Past Events

I just think I don't exist as an LGBT person in this system: exploring the consequences of heteronormative citizenship assumptions for LGBTQ+ social security recipients 

Lee Gregory (he/him) Associate Professor in Social Policy at the University of Nottingham

Thursday 29th May 2025 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here: https://forms.gle/oF1juTmR6GxHQoQDA  

Abstract

The development of welfare systems has relied heavily on a concept of citizenship to inform not only rights and responsibilities; but to also structure welfare across expected social norms of the life course. Despite growth in critiques of the concept of citizenship, the discipline of Social Policy has failed to appreciate a deeper, richness of experience of non-heterosexuals and non-cisgender people. Drawing on the concept of cishet-izenship (Gregory and Matthews; 2022) this paper examines data from the worlds first analysis of LGBTQ+ experiences of social security receipt to problematise the notion of citizenship that rests at the centre of welfare policy. Focusing on interactions with the bureaucracy (the process of applying for social security) and interactions with the bureaucrats (the face-to-face and online management of claims) we explore how queer people’s experiences of accessing social security in Great Britain reflects a mismatch between needs, diverse citizen lives and the assumptions that not only exist within the welfare system but held by welfare providers. Rather than having welfare needs met, LGBTQ+ people experience a diverse array of misrecognition, direct and indirect discrimination and stigmatising experiences as a result of not fitting into the expected citizenship norm. The analysis presents challenges to the historic normative assumptions embedded within welfare policy regarding the design and delivery of welfare systems and reflects on the misrecognition which results, despite advances in progressive equalities policy and practice. Consequently, the paper advances the problematisation of the concept of citizenship drawing on analysis of LGBTQ+ lived experiences of social security. 

Effects of Workplace: Anti-Discrimination Policies on Families: Evidence from “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Laura Nettuno (she/her)

Thursday 24th April 2025 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here: https://forms.gle/gVYoVpWEaAMTbPkf8 

Laura Nettuno (she/her) is an applied microeconomist with interests in health, labor,  development, and LGBTQ+ economics. She is broadly interested in studying health and labor market disparities among marginalized and vulnerable groups, including but not limited to LGBTQ+ populations, women and children, and people from developing countries. Her research has examined the employment outcomes and socioeconomic status of transgender people both in the U.S. and in Latin America, studied disparities in the health and health insurance coverage of sexual minority people in Chile, and documented new patterns in family formation for LGBTQ+ individuals. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Labour Economics, the Southern Economic Journal, PLOS One, and others, and has been cited by the CDC. 

Abstract: The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) in 2011 marked a significant shift in U.S. military policy, allowing lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals to serve openly without risking discharge. Using a difference-in-differences approach paired with data from the 2008-2019 American Community Survey, I leverage information on active-duty military employees and their families to study the effects of the DADT repeal on same-sex partnership formation and downstream economic outcomes. I find that repealing DADT substantially increased same-sex partnership among women in the military while having no effect on same-sex partnership rates among active-duty men. These effects were not limited to family structure– I also show that civilian women in same-sex partnerships with active-duty women are more likely to have military health insurance coverage following the DADT repeal. This paper provides the first evidence of the effects of repealing DADT on sexual minorities in the military, shedding new light on the relationship between workplace discrimination and family formation and contributing to the broader literature on LGBTQ+ rights and policies.

Recognising and Closing the Transgender Pay Gap in Britain

Kieran England (he/him)   

Thursday 27th March 2025 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here:

https://forms.gle/bBARHmPPvqvs74tv6  

Title: Queering Repression:

How the Global Crackdown on Civil Society Affects LGBT+ NGO Foundings

Kristopher Velasco (he/him/his), Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Princeton University

Monday 24th February 2025 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here:

 https://forms.gle/NBvoRqqubpzy35Aw5 

Abstract: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) emerged over the 20th century to become instrumental aspects of domestic civil society, globally. These organizations are associated with improving many outcomes, such as support for minority populations like LGBT+ communities. Over time, however, a significant number of countries have enacted policies repressing civil society, generally, and LGBT+ organizations, specifically. What effects have these policies had? We address this question by utilizing an original dataset of LGBT+ NGO foundings across the Global South. Using quasi-Poisson models with two-way fixed effects, we assess how various repressive policies affect subsequent foundings of new LGBT+ NGOs between 2000 and 2017. Our results demonstrate that repressive policies surprisingly have no clear association with overall NGO foundings – even under the most extreme conditions. However, this finding masks important heterogeneity: repressive policies diminish foundings of service-oriented NGOs but boost explicit LGBT+ advocacy-oriented ones. Finally, we draw on interviews with LGBT+ NGO leaders in Singapore and Ghana, two countries that have experienced civil society restrictions, to elucidate underlying mechanisms. This longitudinal study contributes new insights into on-going threats to liberalism in the international arena by focusing on how civil society actors survive and mobilize during periods of illiberal repression.

‘It’s not what we would class as the front of our priority’: a qualitative, intersectional perspective on LGBTQ+ disadvantage within health and social care service pathways in North East 

Mark Adley

Thursday 23rd January 2025 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here:

https://forms.gle/LsWGfCHPJK2xDyPPA 

Background: While income and access to healthcare systems remain primary drivers of health inequalities, there is growing evidence of the health inequalities experienced by population groups who are marginalised due to factors such as ethnicity, level of physical ability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Aims: Adopting an intersectional perspective, this study aimed to explore the health and social care pathways of LGBTQ+ people in North East England who had experienced disadvantage, to identify barriers and facilitators within these pathways, and use these findings to inform future service provision.

Methods: A qualitative interview study, underpinned by an ethos of co-production, with 33 professionals and 39 LGBTQ+ people who had experienced disadvantage. Over 66 hours of interview data were imported into MAXQDA software to support data management and analysis. Descriptive phenomenological methods were used to identify the essence of the interviews, which served as an axis around which data were synthesised. 

Results: Three key themes were generated from analysis of the interviews. Collective directions and core groups: normativity within services led to majority groups holding positions of privilege. Policy vs. practice: workplace culture functioned in opposition to legislation and guidance. Oblique angles rendered invisible: LGBTQ+ disadvantage went unseen within current frameworks.

Conclusions: Participants marginalised by factors such as ethnicity, physical ability, sexual orientation, and gender identity experienced inequalities within health and social care services. Discrimination led to disengagement from early interventions, and later use of crisis services. Many LGBTQ+ disadvantages remained unseen, rendered invisible by normative policy and practice. This study suggests that an understanding and application of health inequalities that is constrained within a framework of economic disadvantage will continue to sideline the social inequalities of health. It calls for greater consideration of social inequalities, and recommends a utilitarian position that considers ‘all of us’ rather than ‘us and them’.

Winter hiatus -returning January 2025

The Vanishing Village: Tracing the Production of Absence in Policy 

Matt C Smith (they/them).

Thursday 28th November 2024 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here:

https://forms.gle/ZVPLBw2dRtR4gN4e7 

How can we research queer and trans presence and absence in policy? As queer researchers working within broadly heteronormative policyscapes, we can often encounter absences and incidents that we know hold meaning and significance, but to some extent rely on our felt affect as evidence. During my doctoral work I conducted a feminist discourse analysis of policy (see Bacchi & Goodwin, 2016) tracing the production of explicit presences and accompanying absences in local planning policy over the last 20 years in Brighton & Hove, which I contentiously have referred to as the 'LGBTQ capital of the UK' (Smith et al., 2023). One finding of importance was the albeit fleeting recognition of the 'gay village', before seemingly vanishing from the local plan once again. Instead the only reference was using what I call the neoliberal gay slang of 'vibrant district shopping centre.' The city in relation to policy is therefore perhaps more aptly referred to as a long-time friend of Dorothy rather than the LGBTQ capital. My inability to evidence the rationale behind the removal beyond its demonstrative absence speaks to the normal functioning of the disciplinary biases at work within local planning practice. Where absence is the presence of heteronormativity. I invite engagement on how we as policy researchers can conceptually and methodologically address, research, and discuss queer and trans presence and absence in policy. 

Title: Rallied by thy neighbor: intra-group spatial proximity and turnout 

Michal Grahn (he/him) Stu TB, Uppsala Universitet. (Co-Authors) Rafael Ahlskog, Department of Government, Uppsala University, and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte, Southampton University. 

Thursday 31st October 2024 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here:

https://forms.gle/wCzg5cGVwADFbnZR7 

This paper examines the effects of living in neighborhoods with a high concentration of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals on voter turnout within this demographic. Previous research suggests that proximity to similar individuals can mobilize social minority groups, as regular contact reinforces a sense of common belonging and shared group interests. Utilizing validated turnout data for the entire Swedish population and employing a spatial-proximity-based approach to delineate neighborhoods of varying sizes in Swedish administrative data, we provide a comprehensive and nuanced analysis of how spatial concentration affects minority voter turnout. Our results indicate that residing in areas with a high concentration of LGB individuals increases their likelihood of participating in elections, pointing to a mechanism that could enhance the inclusion of social minority groups in democratic processes. 

Title: Visibility as vulnerability: Transgender "passing privilege" and labor market discrimination  

Taryn Eames (she/her)

Thursday 26th September 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here: 

https://forms.gle/wdfHm4CrLhfsoWFX7 

Transgender people experience worse labor market outcomes compared to similar cisgender peers; recently, research has found causal evidence of discrimination against this group in various settings. I propose a two-stage correspondence field experiment involving fictitious workers with A.I.-generated headshots, where the extent to which individuals "pass" as cisgender is experimentally manipulated. In addition, while some transgender workers will indirectly disclose their identity, others will not. These workers will apply to real job postings in Germany, where applicants typically include headshots on their resumes. With this experiment, I aim to answer three primary research questions. First, do transgender women experience hiring discrimination in terms of employer attention (i.e., the extent to which employers acquire applicant information) and response (i.e., interview requests or similar)? Second, do transgender women who pass as cisgender experience "passing privilege" (i.e., a lower discrimination magnitude) compared to those who do not pass? Finally, what mechanisms contribute to passing privilege, between: inadvertent identity disclosure, level of attractiveness, and employer "taste" for passing? 

Summer hiatus - returning September 2024

Delays in Access to Care Among Sexual and Gender Minorities: A Mixed Methods Approach 

Dr Benjamin Harrell, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. Nathaniel Tran (Vanderbilt University), Tara McKay (Vanderbilt University), Amy Stone (Trinity University), and Luca Fumarco (Masaryk University). 

Thursday 25th April 4-5pm (UK time)

Register here: https://forms.gle/QLkZafJ3hmoeBkmd8

There is a significant body of literature on financial barriers to healthcare among sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults in the United States, including lower health insurance coverage and increased medication rationing relative to non-SGM populations. Much less is known about non-cost barriers to health care, including factors which delay access to healthcare, such as extended search and wait times. In this paper, we present a collage of evidence synthesized from three different data contexts: national health interview data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the results of a randomized field experiment on the behavior of mental health providers, and the experiences of participants in a community-based qualitative survey. We show that SGM adults face significant non-cost barriers to care: they more likely to report any delay, especially due to not getting a timely appointment or not having transportation, wait longer for a response from providers, and detail feelings of anxiety that their search for LGBTQ+ affirming care will be unsuccessful or plagued by discrimination. We suggest that federal protections, health systems interventions, and clinical education standards are necessary to ameliorate these access gaps and advance health equity for SGM populations.

Beyond ‘Voice’ to ‘Learning with’: Problematising Representations of Young LGBT+ Identities

Dr Nerilee Ceatha,(she/they) PhD (University College Dublin). Nerliee has a social work background and policy-making experience and is currently working towards the promotion of LGBT+ youth wellbeing   

Thursday 30th May 2024 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here:

https://forms.gle/2wmvkwSYateMpuyx5 

Considerable research has identified mental health inequalities experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) youth. While this is attributed to the consequence of prejudice, stigma and discrimination, it may result in assumptions that these populations are universally vulnerable. There has been far less focus on protective factors that promote LGBT+ youth wellbeing. In this context, hearing young voices is of paramount importance.

This paper will present from a mixed-methods PhD study on protective factors that promote LGBT+ youth wellbeing. This included a scoping review, quantitative analysis of Growing Up in Ireland (GUI), and qualitative explorations.

The unique insights from youth co-authors emphasise that LGBT+ self-identification is perceived as highly important and a positive aspect of identity by young people. The rich narratives problematise the (in)visibility and silence in representations of the breadth and diversity of LGBT+ youth identities. This presentation concludes with an appeal to move beyond the predominant focus on risk factors for LGBT+ youth. It is argued that this may unintentionally reinscribe marginalisation and stigma. Rather, ‘learning with’ LGBT+ youth offers huge potential, which benefits us all.

Factors Driving Variation in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Risk Among Sexual and Gender Minority Older Adults.

Dr Nik Lampe, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law & Policy and a Faculty Affiliate in the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida. 

Thursday 27th June 2024 4-5pm (UK time)

Registration here:

https://forms.gle/HBkoz9jsmodmzsN19

Faith communities can provide older adults support as they manage their health and maintain social relationships, but how this support unfolds for sexual and gender minority (SGM) people is uncertain. Although many SGM people experience marginalization within faith communities, they also report experiences of acceptance and affirmation. This study investigates how SGM older adults' participation in and rejection from faith communities impact the social support and health outcomes of SGM older adults in the United States.  We analyze panel data from the Vanderbilt University Social Networks, Aging, and Policy Study (N=1,256) to assess the relationship between faith community involvement and levels of social support. We find that 63% of older SGM respondents identify with a religious affiliation, and 31% attend religious services several times a year or more. Attending religious services several times a year or more is associated with being married or partnered (33.4 vs 26.6%, p<.05) and reporting larger personal networks (11.7 vs 9.9 individuals; p<.001). Participants who frequently attend religious services were 22.4% less likely to report subjective cognitive decline (p<.001) and 38.5% less likely to report needing assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs; p<.001)). Findings reveal important ways that faith communities can foster social support and promote optimal health management among older SGM adults. 

Dynamics in Health and Employment Before and After Transgender Transitioning: Evidence from Administrative Data.

Elisa de Weerd, PhD Candidate, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam & Tinbergen Institute.

Thursday 28th March 4-5pm (UK time)

Register here: https://forms.gle/nuWVthaG7KVeSZT88 

Transgender individuals on average have worse socioeconomic and health outcomes. This paper studies to what extent important socioeconomic and health outcomes change before and after gender transitioning. Using individual-level administrative panel data from the Netherlands over the period 2015-2022, we identify over 7,000 legal gender transitions through birth certificate gender marker changes.  Data on health care utilization and employment are also drawn from administrative records.

Using an event study approach with a sample of the general population serving as controls, we often find important differences between those transitioning female-to-male (FTM) versus male-to-female (MTF). For those transitioning FTM, we find large improvements in labor market outcomes afterwards, which we do not observe for those transitioning MTF. For both groups, antidepressant use increases in the years preceding a legal gender transition. However, after transitioning, antidepressant use decreases for FTM but not MTF.

The results provide information about how important outcomes vary before and after legal transitions, and confirm that there can be meaningful differences between those transitioning FTM versus MTF. 

Researching Queerly: Qualitative Research and the Queer Researcher

Dr Rosie Nelson, University of Bristol, (they/them) is a Lecturer in Gender at the School of Sociology, Politics, and International Studies at the University of Bristol. 

Thursday 29th February 4-5pm (UK time)

Register here: https://forms.gle/uo71ucMy5HfAT2MX7 

This paper takes as its focus the act of conducting qualitative research from a queer orientation. Using Sara Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology as a theoretical starting point, this paper asks how does one’s queer positionality impact one’s experience of conducting research? This paper explores the expectations of conducting excellent qualitative research within the academy, ranging from rigour, clear reporting, and – as is particularly important in feminist qualitative research methods – reflexivity. Each of these quality markers will be explored as a basis from which to explore the dynamics of research from a queer perspective. In response to these markers of the quality of qualitative research, this paper asks how does the queer researcher navigate these dynamics? Do queer researchers need to ‘come out’ in their publications to support their findings? Is the queer researcher challenged by the onus of reflexivity? Might the researcher be in danger of discrimination or retaliation through claiming themselves in an academic context?

Using an autoethnographic account supported by queer theory and qualitative methodological papers, I will argue that the onus of being/doing LGBTQ+ research as a queer researcher can ask a lot of the individual. It asks already minoritized academics from within the academy to expose themselves in hostile, cis-heteronormative environments. This paper challenges the taken-for-granted presumption that reflexivity is the gold standard, to ask whether we may think of other ways of meditating upon our biases and relationship to the data we seek to evaluate. This paper will ultimately argue that being/doing LGBTQ+ research can potentially further marginalise the researcher when reflexivity is considered a standard element of conducting qualitative research. As a consequence, I ask – who can afford to do qualitative research on LGBTQ+ topics?

Searching LGBTQIA historical records

Norena Shopland author/historian specialising in LGBTQ+ history, Welsh women’s history, and research methodologies. 

Thursday 25th January at 4pm

LGBTQ+, or queer, history is often described as a hidden or forbidden history, and if we accept these definitions as true, how then do we find that which is hidden? 

It has been necessary to develop complex research strategies that enable researchers to look in unlikely places, to read between the lines, to find positives in negatives, and to place millions of people back into the mainstream narrative instead of leaving them on the queer shelf. Indeed, so successful have these strategies been that they are now being used to re-examine other histories such as minority ethnic history. This talk highlights some of those methodologies. 

Winter hiatus -returning January 2024

The Role of Legal Gender Change on Labor Market Outcomes: A Sibling-Based Comparison of Transgender Individuals 

Erwan Dujeancourt PhD candidate in economics at Jönköping University

30th November 2023

Disillusioned and disenfranchised? The impact of voter ID on trans and non-binary people in the UK

Dr Katie (Kit) Colliver, School of Business and Society, University of York 

&

Dr Ash Stokoe, Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham

25th October 2023

LGBT+ Welfare and Assets in the UK 

Dr Peter Matthews, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Stirling 

28th September 2023

Summer hiatus - returning September 2023

Can we queer social policy research (and should we)?: The case of homelessness in the UK.

Dr Edith England, Cardiff Metropolitan University 

Dr Neil Turnbull, Cardiff University

25th May 2023

Pretended: Revisiting Section 28 Twenty Years On. 

Catherine Lee 

Professor of Inclusive Education and Leadership and Deputy Dean 

27th April 2023

Conversion Therapy, Suicidality, and Running Away:  An Analysis of Transgender Youth in the U.S. 

Yana van der Meulen Rodgers, Professor, Rutgers University and Travis Campbell, Assistant Professor, Southern Oregon University. 

30th March 2023

A multiple comparison case study of LGBTQ-related policies in Los Angeles Area Public Schools.

Rory O'Brien 

PhD Candidate, University of Southern California 

To what extent does giving birth affect the motherhood penalty? Evidence from same sex couples in Norway. 

Dr Ylva Moberg  

Researcher at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) at Stockholm University 

26th January 2023

A marriage premium for whom? A longitudinal study among LGB and heterosexual persons in the UK. 

Fernanda Fortes de Lena and Diederik Boertien

Centre of Demographic Studies in Barcelona  

24th November 2022 - 5pm UK time 

Coming Out in National Probability Surveys: How Tolerance Shapes Outgroup Identification – The Case of LGBT People in the European Union 

Nico Buettner 

PhD student, University of Oxford 

27th October 2022 - 5pm UK time

Selectively queer friendly: how out-group biases towards Muslims increases support for LGBT+ rights 

Dr Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte 

Lecturer, University of Southampton 

29th September 2022 - 5pm UK time

Launch Event