Surya Monro

Sexuality, Equality and Diversity

From individual experiences of prejudice to international political debate around equal rights, social attitudes towards sexuality and transgender equalities are evolving. This timely text traces shifts at personal, national and international levels to fully assess the landscape of policy and theory today. Bringing together critical perspectives and original research, Sexuality, Equality and Diversity clearly outlines contested terms and key debates in the field. It explains how equality policy is developed and put into practice, examining what has been achieved by legislation so far and highlighting the challenges to overcome. Exploring the multiple identities and different agendas of various LGBT communities, this thought-provoking book draws on a range of rich examples to shed new light on sexual citizenship today. This is an invaluable guide through the complex terrain of equality and diversity, and is invaluable reading for students of sociology, social policy, gender studies and politics.

Beyond Male and Female: Poststructuralism and the Spectrum of Gender

ABSTRACT Transgender explodes the notion that male and female are discrete categories. Transgender people change sex or inhabit third (or multiple) sex, androgynous, or fluid identities. I theorize this by developing and then critiquing poststructuralist transgender theory. A poststructuralist theory of transgender disassociates sex and gender, models both as constructed, and emphasizes the technologisation and commodification of the body. Poststructuralist accounts can, however, entail denial of bodily limitations, erase transgender peoples subjective experience, and overlook social and political factors, such as the importance of gender categories as a basis for identity politics. I argue for the deconstruction of gender binaries to be combined with the development of a gender-pluralist, flexible, model of gender. This points to the replacement of bipolar models of gender with a gender spectrum, with important implications for conceptualizing gender. My analysis is based on empirical research with a range of transgender people.

Transmuting Gender Binaries: the Theoretical Challenge

This paper provides a cross-cultural account of gender diversity which explores the territory that is opened up when sex, gender, and sexual orientation, binaries are disrupted or displaced. Whilst many people who identify as trans or intersex see themselves as male or female, others identify in ways which destabilize sex/gender and sexual orientation binaries. The paper provides a typology of ways in which sex/gender diversity can be conceptualized, and draws out the implications for theorizing gender. It discusses the contributions made by the new wave of authors working in the field of transgender studies; authors who draw on and inform the sociology of sex and gender, feminisms, and poststructuralist theory. It based on empirical material from research carried out in India and the UK.

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

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 approaches that interrogate the structuring effects of specific social forces. This article contributes to these debates by exploring intersectionality in relation to lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) equalities initiatives in UK local government. The article demonstrates the importance of two social categories, sexuality and the spatial, in structuring LGB equalities work. By citing analysis partially at the institutional level, it also reveals the way in which an individualizing approach to intersectionality studies, which focuses only on the interstices, is problematic. The article therefore provides an argument for an intersectionality studies that incorporates category-based analysis, whilst retaining a concern with the interstices between foundational categories.

Intersectionality and Sexuality: The Case of Sexuality and Transgender Equalities Work in UK Local Government

The last 25 years has seen the introduction and expansion of studies concerning intersectionality (see for instance Crenshaw, 1989; Hill Collins, 1990). Intersectionality is claimed by some authors as a central aspect of feminist thinking, one which has transformed the conceptualisation of gender in research (Shields, 2008). As is well rehearsed, intersectionality theory grew out of a critique of models of inequality which framed social forces as operating in layered or additive ways. Intersectionality can be used as ‘a method for interrogating the institutional reproduction of inequality, whether at the level of the state, the family, or of legal structures more generally’ (Grabham et al., 2009: 2). This more structural form of intersectionality thinking moves analysis away from the individualising approaches that have been criticised by authors such as Conaghan (2009). Such an approach would have purchase in developing understandings of inequality, identity and difference in the area of sexuality; an area which has been relatively neglected within the field of intersectionality studies.

Public Duty and Private Prejudice: Sexualities, Equalities and Local Government

Rather than critiquing social institutions and practices that have historically excluded lesbians and gay men, as did earlier social movements 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, at least to a degree, been answered via a raft of recent legislation in the UK including the Adoption and Children Act 2002, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004, and by associated changes in policy making and practice that emphasize ‘Equality and Diversity’. In this article we consider how the implementation of sexualities equalities policies is related to processes of privatization and individualization. This is illustrated by using sexualities equalities work in local government as a case study to indicate how processes of change and resistance are aided by these processes. The article draws on findings from a study of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equalities initiatives in local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 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’.

Evaluating local government equalities work: The case of sexualities initiatives in the UK

Abstract Measurement, as one aspect of managerialist practice, has become important in the local government arena in the UK. Legislative changes support the development of sexualities equalities initiatives in local authorities, but there is an absence of systems for evaluating these. Current indices of success can be applied to sexualities work in local government, but these are limited, given the impact of factors such as homophobia, party politics and local government restructuring. Complementary indicators concern policy making, anti-discrimination, and community leadership. Whilst provoking, perhaps, a politicisation of managerialism, such developments may be most usefully framed in administrative terms.

Is bisexuality invisible? A review of sexualities scholarship 1970–2015

This article provides a review of sexualities scholarship within the social sciences between 1970 and 2015. It takes an innovative approach by focusing on the way in which bisexuality is addressed in this body of literature. The article reveals the marginalisation, under-representation and invisibility of bisexuality within and across the social sciences in relation to both bisexual experience and identity. Reasons for this varied across the different eras, including the heterosexist nature of the literature, the impact of gay and lesbian-focused identity politics, and queer deconstructionism. In addition, patterns of bisexual erasure and invisibility were uneven, with some scholarship taking inclusive approaches or criticising prejudice against bisexuality. The initial findings of the review were enriched by critical commentary from key relevant sociologists and political scientists. The article concludes that future sexualities scholarship could be enhanced by greater consideration of bisexuality.

BiReCon: An International Academic Conference on Bisexuality Including the Program for BiReCon

This article charts the past, present and future of the BiReCon event, which was the inspiration for this special issue of the Journal of Bisexuality. We provide the historical context for such an academic conference on bisexuality, and the key research which had been conducted on bisexuality in the UK prior to this. The aims of the 2010 BiReCon event are summarized, and a brief overview of the event is presented. Finally, we chart some potential future directions for BiReCon and other similar conferences. The full program for BiReCon can be found at the end of the article, along with links to YouTube clips from the event and other related Websites.

Introduction to ‘Sexual Movements and Gendered Boundaries: Legal Negotiations of the Global and the Local’:

This special issue examines the interplay between national and international legal arenas in the governance and regulation of gender and sexuality. For scholars of gender, sexuality and law, there is much to cheer at the international level. We might, for instance, celebrate the unprecedented visibility and activity of both feminist and lesbian and gay movements. The result of that increased profile is a strengthening of policy and laws governing a variety of social justice issues, from violence against women to HIV/AIDS. ‘Women’s rights as human rights’ has become a familiar slogan, bandied about by even the most unlikely international bureaucrat. Similarly, lesbian and gay rights, while hotly resisted by many, have attracted a phalanx of notable supporters. Influential human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have dedicated ‘gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered’ departments, and the complex human rights machinery of the United Nations is increasingly recognizing and responding to human rights violations of lesbian and gay men (Wintemute, 1995; Sanders, 1996; Stychin, 2003; Miller and Vance, 2004). This increased visibility and an apparent erosion of traditional exclusions present opportunities and challenges for scholars and activists alike. For the contributors to this special issue (Bunting, 2005; Munro, 2005; De Vries, 2005; Doezema, 2005; Millbank, 2005) from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the UK, this new international climate represents not so much the end point of a progressive narrative, but, rather, the point of entry into the debate – a critical moment for asking new questions.