Queer Diplomacy
Queer Diplomacy: Homophobia, International Relations and LGBT Human Rights, by Douglas Victor Janoff, Ph.D., was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2022. It is the first study of multilateral LGBT human rights diplomacy viewed from the perspective of a queer working diplomat. The author, a seasoned Canadian foreign service officer, human rights negotiator and former community activist and researcher, uses insider perspectives to critically assess both bilateral and multilateral diplomatic engagement on LGBT human rights issues. His research involved participation in UN meetings in Geneva and New York and 29 interviews with diplomats, human rights advocates and experts, and representatives from the UN and other inter-governmental organizations.
Queer Diplomacy enriches the current literature in international relations, human rights and queer studies by demonstrating how diplomats and advocates work hand-in-hand to promote LGBT rights on the world stage. Dr. Janoff uses a reflexive and participatory methodology to demonstrate how efforts to combat homophobic and transphobic discrimination and violence in multilateral processes have triggered conflict and polarization: opposing member states often deploy cultural, religious and moral discourses to minimize LGBT rights as a “legitimate” human right. However, although LGBT issues have been mainstreamed into many areas of bilateral and multilateral human rights policy, the author concludes that a more coordinated diplomatic and civil society approach is needed to effectively address ongoing human rights violations against LGBT people around the world.
In his Foreword, Victor Madrigal, the former UN Independent Expert, describes Queer Diplomacy as “a critical reading of the politics of identity” and “a very honest assessment of the ethical dilemmas and pragmatic difficulties” faced by proponents of LGBT rights “when attempting to further that work within the highly politicized and polarized contexts of international diplomacy.” For Madrigal, Queer Diplomacy is “a most significant contribution to the available knowledge on the way that multilateralism can serve the cause of eradicating violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
For a more detailed overview of the contents of the book, go to the publisher’s link, scroll down to the list of chapters, and click on each chapter to read an abstract.
Praise For Queer Diplomacy
“An excellent contribution to the study of diplomacy, written with clarity and insight, offering students and practitioners of diplomacy an invaluable perspective into the evolution of LGBT Human Rights.”
– Corneliu Bjola, Associate Professor in Diplomatic Studies, University of Oxford
“Douglas Janoff draws from his wide-ranging diplomatic career, extensive research and rigorous scholarship to provide a highly engaging and accessible exploration of the mainstreaming, complexities and contradictions of LGBTQ+ advocacy in contemporary Western diplomacy. Janoff’s book is a much-needed addition to the expanding field of queer international relations and is a thoughtful and useful contribution both for academic scholars and diplomatic practitioners.”
– Daniel Conway, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster
“A great contribution to the better understanding of LGBTQI+ diplomacy. Dr. Janoff’s work provides a thorough, well-researched and personal look into international relations and broader diversity policy.”
– Bernard Duhaime, Professor of Law, Université du Québec à Montréal, and former Member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
“Douglas Janoff provides a discerning account of international LGBT human rights advocacy at the nexus of diplomacy, civil society organizations, and the United Nations. Queer Diplomacy takes readers inside interpersonal, institutional, and geopolitical considerations that combine to determine queer human rights processes and outcomes.”
– Cynthia Burack, Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Ohio State University, and author of Because We Are Human: Contesting US Support for Gender and Sexuality Human Rights Abroad (2018) and How Trump and the Christian Right Saved LGBTI Human Rights: A Religious Freedom Mystery (2022)
“The book is pioneering in global queer studies and international relations as a work that takes diplomacy related to queer politics as its central theme… Janoff conducts the research by drawing upon his own extensive experience as a diplomat, which is methodologically significant in adding credibility to his observations.”
– Victor Madrigal, UN Independent Expert