Queering political representation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Building alliances among regional leaders from the perspective of a Brazilian organization

Workshop

Gustavo Gomes da Costa

Lecturer in Sociology (Federal University of Pernambuco – Brazil)
Visiting Professor MSH - STRIGES

Rodrigo Cruz

PhD in Sociology (New University of Lisbon – Portugal)
Scientific collaborator – Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)

Abstract

Operating in Brazil since 2014, #VoteLGBT is a social movement organization, which promotes LGBTQIA+ representation in political parties, elections, and other institutional instances. In recent years, #VoteLGBT has sought to articulate with other Latin American and Caribbean organizations through a coalition created to facilitate the exchange of experiences between activists, groups, and leaders interested in improving LGBTQIA+ political participation on the continent. The seminar will discuss some preliminary findings of a research aiming to investigate the opportunities, potentialities, and challenges related to this coalition by analyzing the experience of #VoteLGBT, its members, and the Brazilian MPs involved in this space. Combining insights from the sociology of social movements and decolonial studies, the research plans to understand, among other issues, how South-South initiatives can change the current understanding of transnational activism and its interactions with instances of institutional politics.