Disrupting Queer Inclusion

Canadian Homonationalisms and the Politics of Belonging

foreword by Rinaldo Walcott, edited by OmiSoore H. Dryden & Suzanne Lenon

tagged: gay studies, lesbian studies

Description

Canada likes to present itself as a paragon of gay rights. This book contends that Canada’s acceptance of gay rights, while being beneficial to some, obscures and abets multiple forms of oppression to the detriment and exclusion of some queer and trans bodies. Disrupting Queer Inclusion seeks to unsettle the assumption that inclusion equals justice. Offering a fresh analysis of the complexity of queer politics and activism, contributors detail how the fight for acceptance engenders complicity in a system that fortifies white supremacy, furthers settler colonialism, advances neoliberalism, and props up imperialist mythologies.

About the Authors

Rinaldo Walcott

Professor Rinaldo Walcott is the Director of the Women & Gender Studies Institute. Rinaldo's research is founded in a philosophical orientation that is concerned with the ways in which coloniality shaoes human relations across social and cultural time and focues on Black cultural politics; histories of colonialism in the Americas, multiculturalism, citizenship, and diaspora; gender and sexuality; and social, cultural and public policy.

OmiSoore H. Dryden

Suzanne Lenon

Contributor Notes

OmiSoore H. Dryden is assistant professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Thorneloe University (at Laurentian University) in Sudbury, Ontario. She teaches in the areas of critical race theory, queer diaspora, and introductory and advanced queer and feminist theories. Her research examines the links between race, sexuality, gender, and community through the themes of blood – how it is donated, discursively constructed, and shared. OmiSoore explores how “gay blood,” “black/African blood,” and queer identifications intersect with (homo)nation making. Her work has appeared in Atlantis: A Women’s Studies Journal, Women and Environments International Magazine, and Rhizomes: Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge.

Suzanne Lenon is an associate professor in the Department of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta. Her research interests lie at the intersections of critical-race feminisms and law, and gender and sexuality. Her work has appeared in Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture; Journal of Intercultural Studies; Canadian Journal of Women and the Law; darkmatter; and Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture and Social Justice. She is also the co-editor of a special issue of Canadian Journal of Law and Society on “Law and Decolonization.”

Contributors: Julian Awwad, Naomi de Szegheo-Lang, Alexa DeGagne, Sonny Dhoot, Marty Fink, Patrizia Gentile, Gary Kinsman, Kathryn Trevenen, Amar Wahab