Strange Fruit: Homophobia, the State, and the Politics of LGBT Rights and Capabilities

Abstract

A tide of oppression against sexual minorities disturbs current theories explaining the globalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. But unlike the turn in race theory exploring rights as an outgrowth of marginalization, research on LGBT rights still focuses on structural changes or the influence of Western LGBT forms. This article argues that a powerful new and globalizing state homophobia is a convenient tool for state actors threatened by structural adjustment mandates from above and demands for greater opportunity from below. In such contexts, state actors and allies import ready-made LGBT identities as bogeymen, but in an unintended consequence, organizing among sexual minorities refracts those identities in transformative ways. From research in France, Uganda, and Egypt, this article concludes that some contexts, where the state targets LGBT rights claims as hostile, are better served through a politics of social and political capabilities over rights and identities to allow space for sexual minorities to develop.

Notes

Quoted from “Me, when I am me” (2010).

See Helms (1989).

French law still restricts medically assisted reproduction to heterosexual married couples and bans surrogacy.

Sirleaf promised to veto laws on homosexuality. See The Guardian (2012).

See the GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index for US-made films (GLAAD 2014).

“What is this shitty country?”

See Tactical Technology Collective (2013).