Date of Graduation

5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Political Science

Advisor/Mentor

Saeidi, Shirin

Committee Member/Reader

Baptist, Najja K.

Committee Member/Second Reader

Banton, Caree

Committee Member/Third Reader

Levine, Bill

Abstract

Current conceptions of citizenship, which are heteronormative and tie citizenship to membership in a nation-state, do not account for the quotidian experiences of LGBTQ people across the globe. Seeing as the queer community is a relatively small one, many queer people feel a sense of shared fate with LGBTQ people across the diaspora and feel helpless when they see their queer siblings being persecuted in egregious ways. Thus, the need for a new type of uniquely queer citizenship becomes salient. This thesis posits that a supranational queer citizenship would be the most effective conception of citizenship for queer people because it would allow them to not only build community across borders but would also allow LGBTQ people a place to advocate for queer rights, and under the right circumstances push for international legal action against countries that are seen to be hindering queer people from achieving equity within the countries bounds. Additionally, this theory acknowledges that nation-state citizenship is simply not sufficient enough to guarantee the well-being of queer people, and that a supranational framework is needed to ensure queer people’s full inclusion and protection in a rapidly globalizing world.

Keywords

LGBTQ+, Political Science, LGBTQ+ Citizenship, Supranational Queer Citizenship

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