CILIA-LGBTQI+ RESEARCH NEWSLETTER | OCTOBER 2020 |

| Prof. Yvette Taylor + Dr Matson Lawrence |

NEWS + EVENTS

RESEARCH

Fàilte, hello and welcome. About the project: Our 3 year project (2018-2021) – entitled ‘CILIA- ACTIVITIES Welcome to the second of LGBTQI+: Comparing Intersectional + OUTPUTS our CILIA-LGBTQI+ Scotland Lifecourse Inequalities among research newsletters, LGBTQI+ Citizens in four European updating you about our Countries’ – is a partnership work and activities for the between research teams based in CILIA-LGBTQI+ research in Scotland, England, Portugal and Scotland. Germany, and is funded by NORFACE. For more info, see: https://lgbtqilives.wordpress.com/

Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

WELCOME

Welcome to the second CILIA-LGBTQI+ Scotland Research Newsletter of 2020. We are writing this – from our home offices, sofas, repurposed desks – in unprecedented, unexpected, unknown times. It would be remiss not to acknowledge the gravity of this year, and the serious and ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on a great many people’s lives, health, wellbeing and livelihoods.

Like many, we had a very different idea of what 2020 would look like, and we had a rather different idea of what we would be doing with the CILIA-LGBTQI+ project. We had planned to host a two-day project meeting in for CILIA-LGBTQI+ research partners from Germany, Portugal, England and Scotland. We had intended to share our findings about LGBTQI+ school experiences as part of a CILIA-LGBTQI+ panel at the British Sociological Association Annual Conference in Birmingham, and to present at the European Sociological Association Conference in Portugal. We had also planned to co-deliver an event with our STEM Equals colleagues on LGBT+ networks in higher education, now re- scheduled as an online event in October. As in previous years, we had been excited about our Engage with Strathclyde event in May, exploring LGBTQI+-inclusive education policy.

However, the far-reaching impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have altered these plans; cancelling some, putting others on hold, all the while adapting, changing and moving increasingly online. And we are happy to report that we met our European project partners, on zoom, mid-September!

Despite the upheaval of this year, the CILIA-LGBTQI+ project is still very much progressing, with events, podcasts, blogs and – importantly – analysis. In this newsletter, we’ll update you on project news and activities since our last update in January 2020, and share what we are planning moving forward.

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Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

A NOTE ON TERMS We use the acronym ‘LGBTQI+’ to denote lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and intersex people and identities; the ‘+’ denotes the broader range of minoritised sexualities, genders, and variations in sex characteristics. Screenshot from a CILIA-LGBTQI+ project meeting in September 2020, including team members from Portugal, Germany, England and Scotland.

And another ‘welcome’…

This year we have welcomed Dr Maja Andreasen to the CILIA-LGBTQI+ Scotland research team. As a newly- minted ‘Dr’ from the University of Strathclyde with expertise on social media analysis, gender-based violence and feminism, we are delighted to be working with Maja in 2020. Dr Maja Andreasen

A LOOK INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Page 4 New CILIA-LGBTQI+ Podcast launched Page 5 The UK LGBT Action Plan: a look behind the celebratory rhetoric Building Queer/Class Lives: A Community Workshop Page 6+7 UK Legislative Lives: Illustrating Intersectional LGBTQI+ Lifecourse (In)equalities Page 8 Dynamics of Inequality Across the Lifecourse (DIAL):  DIAL Summer School  DIAL Policy Brief No. 1 ‘Toward A Gender-Equal Europe’ Page 9 Over Half A Million Words: Analysing LGBTQI+ Lives Page 10 New Courses for Professional Lifelong Learning Call for Abstracts: Queering Sharing Page 11 LGBT+ Networks in Higher Education: Building connections, making change 3

Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

In this podcast series, Yvette Taylor speaks to CILIA-LGBTQI+ NEW CILIA- user group members, and others met in the course of the research – whether that’s in utilizing the facilities and events LGBTQI+ space, for example, at Glasgow Women’s Library, or in learning about new activities such as the LGBTI+ Elders PODCAST Social Dance Club. The podcast features an overview by Yvette, and interviews with Dr Churnjeet Mahn, University of LAUNCHED Strathclyde, Lou Brodie of LGBTI Elders Social Dance Club, and Professor Sharon Cowan, University of .

We hope listeners will enjoy the contributions made which includes thinking through questions of feminism, nationalism, identity and how access and usefulness are negotiated in the course of the CILIA project, as it compares lifecourses across time and place.

Listen to the podcast series and read the full blog post here on our website, and watch out for new podcast speakers!

PERSPECTIVES FROM THE PODCAST

Dr Churnjeet Mahn, CILIA-LGBTQI+ user group member, University of Strathclyde:

“We often hear about Scottish exceptionalism and how social issues are dealt with more inclusively or progressively in Scotland. And there may be good reasons for why this is true, for example, the legal educational, cultural institutions in Scotland are quite distinct. And we have different structures and funding, but does this make a difference, are we doing something better? And the only way to understand this is to think comparatively with other nations and to sync across the life course. Is this an enduring feeling or experience or a modern phenomenon or performance? …Scottish civic nationalism has side-stepped the inherent racism of ethnic nationalism, but it doesn’t mean that it has no strings attached for non-white populations.”

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Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

The UK Government LGBT Action The UK LGBT Action Plan: a look behind the Plan: Discourses of progress, enduring stasis and LGBTQI+ celebratory rhetoric lives ‘getting better’ Yvette Taylor talks about her research Matson Lawrence & Yvette Taylor (2019) with Matson Lawrence, looking behind in Critical Social Policy the celebratory rhetoric of the UK Government’s LGBT Action Plan Our article examining discourses of published in 2018. Yvette also discusses ‘progress’ in the 2018 UK Government LGBT Action Plan has been published in emerging findings from the project and the journal Critical Social Policy. The LGBTQI+ people say about their lives and article can be accessed here (e-mail us how they view the ‘progress’ claimed in if you do not have access to this journal the plan and more widely by politicians. and we can send a copy). You can listen to the podcast episode on the DIAL website.

BUILDING QUEER/CLASS LIVES: A COMMUNITY WORKSHOP

March 2020 @ Glasgow Women’s Library

In March, just before lockdown, Yvette organised a workshop with Strathclyde Global Engagement Fellow, Dr Matt Brim, at Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL). Yvette first met Matt whilst undertaking a Global Engagement visit to New York City, with Matson, in 2019, also participating in many of the ‘ @ 50yrs’ events.

The reciprocal workshop at GWL invited participants to discuss the places of queer/class intersections in their lives. Participants had much to say about this and discussion included naming and describing structures—such as community groups, academic formations, and political affiliations—that support queer/class identity, thought, cultural production, and social action. Enduring questions include ‘What does identity with and support for queer and class communities look like and how does it persist?’ ‘What are our stories of places where queer/class connections are minimized or resisted, and how might we innovate from within those sites to create more liveable queer/class intersections?’

There has been some attention to the place of class in LGBTQI+ communities and CILIA-LGBTQI+ will continue to attend to these complicated matters of identity, history and inequality. An important question to attend to is how is middleclass done, mobilised and un-done in the context of queer and how, for example, education and employment impact the story of 'coming out' and 'getting on'.

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Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

UK LEGISLATIVE LIVES: ILLUSTRATING INTERSECTIONAL LGBTQI+ LIFECOURSE (IN)EQUALITIES

In collaboration with artist Samia Singh, we have created an illustrated timeline of key legislative moments for LGBTQI+ people in Scotland and the UK, interweaved with experiences of CILIA-LGBTQI+ interviewees.

In attempting to convey some of the LGBTQI+ lives made possible and rendered impossible over time it is easy to fall into a simple narration of progress; that things are ‘getting better’, that younger generations are less homophobia and transphobic, and that queer lives have come out from underground, uplifted by legislation (see our article here). This illustrated timeline, designed by Samia Singh, represents some of the key social and legislative moments remembered by CILIA-LGBTQI+ interviewees (even when they had not lived in those times). The ‘underground’ at times appears vivid and vibrant, understood and often celebrated, even when not personally experienced, or endorsed – whether that be in the introduction and subsequent repeal of /2a, or in same-sex marriage entitlement. The images and accompanying text highlight some of what is often seen as part of LGBTQI+ lifecourse and political imagination; things remembered, welcomed and reacted to, as moments of care, connection and controversy across generations.

The timeline forces us to consider if those times have passed, and if and how we can stay attuned to political shifts, institutional and invisible forces that made and make life difficult. [Cont. on page 7]

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Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

Previous UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, is one such UK LEGISLATIVE controversial figure depicted on the timeline. Thatcher was often mentioned by interviewees across the age-range in LIVES: discussing Section 28/2a and remembering the impact of this ILLUSTRATING on their schooling experiences. Thatcher becomes shorthand for a particular time and politics around individualism and self- INTERSECTIONAL reliance, vilifying working-class people and communities as well LGBTQI+ as queer ones. When stood on her own, against the collective presences of e.g. Outright Scotland, the , LIFECOURSE and Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners, we know how to (IN)EQUALITIES read this individualism.

To read more and to view the timeline, visit the CILIA-LGBTQI+ Scotland blog.

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Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

SUMMER SCHOOL:

DYNAMICS OF In August 2020, Dr Maja Andreasen, Research Associate, attended a three-day summer school organised by NORFACE’s transnational INEQUALITY research program Dynamics of Inequality Across the Lifecourse (DIAL). The summer school was originally supposed to take place at the University of Turku in Finland, but the COVID-19 pandemic meant ACROSS THE that participation went online instead. While most participants came from quantitative backgrounds (primarily sociology and LIFECOURSE economics), the research we do on the CILIA LGBTQI+ project has a qualitative approach and this created some interesting (DIAL) interdisciplinary challenges… You can read about Maja’s experiences, and the challenges

and potentials of working across disciplines, on our blog here.

“I consider doing interdisciplinary research a feminist project. The notion of moving across disciplines, of understanding how different disciplines offer new and varied perspectives provides necessary challenges and broadens our perspectives. This is feminist research at its core. Constantly questioning what we take for granted, understanding that different backgrounds provide different perspectives and constantly trying to do better is a feminist project.” - Dr Maja Andreasen

DIAL POLICY BRIEF NO. 1 ‘TOWARD A GENDER-EQUAL EUROPE’: WHAT CAN POLICYMAKERS LEARN FROM THE DYNAMICS OF INEQUALITY ACROSS THE LIFE- COURSE (DIAL) RESEARCH?

The CILIA team participated in DIAL’s first policy brief which gives an overview of early findings shedding light on European policy agendas related to gender equality. The findings show, e.g., that family policies are linked to differences in earnings and wealth in mid-life across Europe. You can read the brief here.

Key Findings:  Family policies are linked to differences in earnings and wealth in mid-life across Europe.  Investments in skills and training for older women could be promoted to help close gender pay differentials.  Women face a greater risk of poverty throughout their working lives and into retirement because of breaks in paid employment and reduced work hours which have led to systematic disadvantage.  Claims that life has got better for LGBTQI+ people do not always hold up to scrutiny nor match the lived experiences of individuals.

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Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

This year we have been busy analysing the empirical data from our in-depth lifecourse interviews with 45 LGBTQI+ people across OVER HALF Scotland, conducted in 2019. During these conversations, around 650,000 (!) words were spoken and we have over 2,200 pages of A MILLION interview data. Here, Dr Matson Lawrence gives an insight into organising and analysing the CILIA-LGBTQI+ qualitative dataset. WORDS: So, what exactly do we do with all of those words? Following the interviews, we uploaded the interview transcripts into qualitative data analysis software and began the process of ‘coding’ the data. We initially grouped the data into general topics or themes (e.g. ‘Employment’, ‘Youth’, ‘Disability’). We then examined ANALYSING individual codes in more depth in order to identify emerging LGBTQI+ LIVES patterns, connections and emerging themes – analysing these against the backdrop of existing research, our research questions,

CILIA-LGBTQI+ project aims, and policy and legal landscapes.

“There is no doubt that it is both a tremendous privilege and a significant responsibility to be entrusted with people’s life stories. Through conducting interviews, and then reading and re-reading the words spoken, the analytical process brings us closer to the perspectives and lived experiences of fellow LGBTQI+ people. We share in their accounts of joy, pain, ambivalence, optimism, and frustration. Our task is then to ask what these stories tell us, examine what connects these experiences, and consider how best to frame and communicate these findings.” - Dr Matson Lawrence

What words ‘count’? How do we best communicate these stories, and subject them to qualitative analysis?

When analysing qualitative data and writing about our findings, a major consideration is doing justice to the perspectives, experiences and life stories of interviewees, in all of their richness, nuance and complexity. Here, all words ‘count’, and expressions of uncertainty, hesitation or ambivalence are just as vital in developing our understandings as are the more definitive statements and linear narratives. The analytical process is not one of marked assessment or applying value judgements to interviewees’ accounts; instead, we seek to understand interviewees’ stories within their individual – often intersectional – life contexts (i.e. the individual participant), in the context of other interviewees’ stories (i.e. the dataset), and in the context of current theoretical and empirical understandings of topics such as sexuality, gender, education, equality policy, etc. (i.e. the existing knowledge). Breaking the dataset down into distinct thematic areas – such as schooling, disability or social media – enables close attentiveness to and articulation of the rich variety of interviewees’ experiences.

Drawing upon specific themes and aspects of the data, we are preparing publications on a range of topics, including: social media and online communities; intersectionality; Section 28 and LGBTQI+ inclusive education; Sex and Relationships Education; disability; and, research methods. Stay tuned for publication news in 2021!

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Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

NEW COURSES FOR

PROFESSIONAL These proposed sessions speak directly to key policy urgencies, including the ’s recent declaration of full and LIFELONG LEARNING ‘world leading’ transformative support for LGBT+ Inclusive Education. In both the public and private sector there is Professor Yvette Taylor (CILIA-LGBTQI+ increasingly high profile work on diversity and widening PI) and Dr Maddie Breeze (CILIA- participation, and their overlap with equalities legislation, with LGBTQI+ user group member) will be gender equality a central focus. Where various policy directives leading on three new Courses for are increasingly attending to the language and practice of Professional Lifelong Learning: diversity we consider the place and recognition of long-standing feminist contributions in thinking through educational access, • LGBTQ+ Inclusive Education outcomes and transformative potential.

• Creating Feminist Classrooms For more information and to sign up, visit the School of Education webpages here. • Widening Participation

Selected new publications by CILIA-LGBTQI+ team members:

 Mckendry & Lawrence (2020) Trans Inclusive Higher Education: strategies to support trans, non-binary and gender diverse students and staff. In Crimmins (ed) Strategies for Supporting Inclusion and Diversity in the Academy. Palgrave Macmillan.  Taylor (2020) The queer subject of 'getting on'. In King et al (eds) Intersections of Ageing, Gender and Sexualities: Multidisciplinary International Perspectives. Bristol University Press.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – QUEERING SHARING: TOWARD THE REDISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES AROUND THE UNIVERSITY

With colleagues, Dr Matt Brim and Dr Churnjeet Mahn, Yvette is now inviting submissions for an edited collection on redistributing resources with, as well as via, queer studies.

Queering Sharing: Toward the Redistribution of Resources around the University aims to gather writing from across academic tiers and global contexts, and from emerging and established scholars, to make a significant contribution to the understanding of queer theory’s class politics in the university. We particularly welcome chapters that draw on feminist, decolonial and anti-racist intellectual traditions to create space for discussions of class in queer studies.

Please send 500-word abstracts for proposed chapters to [email protected] by October 16th 2020. The deadline for full chapter drafts (6,000-7,000 words, including notes and works cited) will be June 2021. Visit our blog post for more information.

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Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence How can we build stronger networks? How can we create UPCOMING more inclusive communities in which people feel like EVENT they can bring their whole selves to their research and their work? LGBT+ in Higher CILIA-LGBTQI+ and STEM Equals are pleased to host the Education: upcoming online event LGBT+ in HE: Building networks, making change where we will discuss creating more inclusive research/working communities for LGBTQI+ people in higher Building education. This event in organised in partnership with Dr Jessica Gagnon and Dr Marco Reggiani of the EPSRC-funded STEM networks, Equals project at the University of Strathclyde, a research and making change impact project focused on women and LGBT+ people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in both academia and industry.

Join us on Wednesday 21st October 2020, 1pm – 3:30pm, online via Zoom. This is a free event, but registration is required.

For more information and to register, visit the STEM Equals website.

The afternoon event will include a keynote by Dr Izzy Jayasinghe (University of Leeds), a welcome address from Professor Yvette Taylor of CILIA-LGBTQI+, and a panel discussion involving Izzy, Yvette, Dr Matson Lawrence (CILIA- LGBTQI+), Dr Katie Nicoll Baines (University of Edinburgh), Dr Jack Hao Yang (University of Strathclyde), and Dr Marco Reggiani and Dr Jessica Gagnon (STEM Equals, University of Strathclyde). The event will also officially launch the LGBT+ staff and PhD Students Network at the University of Strathclyde.

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Yvette Taylor + | OCTOBER 2020 | Matson Lawrence

Professor Yvette Taylor: [email protected] Twitter: @YvetteTaylor0 KEEP IN Dr Matson Lawrence: [email protected] Twitter: @MatsonLawrence

TOUCH Project e-mail: [email protected] Project Twitter: @LGBTQILives Project Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LGBTQILives/

Image credits: llustrations throughout by Samia Singh, from the ‘UK Legislative Lives’ illustrated timeline (see pg. 6-7). Flag image (p.4) by Calum Hutchinson via Wikimedia Commons (edited). Clip art sourced via open access image archives. Credit for logos is given to respective projects / bodies.

https://lgbtqilives.wordpress.com/

Yvette Taylor and Matson Lawrence (2020) CILIA-LGBTQI+ Scotland Newsletter, October 2020. Digital and plain text versions, plus previous editions, are available from: https://lgbtqilives.wordpress.com/. 12