Confronting the State: Power, Activism, and the Self


1.71 October 1, 2016 11:15 am - 1:00 pm

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Presenter biographies will be linked below as they become available. Final program subject to change.

Caner Hazar
Cristina Khan
Chriss Sneed

By centering LGBTQ activism and expression, we aim to show how regulatory forces have been deployed by the state in relation to sexuality. We center marriage, racialization, and religion as central tenets to underscore how the state has enforced both a racialized and heteronormative boundary within LGBTQ activism. In interrogating how these boundaries have become solidified, we explore the impacts of neoliberalism and globalization in both a U.S. American context as well as in Turkey. We also examine the ramifications of these tenets on the micro-scale of LGBTQ erotic expression, namely their manifestation in the context of erotic dance.

Caner Hazar: “LGBT Activism in the Context of Political Islam: Sociopolitical Opportunities and Constraints Facing the LGBT Activism in Turkey” (full abstract)

Chriss Sneed: “GA(y)TEKEEPING IDENTITY & CLAIMS TO JUSTICE: Mainstream Discourse on ‘Gay’ Marriage and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (2003-2015) & The Boundaries of Community within LGBTQ Political Organizing” (full abstract)

Cristina Khan: “Negotiations of Identity and Embodiment through Language” (full abstract)