Under the spectre of colonialism : an analysis of UK-based NGOs engaged in contemporary transnational LGBTI activism

Farmer, Matthew and Hearn, Julie (2017) Under the spectre of colonialism : an analysis of UK-based NGOs engaged in contemporary transnational LGBTI activism. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

Since 2011, a number of new UK-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have emerged with a commitment to transnational lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) activism, with some existing organisations adopting new strategies to engage with international LGBTI issues. This new wave of engagement in transnational LGBTI activism has emerged in a context of increased attention to LGBTI issues globally. LGBTI rights are debated in international forums, including the United Nations, with widespread condemnation of developments such as Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill (2009) and later Anti-Homosexuality Act (2014) continuing to fuel international discourses concerned with LGBTI rights. Underlying contemporary UK-based engagements in transnational LGBTI activism is a history of colonialism that was responsible for the implementation of legal, social, and cultural systems of control that continue to influence the criminalisation of LGBTI populations worldwide. This thesis contributes an analysis of UK-based NGOs engaged in transnational LGBTI activism, including Kaleidoscope Trust, Peter Tatchell Foundation, Stonewall, and UKLGIG, amongst others, exploring the evolution of NGO strategies between 2011-2016. The thesis also examines the relationships and interactions between UK-based NGOs and UK governmental actors, situating an understanding of NGO engagements within the broader context of UK interventions in international LGBTI politics. The thesis adopts a historical approach that contextualises the complexities that colonial legacies perpetuate on contemporary international relations and transnational LGBTI activism. Conceptualising these legacies as a ‘spectre of colonialism,’ the thesis examines the ways in which UK-based actors negotiate, contribute to, and contest the influence of the spectre via engagements with aid conditionality, sodomy laws, the Commonwealth, and LGBTI asylum.