people may face are particularly stark when multiple disadvantage and intersectional discrimination are considered, including inequalities relating to ethnicity, gender, spatiality, and socio-economic class. Bisexuality is routinely included within the LGBT acronym, but this inclusion is largely rhetorical, and prejudice towards bisexuals exists in both the lesbian and gay, and heterosexual, communities. Transgender people who fit into the gender-reassigning model are now well supported by the legislation, but the situation may be more difficult for trans people who identify outside of the gender binary system. This talk addresses the above issues, drawing on empirical material from a large Economic and Social Research Council-funded examination of the impact of recent policy changes, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, on sexualities equalities initiatives. The project involved in depth qualitative research with four local authorities selected to include those in which little equalities work concerning sexuality and transgender was taking place. We organised Action Learning Sets in Northern Ireland, Wales, and Northern and Southern England, facilitating local authority actors in engaging – together with community activists and statutory partners in some cases – with the key issues in conducting sexuality and transgender equalities work. 

Personal and Public Lives: Exploring Relationships, Roles and Responsibilities

'The only Lesbian in the Authority’ The role of LGBT champions in local authority equalities work in the UK

Authors: Surya Monro, Diane Richardson and Ann McNulty
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 7-9 September 2010
Location: University of Huddersfield
Abstract: In recent years the UK has seen a raft of new legislation concerning equalities and human rights, including protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. This legislation, and broader policy and cultural changes, have meant that work around lesbian, gay and transgender equality has become a normalised aspect of the local authority remit to a degree. However, institutionalised heterosexism, and in some cases overt homophobia and biphobia, are still widely apparent. This paper reports on an ESRC-funded research project of the impact of recent policy changes, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, on sexualities equalities initiatives. It addresses the ways in which sexuality equalities work is done in local authorities, and patterns of resistance. The paper focuses in particular on the role of LGBT actors in furthering LGBT equalities. Findings from the research indicated that ‘out’ lesbians and gay men play a key role in local government and related LGBT equalities work, particularly in localities in which little work is being done. The ‘professional’ lesbian or gay role allows on the one hand, an opportunity for advancement within the statutory sector, and on the other, marginalisation. The role of the lesbian and gay champion comes at considerable personal cost. It also allows local authorities to ghettoise LGBT work, which undermines attempts to mainstream equalities. The role of marginalised LGBT champion may extend to LGBT equalities champions who may themselves be heterosexual, illustrating some of the ways in which institutional homophobia operates.

International BiRecon Conference

Where are all the bisexuals? Bisexuality and local government equalities work in the UK

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 26 August 2010
Location: University of East London
Abstract: Recent legislative and cultural changes have supported greater equalities for bisexuals in some ways, and bisexuality is now routinely included within the ‘LGBT’ equalities strands used by statutory sector policy makers and practitioners. However, findings from a large ESRC funded project about LGBT equalities in local government show that this inclusion is largely rhetorical, with bisexuality tagged onto the end of lesbian and gay, and LGBT equalities work as a whole being placed low down the hierarchy of equalities work. In localities where there are high levels of homophobia generally (rural England, Wales and Northern Ireland) bisexuality is virtually invisible. In areas where LGBT work is more established, there are still high levels of ignorance about bisexuality, and in some cases active biphobia, evident amongst statutory sector players. This presentation examines the reasons why bisexuality is still the poor relation within the LGBT equalities strand. It is set within the context of the recession and broader challenges facing statutory sector service providers.

Beyond Citizenship: Feminism and the Transformation of Belonging

In the Name of Equality? The Limits to Sexual Citizenship

Authors: Diane Richardson, Ann McNulty, and Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 30 June - 2 July 2010
Location: Birkbeck Univesity, London, UK
Abstract: In recent years there have been a number of interesting shifts in the political agendas of social movements concerned with the organization of sexuality and gender. Rather than critiquing social institutions and practices that have historically excluded them, as gay and lesbian/feminists did in the 1960s and 1970s, since the 1990s the politics of sexuality has increasingly been about demanding equal rights of citizenship. These citizenship demands have been, at least to a degree, been answered via a raft of recent legislation including the Civil Partnership Act (2004) and the Equality Regulations (Sexual Orientation) 2007, and by associated changes in policy making and practice that emphasise equality and diversity. Feminist and queer critiques of this ‘‘sea change’’ in lesbian and gay politics contest the rise of a ‘‘politics of normalisation’’ that is behind contemporary sexual citizenship agendas. This paper will develop and extend previous theoretical work on sexuality and citizenship by considering these shifts and critiques, focusing on the limits to sexual citizenship in demands for new forms of belonging. The discussion draws on findings from a large ESRC funded study on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equalities initiatives in local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Gender, Work and Organization

Organisational Change, Resistance, and Democracy: Findings from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equalities in Local Government project

Authors: Surya Monro, Ann McNulty, and Diane Richardson
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 21-23 June 2010
Location: Keele Univesity, Staffordshire, UK
Abstract: In recent years the UK has seen a raft of new legislation concerning equalities and human rights. This legislation, and the policy drivers issued by central government in relation to equalities, are interpreted in varied ways by the local authorities that are tasked with implementing them. Organisational cultures play an important role in shaping the ways in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equalities work takes place, or is resisted. The structures and dynamics associated with local democracy also play a key role in local authority equalities work.

British Sociological Association Annual Conference

‘You could see people squirming in their seats’: Sexuality and its Discontents in UK Local Authorities

Authors: Surya Monro, Diane Richardson and Ann McNulty
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 7-9 April 2010
Location: Glasgow
Abstract: In recent years the UK has seen a raft of new legislation concerning equalities and human rights. This legislation, and the policy drivers issued by central government in relation to equalities, is interpreted in varied ways by the local authorities that are tasked with implementing them. Implementation is structured by the organisational cultures present in these institutions and their partner agencies, and in some cases, by the existence of overt or covert homophobia and biphobia.

Broadening Horizons: Sexuality, Equality and Diversity

LGBT Equalities Work in Local Government: Changes and Challenges

Authors: Diane Richardson, Surya Monro and Ann McNulty
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 11 March 2010
Location: Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Abstract: In recent years the UK has seen a raft of new legislation concerning equalities and human rights, including protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. This legislation, and broader policy and cultural changes, have meant that work around lesbian, gay and transgender equality has become a normalised aspect of the local authority remit to a degree. However, development is patchy, and institutionalised heterosexism, and in some cases overt homophobia and biphobia, are still apparent in some cases. This paper reports on an ESRC-funded research project of the impact of recent policy changes, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, on sexualities equalities initiatives. It highlights some of the key issues for policy makers and practitioners, as well as strategies used, and examples of interesting practice. The paper is set in the context of current challenges, including the impact of the recession.

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland

Broadening Horizons: Sexuality , Diversity and Equality in Local Government

Facilitator: Ann McNulty
Type: Workshop
Date: April 2010
Location: Antrim
Description: Workshop organised by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and the research team. Workshop was facilitated by Ann McNulty and Christine Stoll.

A Fair Share of the Future: Regional Conference for the East of England

Workshop to explore the new Equality Bill

Facilitator: Ann McNulty
Type: Workshop
Date: February 2010
Location: University of Manchester
Description: Workshop participants discussed the research findings and shared examples of their own work. See 'Getting LGBT issues acknowledged in the Local Area Agreement' by David Fullman (published with permission).

Shifting Agendas: Political Studies Association (UK) Women and Politics International conference

Space and Sexuality in Intersection: The Case of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Equalities Initiatives in UK Local Government

Authors: Surya Monro, Diane Richardson & Ann McNulty
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 19 February 2010
Location: University of Manchester
More: The notion of intersectionality has been the subject of uncertainty, with debates taking place as to whether intersectionality studies should focus on the interstices between social characteristics, or should encompass foundational approaches that interrogate the structuring effects of specific social forces. This paper contributes to these debates, by exploring intersectionality in relation to lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) equalities initiatives in UK local government. The paper demonstrates the importance of two foundational categories, sexuality and the spatial, in structuring LGB equalities work. By siting analysis primarily at the institutional level, it also reveals the way in which an individualising approach to intersectionality studies, which focuses only on the interstices, is problematic.

2009 LGBT Health Summit

Trans and Bisexuality: Developing Social Models of Health

Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Invited keynote speech
Date: 6th-7th October 2009
Location:Gateshead
More: Powerpoint presentationRead the abstract

2009 LGBT Health Summit

Title: From Alien Other to Worthy Citizens: Constituting LGBT Citizenship
Authors: Diane Richardson, Ann McNulty and Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 6th-7th October 2009
Location: Gateshead
More: Read our abstract

European Sociological Association

Title: Head above the Parapet: Organisational Resistance and UK Sexualities Equalities Work
Authors: Ann McNulty, Diane Richardson and Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 3rd - 6th September 2009
Location: Lisbon
More: Read our abstract

European Sociological Association

Title: In the Name of Equality: Sexuality and Social Change
Authors: Diane Richardson, Ann McNulty and Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 3rd - 6th September 2009
Location: Lisbon
More:Read our abstract

Untying Development’s Straightjacket: Masculinities, Sexualities and Social Change

Title: Gender/sexual diversity and the conundrum of categorisation
Authors: Surya Monro
Type: Invited presentation
Date:18-22 September, 2009
Location: Cape Town
More: Read our abstract

Ninth International Conference on Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations

Paper: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equalities
Initiatives: The case of UK Local Government.
Authors: Surya Monro, Ann McNulty, Diane Richardson
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 16th - 19th June 2009
Location: Riga, Latvia
More: Read our abstract

Social Policy Association Conference: Policy Futures - Learning from the Past?

Paper: Mind the gap: putting sexualities equalities policy into practice in local government settings
Authors: Ann McNulty, Diane Richardson, Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 29th June - 1st July 2009
Location: University of Edinburgh
More: Read our abstract

Equality Opportunities International 2009 Conference

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Times of Crises

Title: Democracy, Complexity and Change: LGBT Equalities Initiatives in the UK
Authors: Surya Monro, Diane Richardson, Ann McNulty
Type: Paper presentation 
Date: 15th -17th July 2009
Location: IstanbulMore:Read our abstract

Every LGBT Youth Matters

Organised by the Consortium of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Voluntary and Community Organisations

Authors: Ann McNulty, Diane Richardson and Surya Monro
Type: Invited presentation
Date: 24 April 2009
Location: London
More: Read our abstractRead our presentation

Catch 21 - LGBT Every Youth Matters Conference

Date: April 2009
More: View presentation

Centre for Research into Diversity in the Professions Seminar

Presentation: The Pitfalls of Box ticking: Intersectionality and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equalities Work in the UK
Authors: Surya Monro, Ann McNulty, Diane Richardson
Type: Invited presentation
Date: April 2009
Location: Leeds Metropolitan University
Read our abstractRead our presentation

British Sociologial Association Annual Conference 2009

Paper: Rethinking Sexual Citizenship: Sexuality, Equality and Local Governance
Authors: Diane Richardson, Ann McNulty, Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 16-18th April 2009
Location: City Hall, Cardiff
More: Read our abstract

Northern Deanery

Taking Liberties Workshop - Supporting Diversity: Conference for (Medical) Trainers and Trainees

Type: Workshop facilitation in partnership with North East Strategic Health Authority
Date: 27th March 2009
Location: Gateshead Marriott Hotel

Contribution to LGB Research Day

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Date: 17th March 2009
Location: Manchester

Equality North East 'NEtworking for Change' Event, organised by LGB and Transgender North East

Sexualities Equalities Initiatives in Local Government

Authors: Diane Richardson, Ann McNulty and Surya Monro
Type: Invited presentation
Date: 5th March 2009
Location: Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle University Diversity Week 2009

Workshop: Inclusive Communities? ESRC Sexualities Equalities Research Project
Authors: Diane Richardson and Ann McNulty
Date: 4th March 2009
Location: Research Beehive, Newcastle University
More: Read our presentation

Contribution to LGB Seminar 1, Equality and Human Rights Commission

Date: 27th November 2008

Contribution to LGB Research Conference Steering Group, Equality and Human Rights Commission

Date: 27th November 2008

CRESC Conference 2008 - Cultural Citizenship

'Normal gays, good citizens?': exploring the everyday practices of LGBT equalities work in local government

Authors: Michaela Fay, Diane Richardson, and Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Event: CRESC Conference 2008, Cultural Citizenship
Date: 3-5 September 2008
Location: Oxford
More: Read our abstract

Bi ReCon 2008

Sexualities Equalities Initiatives in Local Government Project: Initial Findings

Authors: Surya Monro, Michaela Fay, and Diane Richardson
Type: Invited presentation
Date: 28 August 2008
Location: University of Leicester

Contibution to Sexual Orientation Roundtable, Equality and Human Rights Commission

Author: Surya Monro
Date: 10 April 2008

Flexible Bodies, Transgressive Genders workshop

'As long as it's fair': LGBT equalities, democracy and local governance

Authors: Michaela Fay, Diane Richardson, Surya Monro
Type: Paper
Date: 3-4 April 2008
Location: Humboldt University, Berlin

British Sociological Associated Annual Conference 2008- Social Worlds Natural Worlds

Naturalising Difference; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equalities Initiatives in Local Government

Authors: Diane Richardson, Michaela Fay and Surya Monro
Type: Paper presentation
Date: 28-30 March 2008
Location: University of Warwick
More: Read our abstract

AHRC Research Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality

Engaging Complexities: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equalities Initiatives and Local Democracy in the UK

Authors: Surya Monro, Diane Richardson, and Michaela Fay
Type: Invited seminar
Date: 27 February 2008
Location: University of Kent
More: Read our abstract