LGBT Lives: Sexual/Gender Dissidence Over the Life Course

An ESRC funded seminar series that will run from October 2008 – May 2010

The first seminar took place at Queen Margaret University on October 27th, 2008. The second seminar was held at Glasgow University in May 2009 and the third will be at Robert Gordon University on October 16th 2009. The fourth and last seminar will take place in May 2010 at Edinburgh University.

Background

A concern with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) communities cuts across different sectors, social arenas and institutions. However, there are marked contrasts in how relevant issues are understood and addressed in different settings. For instance, whilst campaigning and more recent policy has tended to focus upon a rights-based agenda associated with pre-defined groups and fixed identities, there have been moves within academia via queer theory to promote a more fluid notion of identity and the recognition of contingent and multiple identities. At the same time, trends within service provision towards more ‘person-centred’ working practices have underpinned a move to better understand life events in an individualised and biographical context.

The Scottish LGBT and Sexualities Network

Within the Scottish context, there are few clear and established links between the different sectors concerned with issues of sexuality and the LGBT communities, and little research that specifically addresses the Scottish LGBT population. The seminar series will promote and explore biographical and life course perspectives and seek to use this approach to forge connections between LGBT research, policy and project development. A focus upon the life course will afford the opportunity to bring together researchers and academics from diverse backgrounds and thereby foster novel and otherwise unlikely opportunities for collaboration and debate.

The seminar series is intended to attract:

• Academics
• Students
• Practitioners
• Service providers and planners
• Policy-makers
• Community-based and campaigning groups
• Other interested  groups and individuals