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Colgate University

Publication Date

Fall 2019

Program Name

Tunisia and Italy: Politics and Religious Integration in the Mediterranean

Abstract

In 2018, the Tunisian government arrested 127 Tunisians on the basis of suspicions regarding non-heterosexual and non-cisgendered acts. Tunisian civil society centralizes its core missions around advocating for the rights of LGBT individuals through attempts to target the measures that allow for such unlawful imprisonment: Articles 230 and 226 of the Tunisian Constitution. But within the undiscussed gaps between laws, cultures of homo and transphobia, and civil society lies alternative measures for non-linear forms of queer advocacy. This research engages with the work of Khookha McQueer -- a Tunisian LGBTQI+ rights activist -- and documents conversations had with Khookha regarding her own advocacy, the Tunisian queer landscape, identity politics, and civil society. Ultimately, this study project is a means to document a queer minority experience that is not thought of in the conventional fight for LGBTQI+ rights.

Disciplines

African Studies | Arabic Studies | Gender and Sexuality | Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication | History of Gender | Islamic World and Near East History | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies | Politics and Social Change | Social and Cultural Anthropology

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