International Studies Quarterly (2019) 0,1–13 A Growing Queer Divide: The Divergence between Transnational Advocacy Networks and Foreign Aid in Diffusing LGBT Policies Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/isq/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/isq/sqz075/5556052 by Unitversity of Texas Libraries user on 02 September 2019 K RISTOPHER V ELASCO University of Texas at Austin Despite years of success, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) norms are becoming increasingly polarized across the global landscape—with some countries strongly complying with new expectations while others openly defy them. To ex- plain these divergent paths, I investigate the transmission of global LGBT norms via two mechanisms: transnational advocacy networks and foreign aid conditionalities. In examining LGBT policy adoption across 110 non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries between 1990 and 2016, I find evidence that the process through which states are exposed to LGBT norms can indeed help explain these different approaches. Exposure to LGBT norms through transnational advocacy networks enhances the effect of these norms and is associated with more progressive policy adoption, while greater dependence on foreign aid pushes states to reject LGBT norms. Consequently, this study provides new insights into how the mechanism through which countries are exposed to norms shapes compliance and adds new evidence question- ing the effectiveness of foreign aid as a tool to advance LGBT rights. While popular discourse and research focus on the adop- the international community, such as through transnational tion of policies benefitting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans- advocacy networks, the more likely they are to adhere to gender (LGBT) communities, especially in Western, indus- new expectations (i.e., LGBT rights) (Ayoub 2016). Mean- trialized countries, this attention de-emphasizes the growing while, realist scholars instead emphasize the externalities, chasm among states and their regulation of LGBT popula- or outside consequences, that compliance with a norm tions outside these settings (Currier 2012; Weiss and Bosia brings (Horne 2001). For example, the adoption of eco- 2013; Symons and Altman 2015; Hadler and Symons 2018). nomic liberalization and democratic reforms in developing Because, in part, such studies look to the emergence of new countries were coupled with threats of losing foreign aid global, cultural norms or expectations around LGBT rights (Siegel and Weinberg 1977; Sanahuja 2000). While both ap- as a key factor in explaining LGBT policy adoption (Frank proaches emphasize relations, underlying assumptions dif- and McEneaney 1999; Kollman 2007; Fernández and Lutter fer in why these relations matter. Therefore, the growing evi- 2013), their global scope tends not to capture nascent ev- dence showing transnational advocacy networks and foreign idence of resistance and policy backlash. Consequently, lo- aid conditionality as both becoming mechanisms through cal case studies are documenting how the same normative which global LGBT norms are being pushed (Kretz 2013; expectations explaining cross-national policy adoption are Paternotte and Kollman 2013; Ojilere 2018; Seckinelgin also prompting anti-LGBT policies and spurring what Weiss 2018) provides an opportunity to assess how these differ- (2013) calls “anticipatory countermovements,” such as the ent types of connections to the international community ex- infamous “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda (Nuñez-Mietz and plain norm polarization and policy change outside the most Iommi 2017; Dreier 2018). Insights from such case studies industrialized countries. are requiring scholars to re-examine global models to better To assess the effects of different ties in advancing global explain the realities around LGBT politics in recent years LGBT norms, I perform two-way fixed effects models using (see Halder and Symons 2018 and Roberts 2018). data from 110 non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation To illuminate the mechanisms driving this divide, in this and Development (OECD) countries from 1990 to 2016. For article I investigate how countries are connected to the inter- the dependent measure, I use the International Lesbian, national community. Scholars of social norms suggest that Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association’s (ILGA) State- social relations are important mechanisms through which Sponsored Homophobia Report to develop an index comprised norms transfer (Boli and Thomas 1999; Hechter and Opp of sixteen LGBT policies (Velasco 2018). I predict a coun- 2001). In particular, the quality and character of these so- try’s index value by developing a novel measure of global cial relations determine how actors interact and negotiate LGBT norms and interacting this term with two measures of with such expectations and, ultimately, modify behaviors ties with the international community: (1) centrality within (Hechter and Opp 2001). In the realm of international re- LGBT transnational advocacy networks; and (2) strength of lations, neo-institutionalists contend that states adopt “ap- relationships with foreign aid-granting countries. propriate” behaviors once legitimated on the world stage The findings demonstrate that the growing divide among (Meyer et al. 1997). The deeper states are embedded within states can be explained, in part, by how states are connected to the global arena and how the nature of these interac- Kristopher Velasco is a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of tions changes the way norms are received, negotiated, and Texas at Austin. His research is focused on the role of global civil society in pro- enacted. Namely, states connected via transnational advo- ducing social change. Current projects examine the formation of pro- and anti- cacy networks respond positively, adopting more progressive LGBTI transnational advocacy networks and their political consequences. policies, while states with more aid partners and funding Author’s note: For helpful comments, I would like to thank Liam Swiss, challenge pro-LGBT expectations, resist changing policies Pamela Paxton, participants at the International Sociological Association’s World and, in some cases, act counter to these expectations. For Congress, and three anonymous reviewers. Further, I would like to thank Terrance Chapman’s seminar course for inspiring this project. those concerned about advancing the treatment of LGBT Velasco, Kristopher (2019) A Growing Queer Divide: The Divergence between Transnational Advocacy Networks and Foreign Aid in Diffusing LGBT Policies. International Studies Quarterly, doi: 10.1093/isq/sqz075 © The Author(s) (2019). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Studies Association. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected] 2 Transnational Advocacy Networks, Foreign Aid, and the Diffusion of LGBT Policies communities, the results demonstrate that the focus should Furthermore, some states have intensified anti-sodomy be on fostering civil society and questioning the effective- provisions or laws criminalizing same-sex sexual acts ness of stipulating policy changes through aid conditionality (Hadler and Symons 2018). For example, in 2004, (Kretz 2013; Biruk 2014; Ojilere 2018; Seckinelgin 2018). Tanzania criminalized same-sex acts between women in ad- dition to men (Human Rights Watch 2013a), with Maldives Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/isq/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/isq/sqz075/5556052 by Unitversity of Texas Libraries user on 02 September 2019 The Spread of LGBT Policies following in 2014. In 2005, Cameroon started to aggressively arrest people accused of breaking their sodomy laws despite In 1991, a resident of Tasmania filed a complaint against rarely enforcing such provisions historically (Human Rights the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee argu- Watch 2013b). In 2014, Uganda and Nigeria both adopted ing that the anti-sodomy laws of the Australian state violated laws intensifying the punishment for same-sex acts while his privacy rights under the International Covenant on Civil Nigeria’s bill also re-banned same-sex marriages (Chitando and Political Rights (ICCPR) (Baisley 2016). In 1994, the and van Klinken 2016; Nuñez-Mietz and Iommi 2017). Weiss Committee agreed in Toonen v. Australia that anti-sodomy and Bosia (2013) refer to these actions, and similar ones by policies violated the treaty’s anti-discrimination provisions, other states, as “anticipatory countermovements,” because prompting the Australian federal government to overturn these countries are trying to prevent the advancement of the state statute (Baisley 2016). Toonen serves as an impor- LGBT rights even before there is a robust domestic demand tant symbolic and substantive achievement as the first time a for them. UN body explicitly considered concerns expressed by mem- As a result of these varied state responses toward LGBT bers of the LGBT community to fall within established hu- communities, several scholars have developed new concep- man rights obligations—a goal of transnational LGBT ac- tual tools to explain these events. For example, in the aptly tivists for several decades (Rupp 2011). named Queer Wars, Symons and Altman (2015) echo argu- Following this, the 1990s saw an increasing number of ments made by Weiss and Bosia (2013) and Nuñez-Mietz LGBT-related policy changes. For example, although some and Iommi (2017) that it is the inherently globalized nature states had already