LGBTIQ+ Lobbying: Advocacy, Advice and Regulation

Abstract

When compared with their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts, LGBTIQ+ people have greater vulnerability to a wide range of health and social problems – for example, violence, homelessness, suicide. This state of affairs is not inevitable. The reproduction of heteronormative sexualities and non-binary notions of gender in our laws, public policies and social institutions is harmful to members of the LGBTIQ+ community who are frequently marginalised and discriminated against as a result. Across the world, LGBTIQ+ interest groups’ formation and operation are in direct response to these inequalities. Using empirical examples from around the world, the chapter draws the broad contours of these groups from the international level downward and outlines the central access resources they possess. Specifically, it foregrounds three key lobbying strategies: advocacy and protest; advising on policy design and implementation; and, social regulation through standard setting. LGBTIQ+ groups’ work involves a good deal of struggle and fight. But narratives of tragedy and victimhood, which often serve as stereotypes of LGBTIQ+ lives, are wide of the mark. Cultivating joy and hope is a major part of the LGBTIQ+ political project, and the community’s interest groups are pivotal to creating spaces in the world where minorities cannot just be safe but thrive.