The Center for Iberian & Latin American Studies presents:

The Politics of Gay and Lesbian Rights in LA: Argentina, Chile, México, & Uruguay

Date: Thursday, April 21, 2011
Time: 3-5 pm
Place: Weaver Room, Institute of the Americas Complex, UCSD

An important element of the politics of Latin America over the last decade has been the unprecedented extension of rights in some jurisdictions to sexual minorities ranging from anti-discrimination legislation to the recognition of non-traditional forms of family arrangements. This phenomenon is significant given the historic discrimination and marginalization to which gay and lesbians were systematically subjected until very recently. Yet, despite its significance, political science scholarship devoted to the study of sexual-minority rights in Latin America is notoriously scant. The result is considerable lacunae in our knowledge of the political processes that have led to the expansion of rights to gay and lesbian citizens in some jurisdictions in Latin America. Particularly, no scholarship exists that explains why some countries have expanded rights while others have not. In this talk, which is based on a book to be published, Díez explains variance in the expansion of gay and lesbian rights across four countries: Argentina, Chile, México and Uruguay.

Jordi Díez is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Guelph, Canada. Professor Díez has taught at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) and the University of Toronto, and has been a Visiting Professor at El Colegio de México and Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago de Chile. He received his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, and his M.A. from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. Professor Díez is currently on sabbatical leave and a Visiting Scholar at UCSD. A recipient of numerous research awards, from organizations such as the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the International Development Research Council (IDRC), he is especially interested in comparative politics, Latin American politics, processes of democratization, comparative public policy, citizenship studies, environmental politics and policy, social movements, civil-military relations, North American security relations, and the politics of sexual minority rights. Among his most recent publications are: "Explaining Policy Outcomes: The Adoption of Same-Sex Unions in Buenos Aires and Mexico City” Comparative Political Studies (Forthcoming); "The Importance of Policy Frames in Contentious Politics: México's 2005 Anti-Homophobia Campaign" Latin American Research Review (2010). He is currently preparing a book manuscript titled "The Politics of Gay and Lesbian Rights in Latin America."

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