Protecting difference: A discussion on transphobic and homophobic hate crime in the Irish context

2021 ◽  
pp. 026101832110634
Author(s):  
Liam Concannon

Ireland has been applauded internationally for its legislative progress in supporting the rights of (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) LGBT+ citizens. Yet much of the positive change within the social and political context of sexuality and gender expression has been achieved by campaign groups, operating outside government boundaries. Notwithstanding these advances, LGBT+ people continue to face discrimination, abuse and violence. Concerns surrounding acts of aggression towards transgender and gay people call for an ongoing dialogue between legislators, policymakers, and practitioners to explore ways in which safety can be ensured. This article draws from an emerging body of scholarship and research to question the effectiveness of current social policy and legislation in Ireland. It offers a discourse on hate crime related to transphobia and homophobia, while challenging the existing political thinking. Multi-agency collaborative working is suggested as key to fostering solutions together with changes in legal paradigms, and the continued formation of policy aimed at safeguarding the LGBT+ community.

Author(s):  
Andrew Proctor

As a group engaged in struggles for representation and inclusion, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have vied for access to social and political power. There is little dispute that LGBT people are a relatively powerless group in society, but the extent to which the group is powerless is subject to debate in political science. Scholars disagree over the extent of powerlessness because the definition of power is contested among political scientists. As such, scholars have examined the powerlessness of LGBT people in varying ways and reached different conclusions about the success the group has had in achieving rights and visibility. LGBT powerlessness emerges from the group’s status as sexual and gender minorities. Over time, the boundaries that constitute the group have shifted in response to power asymmetries between LGBT people and cisgender, heterosexuals who control access to political and social institutions. In addition, power asymmetries have emerged within the LGBT community at the intersection of race, class, and gender as well as across subgroups of the acronym LGBT. Thus, the distribution of power and powerlessness vary within the group as well as between the group and dominant groups in society. These within- and across-group variations in power shape LGBT group boundaries, representation and public opinion, and voting behavior. The powerlessness of LGBT people must be understood in relation to these contingencies that define the group’s boundaries, and the ways in which power is distributed within and across groups.


Sexualities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 516-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Toft ◽  
Anita Franklin ◽  
Emma Langley

Contemporary discourse on sexuality presents a picture of fluidity and malleability, with research continuing to frame sexuality as negotiable, within certain parameters and social structures. Such investigation is fraught with difficulties, due in part to the fact that as one explores how identity shifts, language terms such as ‘phase’ emerge conjuring images of a definitive path towards an end-goal, as young people battle through a period of confusion and emerge at their true or authentic identity. Seeing sexuality and gender identity as a phase can delegitimise and prevent access to support, which is not offered due to the misconception that it is not relevant and that one can grow out of being LGBT+. This article explores the lives of disabled LGBT + young people from their perspective, using their experiences and stories to explore their identities and examine how this links to the misconception of their sexuality and gender as a phase. Taking inspiration from the work of scholars exploring sexual and gender identity, and sexual storytelling; the article is framed by intersectionality which allows for a detailed analysis of how identities interact and inform, when used as an analytic tool. The article calls for a more nuanced understanding of sexuality and gender in the lives of disabled LGBT + young people, which will help to reduce inequality and exclusion.


Sexualities ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136346072110193
Author(s):  
Henning Kaiser Klatran

This article examines the relationship between queer citizenship, state violence and the exclusion of racialized, homophobic ‘others’. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with LGBT people in Oslo, Norway, I investigate the presence of racialization in narratives of homophobic hate crime. The findings suggest that racialization structures narratives of risk assessment among several of the participants. However, in these narratives, racialization often operates through place-specific references, rather than racial and ethnic markers of identity. The narrative work thus displays ambivalence and a disassociation from racism. I argue that these narratives feed on an already established conflation of space, ethnicity, religion and homophobia, to which both mainstream media and part of the LGBT community contribute.


Author(s):  
Gabriel Aleksandrs

This chapter details some key considerations for health and human services professionals working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in care relationships. Reflecting on the impacts of stigma and discrimination as well as the social, cultural, and political contexts of LGBT communities and carers, this chapter will explore some of ways these factors (as well as heterosexist and cis-genderist assumptions about families and partners) impact the identification, support, and recognition of LGBT people in care relationships. Finally, this chapter will recommend strategies to reduce poor mental health and wellbeing outcomes among people in care relationships where one or all people involved are LGBT, and explore some key actions that may assist health and human services better support and include LGBT people in care relationships.


2022 ◽  
pp. 593-620
Author(s):  
Gabriel Aleksandrs

This chapter details some key considerations for health and human services professionals working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in care relationships. Reflecting on the impacts of stigma and discrimination as well as the social, cultural, and political contexts of LGBT communities and carers, this chapter will explore some of ways these factors (as well as heterosexist and cis-genderist assumptions about families and partners) impact the identification, support, and recognition of LGBT people in care relationships. Finally, this chapter will recommend strategies to reduce poor mental health and wellbeing outcomes among people in care relationships where one or all people involved are LGBT, and explore some key actions that may assist health and human services better support and include LGBT people in care relationships.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-260
Author(s):  
Hafizullah Emadi

In Afghanistan, minorities are subjected to harassment, intimidation and even death by Islamic fanatics and conservative leaders as they try to impose their own interpretation of religious scriptures and punish those who do not agree with their interpretation of religious precepts and follow their rulings. Application of such measures has impacted the safety and security of the gender-minority community, as its members are forced to hide their identities, and cannot speak about their sexual orientation. Government agencies and civil society organizations do not advocate for the rights of this community, and deliberately avoid any discussion about them, fearing a backlash from religious vigilantes, conservative religious leaders and clerics. A lack of public education and social awareness programs about the gender-minority community has contributed to the perpetuation of discrimination, hatred and bigotry toward them − a community that is part and parcel of the social fabric of modern Afghanistan.


Author(s):  
Betty Jo Barrett

Since the mid 1980s, a growing body of theoretical and empirical literature has examined the existence of intimate partner violence (IPV) in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities. Collectively, this research has suggested that IPV in rainbow communities occurs at rates comparable to those documented among heterosexual populations and results in similar detrimental psychological, social, and physical consequences for victims. Importantly, however, this work has also highlighted myriad ways in which the social and structural marginalization of gender and sexual minority populations create unique vulnerabilities for IPV that are not shared by cissexual and heterosexual individuals. This entry provides an overview of this scholarship to inform strength-based social work practice with and for LGBT survivors of domestic violence at the macro, mezzo, and micro levels.


2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-92
Author(s):  
Yitschak Shnoor ◽  
Ayelet Berg-Warman

Since the late 1980s, there have been changes in attitudes toward the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community in Israel. Nevertheless, the service system for the elderly is largely characterized by heteronormativity and relies on family members to help their elderly relatives. Goal: To examine the difficulties experienced by old LGBT people, particularly in receiving health and social services. Method: A total of 104 LGBT people aged 55+ years responded to a structured online questionnaire. Findings: Compared with the general elderly population, elderly LGBT people have fewer support networks, they tend to live alone, and suffer from tremendous loneliness. They are afraid of coming out to health and social service providers and of functional dependency, particularly due to their fear of disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity, the barriers to receiving help, and the absence of family support to assist them.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donatella Di Marco ◽  
Helge Hoel ◽  
Duncan Lewis

Abstract The review explores key issues associated with discrimination and hostility faced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people at work and organizational responses to it. Starting from a description of the main challenges facing LGBT workers’ identity management, the review examines manifestations of negative attitudes towards gender and sexual minority groups, highlighting processes of subtle discrimination and exclusion. It presents and critiques dominant organizational responses to LGBT stigmatization, highlighting the need for holistic, intersectional approaches, and pointing out issues requiring further research.


1998 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Burkitt

This paper concentrates on the recent controversy over the division between sex and gender and the troubling of the binary distinctions between gender identities and sexualities, such as man and woman, heterosexual and homosexual. While supporting the troubling of such categories, I argue against the approach of Judith Butler which claims that these dualities are primarily discursive constructions that can be regarded as fictions. Instead, I trace the emergence of such categories to changing forms of power relations in a more sociological reading of Foucault's conceptualization of power, and argue that the social formation of identity has to be understood as emergent within socio-historical relations. I then consider what implications this has for a politics based in notions of identity centred on questions of sexuality and gender.


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