The funding, to be delivered over five years, comes courtesy of the federal government's . According to the announcement of the award, Nicol will lead a 22-member team to "explore how LGBT and human rights groups resist criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity," especially in the developing world of the global south.

"Our work will combine documentary and participatory video with qualitative interviewing, focus groups, legal data research and analysis, and a limited use of surveys," Nicol says in a release. "We plan to make a unique contribution to documenting and analyzing criminalization, asylum and resistance to criminalization within and beyond regions."

The project also received coverage .

A complete overview of the project and its partners is available in the Research News archives. The project is based in the Centre for Feminist Research at 91亚色.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Published by Duke University Press, Homophobias looks at these questions through critical interrogations and analysis of diverse sites where homophobic discourses are produced, including New 91亚色 City, Australia, the Caribbean, Greece, India and Indonesia, as well as American Christian churches. The idea is to uncover the complex operational processes of homophobias and their intimate relationships to nationalism, sexism, racism, class and colonialism.

In the book's preface, Murray notes聽that the term "homophobia" had moved into the global sphere. This got him thinking about the term's meaning and the existence of homophobia. "Homophobia had gone global, and to be accused of being homophobic was to be accused of something more than just not liking homosexuals; furthermore, this accusation now carried potentially serious economic and political repercussions." He hopes the book will be the initial step in answering some of the questions the term homophobia raises.

Left: David Murray

Murray聽gathered researchers from a diverse range of ethnographic sites "to demonstrate how homophobia is a phenomenon that has no centre or origin, but more importantly, to examine how, or if, a transnational, comparative 补苍诲听ethnographically informed perspective might extend, challenge or change our understandings of homophobia."

In part one聽鈥� "Displacing Homophobia" 鈥� some of the issues the contributors examine include聽homophobia in New 91亚色's gay central, American Christian homophobia and homophobia as racism. In part two 鈥� "Transnational Homophobias" 鈥� they look at homosexual hate in Jamaica, political homophobia in Indonesia, as well as the Barbadian media. In examining these issues, Homophobias provides innovative analytical insights that expose the complex and intersecting cultural, political and economic forces contributing to the development of new forms of homophobia.

Murray, the director of the Graduate Program in Women鈥檚 Studies at 91亚色, is the author of .

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91亚色 history Professor Marc Stein grew up in the suburbs of New 91亚色 City in the 1960s and 1970s with a passionate聽faith in the聽US Constitution and US Supreme Court as strong聽protectors of聽freedom, equality and democracy in the post-war era.

That faith was shaken in the 1980s when the Supreme Court justices upheld state sodomy laws, which he initially attributed to the conservative backlash of the Reagan era. Then, in the early 1990s as a graduate student, Stein stumbled across a 1967 decision upholding the deportation of Canadian citizen聽Clive Boutilier,聽which challenged his assumptions about the earlier liberalism of the US Supreme Court.

Boutilier vs. the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)聽was one of the Supreme Court's first major gay rights cases, says Stein, an聽award-winning author, editor and teacher in 91亚色's Department of History, School of Women's Studies 补苍诲听Sexuality Studies Program, all in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

What the Supreme Court justices did in this case聽did not protect equality and freedom. Instead, they upheld a provision of the 1952 Immigration & Nationality Act that聽authorized the exclusion and deportation of aliens afflicted with psychopathic personality, which the US Congress, the INS and the Supreme Court interpreted to apply to homosexuals.

Canada had introduced its own version of the US immigration law in the 1950s, but repealed it in the 1970s, a few years after聽homosexuality was declassified as a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The US didn't repeal its law until 1990.

Left: Marc Stein

Although liberals celebrate and conservatives condemn the US Supreme Court of the 1960s and 1970s for its rulings on issues such as abortion and birth control, Stein says, neither is correct in depicting the court of that era as sexually libertarian or egalitarian. He argues this point in his new book , which looks at six major Supreme Court cases聽鈥� Griswold, Fanny Hill, Loving, Eisenstadt, Roe and Boutilier.

More than half the book is devoted to the Boutilier case. Stein is the first scholar to examine this episode in any depth and to聽tell Boutilier鈥檚 tragic story following the Supreme Court ruling. Boutilier had moved from Nova Scotia to the US with his family in the 1950s and several of his brothers served in the US military. When he applied for US citizenship in the early 1960s and revealed that he had once been arrested, though not convicted, on a sodomy charge in New 91亚色 City, his legal troubles began.

In doing the research for the book, Stein studied liberal rulings on birth control, abortion, interracial marriage and obscenity, alongside the conservative ruling on homosexuality in Boutilier. What he found was that the sexual rights doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court from 1965 to 1973 was not liberal or egalitarian. In fact, it upheld heteronormative assumptions regarding "the supremacy of adult, heterosexual, marital, monogamous, private and procreative forms of sexual expression," he writes. Marital and reproductive rights were upheld; sexual rights were not. These decisions also reproduced and reinforced social hierarchies based on class, race, gender and citizenship. And liberal and leftist advocates who argued these cases before the Supreme Court "condoned sexual discrimination".

Right: Andrew Boutilier (left), Clive Boutlilier's brother; Joyce Boutilier, Andrew's wife; Clive Boutilier; and Eugene O'Rourke, Clive's partner

Their arguments in birth control and abortion cases, for example, distinguished between laws that interfered with marital and reproductive rights, which they challenged, and laws against adultery, fornication and sodomy, which they said were constitutional, says Stein.

In Boutilier鈥檚 case, the ruling concurred with the view that homosexuals suffered from psychopathic personality and so should be deported. After the decision, Boutilier鈥檚 case was all but forgotten. The decision against him didn鈥檛 conform to popular narratives about the liberalism of the US Supreme Court after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision on racial desegregation, so it was ignored.

Stein聽adds that many US gay and lesbian activists challenged discriminatory policies and practices during the 1950s and 1960s, but that was also forgotten, giving rise to the popular myth that the gay and lesbian rights movement began in the 1970s. In fact, says Stein, it started much earlier and was quite vigorous, as can be seen by the extraordinary coalition that defended Boutilier, which included immigration advocates, civil libertarians and gay rights activists.

"My book is the first to show that the US gay and lesbian movement of the 1950s and 1960s had a well-developed strategy of turning to the courts to defend sexual rights," he says.

The sexually conservative aspects of the Supreme Court's "liberal" decisions on abortion, birth control, interracial marriage and obsenity in the late 1960s and early 1970s vanished from the public consciousness. Instead, the US public came to believe that the Supreme Court's decisions of that era were sexually libertarian and egalitarian. Decades later, the Supreme Court itself seemed to adopt the public's point of view, declaring in its 2003 decision striking down state sodomy laws that the ruling was consistent with the decisions of the 1960s and 1970s, says Stein.

This, he says, is consistent with new theories of "popular constitutionalism," which emphasize the importance of popular understandings of legal rights.

Stein hopes聽Sexual Injustice will shed light on the implications of some of the Supreme Court鈥檚 decisions, as well as the sexual revolution, and help educate the public regarding heteronormative rights and privileges in the past and the present.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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Homeless young people are victims of crime at rates that society would consider unacceptable for any other group, according to a new report by researchers at 91亚色 and the University of Guelph.

The report, , highlights the degree to which it is street youth themselves 鈭� often perceived as delinquent and dangerous 鈭� who are vulnerable to crime and violence.

鈥淭he very people we are taught to fear are the ones who are most at risk,鈥� said Professor (right), associate dean of research and field development in 91亚色鈥檚 . 鈥滿ore than 76 per cent of the homeless youth we surveyed said they had been victims of violent crime in the past year, and almost three-quarters of them reported multiple incidents.鈥�

In comparison, about 40 per cent of young people in the general population reported that they had been victimized in the previous year, when the last asked them about it in 1999 鈭� and they experienced mostly property crime.

Gaetz and University of Guelph Professor interviewed 244 homeless youths across Toronto last year about life on the streets. Their report was commissioned by , a not-for-profit legal aid clinic that operates a Street Youth Legal Services program, providing legal advice and support to homeless youth in Toronto.

The solution to problems youth face on the streets lies in changing the way youth homelessness is addressed, according to the report. It calls for a balanced response that, instead of relying mostly on emergency services, would balance preventive measures, an emergency response, and transitional support to move young people out of homelessness quickly.

Above: A homeless youth keeps dry under a bridge in downtown Toronto. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

In the interviews, conducted at agencies serving youth in downtown Toronto and the suburbs:

• female street youth were more likely than males to report being victims of crime (85.9 per cent compared to 71.8 per cent).
• 38.2 per cent of the female street youth reported being victims of sexual assault. Reports of sexual assault were higher among black females (47 per cent) than white females (33 per cent).
• 60 per cent of lesbian and bisexual females reported that they had been sexually assaulted in the past year, making them perhaps the most victimized group among street youth.
• young homeless women reported extremely high levels of violence and abuse from their intimate partners.
• youths who had become homeless at a young age (16 or 17) were much more likely to have been violently victimized than young people who became homeless later.
• only 20 per cent of all respondents said they had alerted police about their victimization.

Much has changed since Gaetz first wrote a report on homeless youth in Toronto, also for Justice for Children and Youth, seven years ago. The and non-profit agencies have improved services, and the City has expanded its Streets to Homes program to move youth into housing. Street Youth Legal Services, a program of Justice for Children and Youth, has expanded its capacity to support young people with their legal and justice issues.

However, the report concludes federal, provincial and municipal governments should be addressing youth homelessness with an integrated strategy that includes: an adequate supply of supported, affordable housing for young people; efforts by health and mental health sectors, corrections and child welfare services to ensure their practices do not contribute to homelessness; crisis intervention and family mediation to help young people remain housed; and transitional approaches with income, social and health care supports for young people.

鈥淢any people, including policy makers, believe that youth homelessness and crime are linked, and they use laws such as the Safe Streets Act to 鈥榤ove along鈥� young people,鈥� said Gaetz. 鈥淚n fact, our findings show that young homeless people are among the most victimized people in our society, and they need our protection.鈥�

Gaetz leads the (CHRN), which enhances the impact of homelessness research on homelessness and the housing crisis by increasing collaboration and discussion among researchers, policy-makers and community workers. One of Canada鈥檚 leading experts on homelessness, Gaetz also created the 鈥� the world鈥檚 first digital hub to mobilize homelessness research 鈥� to support collaboration, knowledge exchange, and public engagement among regional and clustered research networks. CHRN, , received $2.1 million through the strategic knowledge clusters program.

By Janice Walls, media relations coordinator. Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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This year鈥檚 conference will take place on the University鈥檚 Keele campus. The 2010 conference theme is 鈥淒ialoguing Across Differences鈥�. Keynote speakers and sessions will explore how to dialogue across relevant human rights areas in relation to this theme. Conference participants will engage in interactive sessions focused on communicating difficult topics.

Conference organizers are seeking proposals for sessions on race and racialization, gender expression and expectations, (dis)abilities or sexual orientation.

Presenters are invited to submit proposals on the conference theme for a 60-minute session in the format of a round-table discussion, individual or panel presentation, interactive workshop or dialogue process. Proposals should be provided to the Centre for Human Rights no later than Aug. 31.

For more information, e-mail conference organizers Kristina Osborne or Nythalah Baker or visit the Centre for Human Rights Web site.

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Much of what informs environmental thinking springs from a view that equates nature with sexually straight and queer with unnatural. The editors of a new book , turn those notions upside down.

Co-editors Bruce Erickson (PhD 09鈥�) and 91亚色 environmental studies Professor Catriona Sandilands, Canada Research Chair in Sustainability & Culture, wanted to challenge the current thinking about what is considered sexually 鈥渘ormal鈥� in nature and how nature is used to create normative sexualities. To do so, they gathered a group of mainly senior scholars who鈥檇 done work close to the intersection of sexuality studies and environmental studies in research areas such as queer geography, eco-feminism, environmental justice and gender and sexuality studies.

The result is a book that looks at three broad topics 鈥� 鈥淎gainst Nature? Queer Sex, Queer Animality鈥�, 鈥淕reen, Pink, and Public: Queering Environmental Politics鈥� and 鈥淒esiring Nature? Queer Attachments鈥� 鈥� with contributors from literary studies, landscape ecology, geography, science studies, history, philosophy, sociology and women鈥檚 studies, including leading researchers from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

Erickson, who studied with Sandilands and is now a post-doctoral fellow in environmental history at Nipissing University, says part of the reason for Queer Ecologies was to explore the connection between environmentalism and discourses of homosexuality. 鈥淭he birth of modern environmentalism and the birth of modern understandings of homosexuality and queerness came about at the same time through very similar actors and so we wanted to think about that a little bit more and see how those connections are actually a lot more deeply ingrained than simply being a kind of accidental event,鈥� says Erickson.

Queer Ecologies asks contemporary environmental thinkers and activists to consider how their practices and assumptions about nature are located in homophobic and heterosexist perspectives, and to ask the queer communities to engage in more ecological discourse and action, says Mortimer-Sandilands. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to make nature and environmental issues part of a more robust queer platform. It鈥檚 not just about achieving equality in an ecologically disastrous world. It鈥檚 also about thinking about the interrelationship between sexual聽resistances and environmental justice, for example.鈥�

Left: Catriona Sandilands and Bruce Erickson

There are several historical connections between sexual and environmental politics, says Sandilands, author of .

鈥淔irst, species, race and population were all hotly contested concepts in the late-19th and early-20th centuries; these debates influenced emerging understandings of both ecology and sexuality, which also influenced each other. Second, large-scale industrialization and urbanization both created new spaces in which new sexual cultures could thrive, and also contributed to larger social anxieties about hygiene, degeneracy and what was considered an 'effeminization' of white national virility. Out of these processes arose both modern understandings of sexuality and gender and modern institutions of nature conservation, most notably national parks.鈥�

With these historical connections, it is important to understand that the modern environmental movement has sexual origins, and also that sexual politics have embedded understandings of nature and environment, she says. 鈥淚n addition, political resistances to dominant sex/nature categories also have a history: from Radclyffe Hall鈥檚 literary defence of gender inversion to Oscar Wilde鈥檚 refusal of 鈥榥atural authenticity鈥� to the Radical Faeries to the Lesbian National Parks & Services. It's a fascinating history.鈥�

As a result, Queer Ecologies includes essays on both the 鈥渉istorical links between sex and nature and on more contemporary issues, such as the current popular fascination with the sexuality of animals, conflicts about public sex in designated nature areas, heterosexual panic in anti-toxics activism, population and development politics, and resistances by the queer communities to all of the above in art, literature and politics,鈥� says Sandilands.

Erickson鈥檚 essay takes issue with the iconic nature of the canoe. 鈥淢y starting point for the essay is Pierre Berton鈥檚 comment that a Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe. I try to trace back this national feeling through these very normative ideas of heterosexuality and how the assumption by those that take up Berton鈥檚 statement as being such an interesting and witty way of understanding Canada reify a kind of heterosexist image of the nation.鈥� He also looks at the politics of colonialism that have allowed the canoe to become a symbol of the nation.

Sandilands turns her gaze to two authors, Jan Zita Grover and Derek Jarman, 补苍诲听how they responded politically and with dignity to the massive losses brought about by AIDS, and how they offer a model for thinking intelligently about the daily losses that are part of the environmental crisis. Too often environmental loss becomes tourism. Everyone runs out to see the natural wonder before it鈥檚 gone.

鈥淏ut that approach is part of the problem, ethically and politically, we can't just 鈥榤ove on鈥� to other natures, and some of the approaches to loss and memory explored in the massive artistic and literary response to AIDS are very instructive to help us think about the consequences of what we are losing environmentally,鈥� she says.

The book came about through a Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada grant Sandilands received related to her work as Canada Research Chair, which included funds for a聽workshop which inaugurated the Queer Ecologies project.

Sandilands' next book, This Is For You: Walks with Jane Rule (UBC Press), is forthcoming.

Queer Ecologies was published last week; a launch will take place in the fall.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

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