Ashley Currier
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816678006
- eISBN:
- 9781452948195
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816678006.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter discusses the challenges faced by Namibian and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists following assertions that they were “gay for pay,” or doing the ...
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This chapter discusses the challenges faced by Namibian and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists following assertions that they were “gay for pay,” or doing the bidding of foreigners in exchange for funds. These accusations caused Behind the Mask and The Rainbow Project (TRP) to lose their funding from foreign donors, forcing them to suspend their projects and fire some staff members. The assertions also made it difficult for LGBT activists to present a pan-African LGBT movement to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). With the help of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), activists assembled a coherent strategy for making the LGBT movement claims visible and intelligible to the ACHPR.Less
This chapter discusses the challenges faced by Namibian and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists following assertions that they were “gay for pay,” or doing the bidding of foreigners in exchange for funds. These accusations caused Behind the Mask and The Rainbow Project (TRP) to lose their funding from foreign donors, forcing them to suspend their projects and fire some staff members. The assertions also made it difficult for LGBT activists to present a pan-African LGBT movement to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). With the help of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), activists assembled a coherent strategy for making the LGBT movement claims visible and intelligible to the ACHPR.
Ashley Currier
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816678006
- eISBN:
- 9781452948195
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816678006.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter discusses visibility and invisibility as fluctuating qualities that Namibian and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement organizations carefully cultivated ...
More
This chapter discusses visibility and invisibility as fluctuating qualities that Namibian and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement organizations carefully cultivated over time as strategies. Visibility refers to the social and political relevance of a social movement that enhances its ability to disseminate its demands and ideas, while invisibility refers to the public withdrawal of activists when political circumstances become hostile to organized resistance or if activists must withdraw from public visibility to respond to internal crises. LGBT activists controlled the public presentations of their movements, movement organizations, and constituents by developing visibility strategies.Less
This chapter discusses visibility and invisibility as fluctuating qualities that Namibian and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement organizations carefully cultivated over time as strategies. Visibility refers to the social and political relevance of a social movement that enhances its ability to disseminate its demands and ideas, while invisibility refers to the public withdrawal of activists when political circumstances become hostile to organized resistance or if activists must withdraw from public visibility to respond to internal crises. LGBT activists controlled the public presentations of their movements, movement organizations, and constituents by developing visibility strategies.
Denise Tse-Shang Tang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789888083015
- eISBN:
- 9789882209855
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888083015.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
The term tongzhi is contested for its earlier primary definition to mean gay and middle class. It is used within LGBT activist communities and non-governmental organizations to denote politics that ...
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The term tongzhi is contested for its earlier primary definition to mean gay and middle class. It is used within LGBT activist communities and non-governmental organizations to denote politics that aim for equality and human rights. This chapter examines the role of prominent women activists in Hong Kong's tongzhi movement as a means of understanding how the overall political and sociocultural environment in Hong Kong affects one's perspectives on social justice, civic engagement, and sexual identities. The informants with activist backgrounds chose to use either their real names or pseudonyms used in the media. The chapter begins with a bold assumption that Hong Kong's tongzhi movement is a conflicted political site where recent gains have been made in regards to public visibility and issue-based demands due to heightened awareness on human rights, global inequalities, social justice, and corporate greed.Less
The term tongzhi is contested for its earlier primary definition to mean gay and middle class. It is used within LGBT activist communities and non-governmental organizations to denote politics that aim for equality and human rights. This chapter examines the role of prominent women activists in Hong Kong's tongzhi movement as a means of understanding how the overall political and sociocultural environment in Hong Kong affects one's perspectives on social justice, civic engagement, and sexual identities. The informants with activist backgrounds chose to use either their real names or pseudonyms used in the media. The chapter begins with a bold assumption that Hong Kong's tongzhi movement is a conflicted political site where recent gains have been made in regards to public visibility and issue-based demands due to heightened awareness on human rights, global inequalities, social justice, and corporate greed.
Ashley Currier
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816678006
- eISBN:
- 9781452948195
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816678006.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
The chapter discusses the importance of visibility to Namibian and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists. The phrase “visibility matters” refers to the strategic ...
More
The chapter discusses the importance of visibility to Namibian and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists. The phrase “visibility matters” refers to the strategic priority that public visibility held for activists involved with Behind the Mask, The Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), Sister Namibia, and Mask and The Rainbow Project (TRP). In Namibia, activists crafted visibility for the LGBT movement built on notions of democratic inclusion, while in South Africa, the FEW developed a strategic orientation that leaned toward decreased visibility, even invisibility, when circumstances warranted. Movement visibility and invisibility constituted more than flattened outcomes resulting from activists’interactions with social and political institutions, and generated both advantageous and harmful consequences for LGBT movement organizations.Less
The chapter discusses the importance of visibility to Namibian and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists. The phrase “visibility matters” refers to the strategic priority that public visibility held for activists involved with Behind the Mask, The Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), Sister Namibia, and Mask and The Rainbow Project (TRP). In Namibia, activists crafted visibility for the LGBT movement built on notions of democratic inclusion, while in South Africa, the FEW developed a strategic orientation that leaned toward decreased visibility, even invisibility, when circumstances warranted. Movement visibility and invisibility constituted more than flattened outcomes resulting from activists’interactions with social and political institutions, and generated both advantageous and harmful consequences for LGBT movement organizations.
Amy L. Stone
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816675470
- eISBN:
- 9781452947464
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816675470.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
The passage of the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 in California in 2008 stunned gay rights activists across the country. Although facing a well-funded campaign in support of the ballot measure, LGBT ...
More
The passage of the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 in California in 2008 stunned gay rights activists across the country. Although facing a well-funded campaign in support of the ballot measure, LGBT activists had good reasons for optimism, including the size and strength of their campaign. Since 1974, the LGBT movement has fought 146 anti-gay ballot initiatives sponsored by the Religious Right and has developed innovative strategies to oppose these measures. This book examines how the tactics of LGBT activists have evolved and unravels the complex relationship between ballot measure campaigns and the broader goals of the LGBT movement. This book measures, both those merely attempted and those successfully put before voters, this book draws on archival research and interviews with more than one hundred LGBT activists to provide a detailed account of the campaigns to stop such ballot measures from passing into law. As the book shows through in-depth case studies, although LGBT activists lost the vast majority of these fights, they also won significant statewide victories in Oregon in 1992 and Arizona in 2006, and local successes, including ones in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 1998 and 2002. This book analyzes how LGBT activists constantly refined their campaign tactics in response to both victories and defeats. It also stresses that such campaigns have played both a complementary and contradictory role within the LGBT movement.Less
The passage of the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 in California in 2008 stunned gay rights activists across the country. Although facing a well-funded campaign in support of the ballot measure, LGBT activists had good reasons for optimism, including the size and strength of their campaign. Since 1974, the LGBT movement has fought 146 anti-gay ballot initiatives sponsored by the Religious Right and has developed innovative strategies to oppose these measures. This book examines how the tactics of LGBT activists have evolved and unravels the complex relationship between ballot measure campaigns and the broader goals of the LGBT movement. This book measures, both those merely attempted and those successfully put before voters, this book draws on archival research and interviews with more than one hundred LGBT activists to provide a detailed account of the campaigns to stop such ballot measures from passing into law. As the book shows through in-depth case studies, although LGBT activists lost the vast majority of these fights, they also won significant statewide victories in Oregon in 1992 and Arizona in 2006, and local successes, including ones in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 1998 and 2002. This book analyzes how LGBT activists constantly refined their campaign tactics in response to both victories and defeats. It also stresses that such campaigns have played both a complementary and contradictory role within the LGBT movement.
