Still in the Closet: LGBTQ People and the Lack of Protections in Conflict Zones
Date
2023-09-18
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Abstract
LGBTQ people have been steadily gaining protections over the last several decades but there is still more progress to be made, especially in conflict zones. LGBTQ people are targeted specifically due to their sexual orientation or gender identity in peacetime, however, this targeting becomes more extreme and violent during times of conflict. One of the more egregious examples of violence targeted towards LGBTQ people was during the Syrian civil war by both the government regime forces as well as other groups like ISIS. The central question of this thesis is why do LGBTQ people face human rights violations in conflict zones despite there being legal protections for civilians? Using securitization theory, I will explore the relationship between securitization of protections for LGBTQ people and the securitization of LGBTQ people as threats. I will use the Syrian civil war as the case study for my analysis to demonstrate that the current protections are not sufficient to adequately protect LGBTQ individuals in states that do not recognize their rights.
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Keywords
International Humanitarian Law, LGBTQ
Citation
Arnold, J. T. (2023). Still in the closet: LGBTQ people and the lack of protections in conflict zones (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.