6533b85dfe1ef96bd12be66d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Latvian LGBT Movement and Narratives of Normalization

Kārlis VērdiņšJānis Ozoliņš

subject

Social groupPoliticsCriminalizationPolitical sciencelanguageNormalization (sociology)LatvianNarrativeGender studiesDecriminalizationDeviance (sociology)language.human_language

description

The article examines the visibility of the LGBT community in Latvian public discourse of the last thirty years and the history of LGBT activism. Special attention is paid to the normalization of same-sex relationships: to the social processes through which ideas and actions of a social group begin crossing the threshold of deviance toward becoming “normal” and acceptable to the majority. The history of Latvian LGBT activism can be seen as a struggle for normalization of the LGBT community and overcoming the effects of its pathologization and criminalization. More than 25 years after the decriminalization of male same-sex relationships, it should be asked why the level of homophobia in society remains high and how LGBT activism correlates with the conservative and populist politics of Latvia.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2019-09-26
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20401-3_10