Members of the Midwest Political Science Association convened April 2-6 at the Palmer House Hilton, 17 E. Monroe St., for their 72nd annual conference. The Association's Caucus for LGBT Political Science held a number of events over the course of the weekend, among them panels addressing LGBT rights within an international framework and the correlation between LGBT issues and media coverage.
"LGBT Issues in a Global Context," held April 4, brought together scholars to discuss their research on pertinent issues affecting LGBT communities abroad.
Jyl J. Josephson of Rutgers University presented "The Trans Movement in Iceland," wherein she summarized findings from several interviews she and colleagues conducted with trans individuals there. Josephson said the Icelandic trans community was addressing numerous contradictions inherent in there society; for example, the nation is a welfare state that appointed a medical board to oversee trans issues. On the other hand, however, their language is intrinsically gendered, and thus it is difficult for many institutions to communicate in ways that are not ultimately exclusionary to trans residents.
The trans movement there also faces many of the same divisions other nations face, Josephson said, adding, "The issues are [often] inclusion and exclusion … including how narratives of inclusion exclude simultaneously."
Martijn Mos of Cornell University presented "Diversity in Unity: The Effects of Changing Membership Composition on Norm Internalization," which addressed how often nations within the European Union internalized the EU's official policies on LGBT rights after their admission. Mos argued that some nations, especially some within Eastern Europe, may have agreed to official EU policies but discrimination against LGBT individuals remains widespread.
"Member states are implementing principals that they might not believe in, but the benefits of enlargement outweigh those objections," Mos said, adding that, "We see that the EU is divided in [its] unity."
"Same Sex Marriage in Canada and the U.S.: The Role of Political and Legal Culture," was addressed by Jason Pierceson of University of Illinois at Springfield. Pierceson's study contrasted the processes that brought about the recognition of gay marriage in Canada and parts of the United States, noting that legal and historical scholars often ignore cultural aspects of legal arguments surrounding controversial issues.
Pierceson discussed how gay marriage passed in 2005 in Canada with significantly less controversy than the issue has engendered in the US, adding that Canada was already recognizing relationships outside marriage within the context of its social welfare policy. "In the US there was an attempt to do that, but it coincided with rise of religious right," he said. "… Religious conservatives don't have as much power in Canada."
Shawn Schulenberg of Marshall University concluded the panel with "No Preguuntes No Digas: Inclusion of LGBT officers in Latin American Armed Forces." Schulenberg said that Latin America is "leapfrogging ahead" in LGBT rights, but there has been virtually no discussion amongst scholars about the armed forces there. Indeed, he said he found only three studies purporting to look at the issue from a "global perspective," and none addressed Latin America.
Some countries, including Colombia and Peru, had Supreme Court decisions saying gays could serve in the military, but politicians never moved to put those dictates into play, according to Schulenberg. Other nations, such as Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, have explicit inclusionary policies because of conscription laws. Panama, meanwhile, explicitly bans gays from serving in its national police force. But since so few countries have had military bans inscribed into law, Schulenberg said, "In the Latin American social context, this is not an issue so far."
Another panel, "LGBT Politics: Socialization, Political Values and Media Coverage," considered how mainstream socio-political discourses influenced the public perceptions of LGBTs.
The first panelist, Shin-chan Dai of University of New Orleans, discussed "The Influence of Political Socialization Factors on Attitudes Toward LGBT Issues."
Dai said that his research, which is in its preliminary phases, examines exactly how public opinion can ultimately contribute to public policies put into place by governments. He said he is considering long-term factors, such as voters' ages or income levels, as well as short-term factors such as campaign rhetoric during election.
"What I'd like to know is, does your opinion on gay rights influence your political behavior or not?" Dai said.
"Why are the Kids Alright?: The Origins of Young People's Liberalism on Gay Rights," by Jeremiah Garretson of State University of New York at Stony Brook, addressed the increased acceptance of gays and lesbians by younger generations. Garretson said that young people generally appropriate socio-political views from their families, except matters of race, gender identity and sexuality. Quite often, he added, young people form a preliminary view of gays in childhood, then that view evolves when they finally interact with a gay person or get repeated exposure from the media as an adult.
During the 1980s, young people were generally socialized towards gays in a negative media climate. But those images in mainstream media lessened over the course of 1990s and early 2000s. As such, young people growing up at that time were exposed to fewer negative impressions of gays. "These cohort effects sway back and forth over time," Garretsen said.
Scott N. Nolan of University of New Orleans discussed "Quantifying LGBT Issues in News Coverage," a study wherein he coded 500 issues of mainstream, LGBT and religious publications in order to address how those publications of gay and lesbian issues evolved.
Nolan said that he "saw positive coverage slowly working its way up in secular media"—he said he coded between 42-54 percent of discussions of LGBT issues in mainstream publications as being positive. Additionally, 10 percent of coverage in religious publications was positive, as was 80-90 percent in LGBT publications.
Grant Walsh-Haynes of Northern Arizona University spoke on "Comparing the Political Values Shared Between the GOP and Republican Gay and Lesbian Interest Groups," which focused primarily on gay and lesbian Republicans in Arizona, who he said "shared an inner circle space" between the gay rights movement and conservative politics.
Both the GOP and gay Republican activists shared many interests; Walsh-Haynes cited education as an example: While both groups want families to have the right to send their children to any school they want, gay republicans are often in favor of anti-bullying laws and regulations as well. Nevertheless, for the past decade, the GOP has largely rejected the support of gays.
"They seem poised to include blacks, Latinos and women, but not gays," said Walsh-Haines. "[Gays] are silenced in platforms."
