Like the experiences of many other marginalised communities, LGBTQI+ people’s experiences of conflict are often treated as niche or side issues. Yet when we look back at previous conflicts, trajectories of homophobia and transphobia have been integral strands in how conflict erupts and how communities – LGBTQI+ and otherwise – are affected. This is often directly linked to nationalist and often racialised ideas of a pure and deserving nation. It is not surprising LGBTQI+ repression often coincides with other gendered rollbacks for example around abortion access or military conscription. The WPS agenda would appear to be a natural entry point to consider this distinct impact, especially when it comes to the intersecting lived experiences of LGBTQI+ women specifically. However the WPS agenda has often been assumed by many actors including states and civil society, to concern itself solely with cisgender heterosexual women. Meanwhile, feminists have continuously created and re-created a different kind of WPS that is more inclusive and intersectional, including by bringing in queer perspectives. We are joined by Susana Peralta, a lawyer and literature scholar with Colombia Diversa, Neela Ghoshal, Senior Director of Law and Policy and Outright International, and Dr Jamie Hagen, Lecturer in International Relations at Queen’s University Belfast to discuss this topic. The conversation is chaired by GAPS Policy, Advocacy and Communications Officer Detmer Kremer.

Additional Resources

Colombia Diversa, Centre for Gender in Politics, Queering the Women peace and Security Agenda: A Practice Based Toolkit (2023)

Outright International, The Global State of LGBTIQ Organizing: The Right to Register and the Freedom to Operate (2023)

Detmer Kremer, Dean Cooper-Cunningham, Queering Atrocity Prevention: Europe in Focus (2024)