Summer semester 2025: Queer between the frontlines: LGBTIQ*-Politics and Mobilisations in a Translocal Perspective

Worldwide, ultra-right, fascist, and other authoritarian movements and governments converge ideologically in their opposition to LGBTIQ* rights – despite their ideological differences in other areas. The Russian government, for instance, justifies its war of aggression against Ukraine by claiming it aims to protect Kyiv from the spread of "gender ideology" and LGBTIQ* issues. Domestically, the Russian administration has labeled LGBTIQ* organizations as terrorist groups. Similarly, in several countries of the Global South, draconian laws targeting LGBTIQ* communities are introduced as symbolic rejections of what is perceived as "Western modernity."

LGBTIQ* issues have sometimes been considered marginal, dismissed as luxury concerns of a minority in the Global North. They are sometimes perceived as negligible against the pressing crises of climate catastrophe, war, and the global rise of authoritarianism and fascism. However, the global dynamics connected to these issues paint a starkly different picture: LGBTIQ* issues are at the very core of the current crisis.

In reaction to the rise of authoritarianism, openly queer individuals play pivotal roles in indigenous democracy movements in the Global South. Examples include Thailand’s democracy movement (2020–2021) (Schaffar 2021), Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement (ongoing since 2021), and numerous other movements.

Such examples highlight the centrality of queer issues to global questions of democracy, international relations, and political development (Klapeer 2024). In this context, our lecture series will explore theoretical perspectives and debates while presenting current findings and concrete developments in specific countries and movements. These will be critically examined through the lens of queer theory, gender theory, and critical approaches to political science.