As we were finalizing the compilation of sexual politics related events that make the headlines in November the screens were taken over by the armed attack on the Colorado abortion clinic that killed three people and left many other gravely hurt. There was no time to develop an in depth analysis of this tragic event, which is deeply revealing of the dire state of abortion politics in the US and that may have global potential repercussions. However, we were able to organize a preliminary compilation of articles and comments on the episode.
Shifting towards positive trends, the rights of intersex persons gained visibility between October 26th (Day of Intersex Awareness) and November 8th (Intersex International Day). During this period a number of excellent articles were published in English but also Spanish, as for example The marks on our bodies, by Mauro Cabral (in English and Spanish), and Intersex rights and freedoms, by Morgan Carpenter. Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) published an interview with UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health’s Dainius Püras. And ARC International has also published an article by Arvind Narrain The Right Not To Be Mutilated: Intersex People and The Quest For Justice. It is also important to highlight the launching of Astraea Intersex Human Rights Fund, intended to support organizations, projects and campaigns led by intersex activists working.
In Brazil, the wave of women’s rights protests continued. To learn more, read Sonia Corrêa’s commentary and other articles on how “feminist occupations” have taken over the most diverse spaces, such as streets, social networks and newspapers. It is also positive that the Brazilian feminist rebellions and the current attacks on abortion rights have finally reached the media globospheres: one short piece was published by the Yahoo Press and the Global Post has also published two excellent articles by Will Carless on the feminist mobilizations and the nefarious law provision 5069, which has been one main trigger of the protests (here and here).
Last but not least, November 2015 will be remembered by the terrible terrorists attacks in Paris and Beirut. Judith Butler, who was in Paris when the attacks happened, published an insightful commentary that analyzes the perils embedded in the responses enacted by French authorities to the mass killing of 130 persons. In Jadalyyia, Nazan Üstündağ discusses the biopolitical dimensions of terrorism and anti-terrorist policies. Also in Kafila, an insightful reflection by Debaditya Bhattacharya was published that critically examines politics of solidarity and ask question about “who deserves or not deserves to be mourned”.
Check it out
- Queering Paradigms V – Queering narratives of modernity, edited by María Amelia Viteri and Manuela Picq, has been launched and brings a queer perspective to address colonialism as localized in the Global South, to analyse how the queer can be decolonized and to map the implications of such conversations on hegemonic and alternative understandings of modernity.
- The project “I Am Other”, which documents the lives of Ugandan LGBTQ individuals in order to change the narrative and start a positive conversation on their life worlds.
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