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MIDTERM #1
Prof Leah Wilson WGST51 Fall 2021
Covers Weeks 4-6
16 Questions, 65 Min
Friday 10/29/21

→ Queer Politics
→ Cisgender
→ Transgender
→ Trans Visibility
→ Trans*
→ Employment Non-Discrimination Act
(ENDA)
→ “The bathroom problem”
→ Exclusion in LGB Communities
→ Bisexuality
→ Bi-Invisibility and Bi-Erasure
→ Monosexuality
→ Monosexism
→ Intersexuality
→ Asexuality
→ LGBTQ+ Community Allies
→ S/M (Sadomasochism)
→ BMNOPPQ
→ Intersectionality/Intersectional
KEYWORDS: Framework
→ Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena,
→ The Down Low
and James Byrd
→ Black Lives Matter
→ Matthew Shepard and James Byrd
→ Performative Solidarity vs.
Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
Substantive Solidarity
→ Hate Crimes Legislation and
→ Michael Brown as a queer subject
Anti-Discrimination Laws (in general)
→ Neoliberalism
→ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)
→ The mestiza consciousness
→ Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
→ Disability vs. Impairment
→ Lawrence v. Texas
→ Disability Justice
→ Obergefell v. Hodges
→ Crip
→ Same-sex marriage (in the US and
→ Supercrip
internationally)
→ Prop 8
→ LGBTQ Rights (push for marriage
→ Uniting American Families Act
and military inclusion)
→ Comprehensive Immigration Reform
→ Civil Rights v. Human Rights
→ Human Rights Campaign
→ Assimilation
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STUDY GUIDE:
● Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena, and James Byrd
○ Dec 1993 - Brandon Teena a 21 yo trans man was killed
○ Oct 1998 - Matthew Shepard a Uni of Wyoming student murdered
■ After this, Clinton’s attempt to widen the definition of hate crimes to
include lesbians & gays was defeated in Congress
○ 1998 - James Byrd
■ African American man who was lynched brutally
■ There still aren’t any anti-lynching laws
● Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
○ Oct 2009 - signed the “Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes
Prevention Act”
● Hate Crimes Legislation and Anti-Discrimination Laws (in general)
○ Doesn’t stop violence for discrimination
○ Individualizes hate & discrimination
○ Hard to prove intent
○ Expands the criminal punishment system
○ Doesn’t deter people from violence
○ Erases the way that systems have been used historically to create discrimination
■ Historical context of slavery that lead to other discriminatory systems that
create inequality for black people
○ Increases victimization of trans people
■ Contributes to situations that make them more vulnerable
○ Creates false impression that the problem has been solved when someone is put
in jail/is punished
○ “Deserving” vs “undeserving” people
■ This idea is set up by immigration/prison reform while anti
discrimination/hate crime legislation upholds this binary
● Conversation about human rights/rights people deserve
■ Some people are “good” & can blend in/comply w certain institutions
■ Benefit people who already have access to some institutions (employed)
■ Privileges the least marginalized of the marginalized
● Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)
○ End the ban in gays in the military & allow same sex couples the right to marry
■ US implemented a “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy which neither anti gay or
pro gay groups liked
■ Clinton tried to repeal ban on gays but faced so much push back that he
instead implemented “Don’t ask, Don’t tell, Don’t pursue, Don’t harass”
● supposed to be progressive, but actually allowed for LGBTQ
people to be discharged
● Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
○ National Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defined marriage as the legal union
of one man & one woman (1996 by Clinton)
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■ in 2012 39 states still had an amendment or law against same sex

marriage
● 15 states permitted either full marriage or state sanctioned civil
unions or domestic partnerships
■ Obama decided he would no longer defend the constitutionality of the
federal DOMA
■ 2014 Windsor v. United States - ruling held that “the federal government
cannot discriminate against married lesbian and gay couples for the
purposes of determining federal benefits and protections”
■ Internationally - Netherlands (2001) & Belgium (2003) were first euro
nations to legalize gay marriage
● Lawrence v. Texas
○ 2003 supreme court case that outlawed sodomy
● Obergefell v. Hodges
○ landmark civil rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled
that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both
the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution
● Same-sex marriage (in the US and internationally)
○ A human rights approach has helped LGBTQ+ people gain inclusion/equality
around the world
■ 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
■ Push for a broader definition of human rights (that includes LGBTQ+
people & other marginalized people as fully human)
○ US is apart of a global trend & has its own successes/failures
■ Some European countries have expansive hate crime legislation, but
have other barriers for LGBTQ people
● France: IVF for lesbians was illegal, but let others that have a
father in the home
■ Africa as a continent contains many mixed attitudes
● South Africa’s constitution protects LGBTQ+ people
● Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Uganda criminalize homsexuality
○ Uganda is heavily funded by US
○ Actively sponsored by American corporations & politicians
■ Queerness as a political approach is a Western concept & thus may
not work in other non-Western contexts
● LGBTQ Rights (push for marriage and military inclusion)
○ Inclusion into institutions such as marriage & the military promote LGBTQ+
assimilation into larger society + depend on a civil rights framework
■ Civil rights approaches push for equality under law & in institutions but
do not alter the institutions or make these institutions more equitable for
more marginalized groups
● Ex: The Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
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■ Queer politics critique the assimilationist approach bcs included some

marginilized people still depends on excluding others if institutiosnn
remain unaltered
● If some are being rewarded, others are being stigmatized
○ What would a queer political approach say about gay men & lesbians being
banned from the military?
■ Why do we need a military at all? Critique the institution more than the
ban itself. Dismantle the traditional institution of the military itself. The
institution is murdering brown/black people in other countries, maybe it
isn’t such a bad thing to not be included in that.
● Civil Rights v. Human Rights
○ Distinction when talking about inclusion/equality: civil rights (the rights of
citizenship) and human rights
■ In global north → in efforts to gain civil rights for sexual/gender
nonconformists can become blinded to needs of people who lack access
to food, shelter, & healthcare
■ After WWII the UN announced Universal Declaration of Human Rights
which established “a right to be free from discrimkination of any kind”
● Without any distinction between race, color, sex, origin, property,
birth or other status
● This was in response to the Holocaust and homosexuals were
also persecuted by Nazis
● Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
○ largest, best funded American civil rights organization
■ since turn of 21st century has focused much of its energy/resources on
advocacy for rights of gays to marry, openly serve in the military, & feel
secure/free from discrimination in the workplace
■ works with religious leaders to address homophobia in church
communities
■ human rights —> works to obtain for LGBTQ people the same rights as
heterosexual citizens
○ HRC - approach emphasizes the need for equality with straights arguing anything
less is unfair & unjust
● Assimilation
○ Inclusion into institutions such as marriage & the military promote LGBTQ+
assimilation into larger society + depend on a civil rights framework
■ Civil rights approaches push for equality under law & in institutions but
do not alter the institutions or make these institutions more equitable for
more marginalized groups
● Ex: The Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
● Queer Politics
○ Queer politics critique the assimilationist approach bcs included some
marginilized people still depends on excluding others if institutiosnn remain
unaltered
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■ If some are being rewarded, others are being stigmatized

● Cisgender
○ Queer communities are dominated by non-feminine, cisgender, & exclusively
gay/lesbian folks
● Transgender
● Trans Visibility
● Trans*
○ An ambiguous term
■ Can’t pin down definition
■ Fluidity to its meaning
■ Trans isn’t a destination (born female and want to be a man, it isn’t about
having a destination in your identity)
■ Defined by queer people → not given by the heteronormative medical
world/society
○ People don’t need to label themselves a certain way bcs it already encompasses
a wide range of identities
○ Opens the door for understanding different relationships to gender
○ Become an umbrella term
○ More visibility opens door to discrimination & regulated & marketed to
○ Critiques of Trans*:
■ Can ignore intersectionality
■ Challenging grammar, you aren’t changing the rules/systems
■ Writing was poor → some of what he said contradicted his greater point
■ Non binary people vs trans* in the context of heternormative society
● Won’t be impactful in current society
■ Some people desire normativity
● Tied to witness & class privilege
● Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)
○ Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) only protected sexual orientation &
never included gender identity
■ Pass it anyway → even with exclusion of trans
■ Practical politics → series of compromises
○ Practical Politics, logic that people will always be left out, at least we are making
some progress
○ Argues that inclusion of trans in this isn’t as important in the grand scheme of
things
■ Some progress is better than no progress at all (one step at a time)
■ Take what you can get basis → Civil Rights Movements have always left
somebody out
○ A transphobic explanation
● “The bathroom problem”
○ queer diversities chapter, talking about trans visibility, legislation against
bathrooms
● Exclusion in LGB Communities
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○ LGB groups have excluded trans people

■ Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival
■ Lesbian feminists have argued against including trans women within
feminists movements
○ Lesbian feminists have excluded lesbians who participate in penetrative sex, use
sex toys, consume pornography, are into S/M
■ Sex Wars of the 1980s
● “Pornography is the theory, rape is the practice”
● Destroyed jobs of people who were more pro-sex
○ Lesbian/gay communities have excluded bisexual people
○ LGBTQ communities have had issues with racism, sexism, & classism
● Bisexuality
○ Attracted to 2+ sexes/genders/identities
● Bi-Invisibility and Bi-Erasure
○ Seen as a destination on the way to realizing they are either gay or straight
■ Result of monosexism, can’t be attracted to more than one sex or just a
pit stop to being gay, not committing
○ There is a higher poverty rate & more mental health issues in bi people
○ Bisexuals are “going through a phase” but will eventually be gay or lesbian
○ Bisexuals are trying to hold onto straight privilege
○ Bisexuals are not monogamous or faithful
■ Threatens progress of “good” gays & lesbians & threaten straight families
● Monosexuality
○ Attracted to only one sex/gender
● Monosexism
○ Monosexism → that there is only hetero/homo, can’t have multiple attractions
○ Informed by misogyny & homophobia
○ Bisexuality sexualized
● Intersexuality
○ People born with male & female genitalia, with indeterminate genitalia, or
variations of stereotypical male or female genitalia
■ Determined on physical presentation (other things at play including
hormones, not just physical appearance)
○ 2% of the global population (some have higher rates than others)
○ Often subjected to genital mutilation/surgeries to make their genitalia conform to
either male or female presentation
■ Self-determination
○ Intersex bodies disrupt heteronormative conceptions about gender & sex
○ Growing Intersex Activism & calls to end surgeries on babies/small children
● Asexuality
○ Often gets left out of LGBTQ discussions
○ Asexuality - an adjective used to describe people who do not experience sexual
attraction
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■ A person can also be aromantic, meaning they don’t experience romantic

attraction
■ Variations of asexuality (demisexuality, based on intellectual/personal
relationship)
● LGBTQ+ Community Allies
○ Sex workers
○ S/M communities
○ Fetishist/kink communities
○ Why would these groups be allies?
■ They are ousted at being “outside the norm”
■ Go against heteronormativity, ostracized from mainstream community
■ Charmed circle → tiny form of sexuality fits
■ Pro-sex activist mentality/values align→ advocate for sexual freedom
● S/M (Sadomasochism)
○ erotic release is achieved through having pain inflicted on oneself
● BMNOPPQ
○ Bisexual, multisexual, no label, omnisexual, pansexual, polysexual, and Q =
experientially bisexual folks who primarily identify as queer (arranged
alphabetically)
○ Point is as an umbrella term for identities for people who aren’t monosexual to
organize around their identities
■ having a term for someone to express their sexuality
○ Important to have the language/words to describe yourself/your experiences
■ Helps to find community with other ppl & to get help
● Intersectionality/Intersectional Framework
○ Examining ones’ multiple identities together to see how they overlap to create
unique contexts/experiences and its exponential effect on oppression
○ Multiple identities being examined together will look diff than examining an
identity separately in a vacuum
○ Comes from critical race theory, Crenshaw mapping the margins
■ Coined in 1989
○ Various structures → patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism
■ Depending on identity these structures impact you in different ways
(based on your overlapping identities)
■ Can understand how race/sexual identity/background influence how they
are privledged & oppressed in ceratin ways
○ Useful to see commonality in a group but also to see that differences
○ Understand distinctions & can’t equate 2 different groups bcs experience
oppression in different ways
■ Trans history is going to be very different than queer history as a whole
■ The way religion can shape people’s experiences, understanding more
about how oppression works
○ Can’t focus on one aspect of identity → individualizes how oppression works
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■ Past race, “colorblind” politics → ignores injustices that still happen & still
experience racism
○ How oppression works on different levels, more comprehensive understanding of
how to address those issues
● The Down Low
○ The down low - a slang term describing what many (ex: JL King) identify as a
sexual phenomenon among some black men
■ Got picked up & misinterpreted by mainstream media → portraying black
women as unknowing victims of black men engaging in sexual behavior
with one another (connected to spread of HIV/AIDS to straight black
women)
■ This misinterpretation fits perfectly into larger cultural dynamics by
confirming stereotypes
● Vilinization/hypersexualization of black & gay men
■ Analysis is intersectional of race, sexuality, social class, and gender
dynamics to understand the down low phenomenon
● Performative Solidarity vs. Substantive Solidarity
○ Superficial + performative activism → PR stunts
○ Talking the talk without walking the walk
○ Statement of solidarity without anything to actually back it up
○ Privatized corporations have a structure itself
○ Not making any transformative change
○ Substantial solidarity → going in and using decriminalization, defunding police,
and working actively to deconstruct the problematic structures
● Michael Brown as a queer subject
○ Looking at a more political sense of queer → out of the norm
■ Queer subjects → seen as other, normalizing their marginalization,
ostrizised from a dominant culture
○ His very being/existence is going against dominant norm of white
supremacy/heteronormativity that is perpetuated by neoliberalism programs
○ Critiquing on groups for only focusing on sexuality (you can also be minoritized
by race/class)
○ Transformative solidarity by looking at other alliances & ways those interlocking
systems/ideologies harm an array of people
● Neoliberalism
○ Neoliberalism - economic philosophy & policies that call for the freedom of
business to operate with minimal interference from governments, international
organizations, or labor unions
■ Prevailed since late 1970s (nixon, reagan, and every president since)
■ Neoliberalism refers to:
● Free market
● Free trade
● Economic deregulation
● Privatization of government/public services
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● Cuts in social welfare and boosts to corporate welfare

● Belief in individual responsibility & freedom
■ Instead of critiquing & changing an institution, the institution includes
more people in it
■ Example: Black Lives Matter Protests
● Whether the solution is Police Reform or Abolishing the Police
● The mestiza consciousness
○ Mestiza Consciousness
■ Of the borderlands representation of intersectionality → awareness of
how multiple identities interact with each other
■ Different identities cannot be separated
○ Connection of mestiza + queer
■ All queer people being crosscultural → rejected in certain aspects and
finding community elsewhere
■ Being a minority requires knowing 2 cultures (yours and the dominant)
○ Mestiza → like corn (cross bread) but specifically masa (which is a dough)
■ Which is like a blend of all your identities that can’t be seperated
○ Both Indigenous + colonizer identities
■ Oppressed + Oppressor
■ Must accept both of them at the same time → ambiguity
■ Often conflicting, which makes you more open minded
● Disability vs. Impairment
○ Impairment as “lacking part of or all of a limb, or having a defective limb,
organism, or mechanism of body”
○ Disability as “the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by contemporary
social organisation which takes no or little account of people who have physical
[and/or cognitive/intellectual] impairments and thus excludes them from
mainstream society”
● Disability Justice
○ Goes back to Frida Kahlo painting in bed
○ Disability Justice is a coin termed by black, brown, queer, & trans members of
the original Disability Justice Collective
■ Dreamed up a movement-building framework that would center the lives,
needs, and organizing strategies of disabled queer/trans/BIPOC people
marginalized from mainstream disability rights organizing’s white
dominated, single issue focus → wanted an intersectional approach
○ Has changed in recent years:
■ Uses a more intersectional framework (rather than focusing on only one
identity of being disabled + now it includes marginalized people)
■ Uses technology & social media to create this framework
■ More access for diabled people to work, such as remote working style
■ More mainstream attention → rooms are packed, dialogue has increased
○ Disability Justice Framework understands that all bodies are unique &
essential, that all bodies have strengths and needs that must be met
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○ A complex collective struggle that can be powerful

■ Can form network to share knowledge & work together, collective access
& liberation
■ The 10 principles of disability justice
1. Intersectionality
2. The leadership of those impacted
3. Anti-capitalist politics
4. Cross movement solidarity
5. Recognizing wholeness
6. Sustainability
7. Commitment to cross-disability solidarity
8. Interdependence
9. Collective access
10. Collective liberation
● Crip
○ Reclaims the word “crip”
○ Acknowledges that disability is a category that is inevitable for most people
■ Ex: during covid 19 pandemic, aging and eventually becoming old
● Supercrip
○ Supercrip - focus on disabled people “overcoming” their disabilities which
reinforces the superiority of th enondisabiled body & mind
■ Ex: Boy without hands bats or Blind man hikes the Appalachian Trail or
Girl with down syndrome learns to drive & has a boyfriend
○ Idea of overcoming disability
○ Critiqued bcs society shouldn’t have such low expectations for them &
objectifying them for the benefit of non-disabled people
○ Harm other disabled people, bad for the community
● Prop 8
○ Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and
a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed
in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in
court.
○ What the deeply flawed “Make Gay legal” shirts were made for
● Uniting American Families Act (UAFM)
○ UAFA (Uniting American Families Act) → including same sex domestic
partnerships as a path for citizenship/protected status
■ Plays into idea of/supremacy of marriage & certain kinds of relationships
(promotes/privileges marriage like relationships)
■ Money/not affordable as a solution (need a sponsor & a certain level of
income)
■ Not guaranteed
■ One person having all the power lends itself to exploitation/abuse
■ Only values western/heteronormative immigrants (play soccer, sing choir)
(good vs bad immigrant)
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■ Biased based on which country you come from (privileges Europeans vs

Iran/Pakistan more difficult)
● Comprehensive Immigration Reform
○ “Our concerns should be with comprehensive immigration reform (CIR)”