PA5631: LGBTQ Politics & Policy

The advancement of LGBTQ rights in the United States has experienced unprecedented success over the last twenty years, shifting both public attitude towards and legal protection for LGBTQ Americans. This course will provide an in-depth analysis of current LGBTQ policy achievements in the United States, including the recognition of marriage equality in all 50 states, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, increased anti-discrimination protections, and rights for people who are transgender or gender non-conforming. Emphasis will be placed on how these victories were achieved, including background on the strategies and tactics used to generate policy results. We will also take a critical look at such milestones and examine what they mean for the entire LGBTQ population, including queer people of color, transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, the disabled, and economically disadvantaged. Intersectionality will be a key aspect of the course, in particular, analysis on how the differential effects of policy among segments of the population that may not experience the benefits of policy passage as quickly or as broadly. Incorporated into this analysis will be readings from queer liberation scholars to help us evaluate the pros and cons of existing LGBTQ policy gains. The course will explore what full equality might look like for LGBTQ people in the United States with an examination of what can and cannot be achieved through policy. Practical application on how policy is made will be intertwined throughout the course. Topics to be covered include the meaning and measurement of LGBTQ identity; estimates of those who identify as LGBTQ; the measurement of Americans’ attitudes on LGBTQ issues and how these attitudes have changed over the past few decades; assessment of changes in law and policies at the national, state and local levels; and the implications of these changes for the lived experience of LGBTQ people and their families, including health, well-being, stigma and discrimination.

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