Mosse Lectures 

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Place: Room Heren 17 / VOC, Bushuis, Kloveniersburgwal 48, Amsterdam  

Time: 17-19 H

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Wednesday May 9 

Geertje Mak: Who dares to tell whom? Disclosures of cases of doubtful sex in the nineteenth century.

In this lecture Geertje Mak starts from the assumption that ‘hermaphroditism’ is not simply a physical or medical fact waiting to be discovered but an /enactment/ of ‘doubting sex’. D/isclosure/, then, represents the moment in which hermaphroditism actually comes into being. Many different subjects can start doubting someone’s sex, (the persons in question, midwives, parents, parish priests, (future) husbands and wives, policemen, surgeons, physicians). The object that raises doubt might also vary significantly (facial hair in a woman, difficulty having intercourse, the character of gonadal cells) as well as the context in which sex is doubted (street, bed, laboratory). These different disclosures will be discussed by presenting many case histories, organised around the question of who initiated the disclosure. The chapter will demonstrate how during the nineteenth century the question of disclosure increasingly became a problem for the physicians involved rather than the hermaphrodites themselves. 

Dr. Geertje Mak is the author of /Mannelijke Vrouwen. Over grenzen van sekse in de 19e eeuw /(/Masculine Women. //Crossing sex boundaries in the 19th-century, /Amsterdam/Meppel: Boom 1997) and of /Sporen van verplaatsing. //Honderd jaar nieuwkomers in Overijssel/ (Traces of Displacement. A century of migrants in Overijssel), Kampen: IJsselacademie 2000. Apart from several articles in Dutch and German, she has published in the /Journal of Women's History/ 16(2004)1 and in /GLQ/ 11(2005)1; for the latter, she got the Crompton-Noll Award of the Lesbian and Gay Caucus of the MLA. Currently she is lecturer in gender history at the Radboud University in Nijmegen and finishing the manuscript of /Doubting Sex./ /A history of hermaphroditism and the sex of self (1790 - 1908)./

Thursday May 24 

Josephine Ho (Taiwan): Queer notes from Taiwan (provisional title) *(in cooperation with IIAS and the Transgender Festival).

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Wednesday March 21    

Silke Heumann: Sexual politics in Nicaragua: anti-gay legislation in the 1992 sex crime reform.  

In 1992, two years after the electoral defeat of the Sandinistas, the Nicaraguan  National Assembly reinforced legislation against homosexuality, as part of a Penal Code Reform on Sexual Crimes, that otherwise was qualified as quite ‘modern’ and ‘progressive’. The reform encountered both surprise and outrage from national as well as international actors. Contrary to the common interpretation of this law reform as highly contradictory in its outcome and reflecting the influence of highly opposed forces, this lecture will shade light on the underlying moral consensus between left and right that made this law reform possible and which has to be understood in the broader context of the reform: the increasing and pressing concern with sexual violence and abuse, in particular against women and children. Despite opposed positionings regarding the penalization of homosexuality, the predominant discourse within the debate was shaped by an idea of sexuality imminently bound to risk, threat and danger, in particular for children, and of sexual variation as something negative, undesirable and potentially corrupting. It was this moral consensus that made it possible to greatly enhance legislation against sexual violence and abuse, but at the same time reduced the grounds of legitimacy for a positive claim to sexual rights and sexual freedom. 

Silke Heumann is a PhD student at the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research (ASSR). Her research entitled “Sexual politics and regime transition in Nicaragua” deals with the political discussion and struggle around gender, sexuality and abortion in post Sandinista Nicaragua. 

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Wednesday April 18 Unknown

Lezingen 

May 24: Queer notes from Taiwan       May 9 Disclosures of cases of doubtful sex in the nineteenth century.         April 18 Unknown.                  March 21: Sexual politics in Nicaragua.  March 14: Sunil Pant on the LGBT movement in Nepal 

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March 14 

Sunil Pant on the LGBT movement in Nepal (in cooperation with HIVOS)*

Blue Diamond Society, Nepal's only LGBT Organization, receives international recognition for their LGBT Human Rights Work. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) proudly announced Jan. 17 2007 the selection of the Blue Diamond Society (BDS) as the recipient of its internationally recognized Felipa de Souza Award. BDS is a community-based organization working for sexual minorities in Nepal. The 2007 Felipa Award will be presented to Sunil Pant, the Founder and Director of BDS, at two awards ceremonies to be held on May 1, 2007 in New York and on May 3, 2007 in San Francisco. Since 1994, the Felipa Award has acknowledged the courage and impact of grassroots groups and leaders dedicated to improving the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and other individuals stigmatized and abused because of their sexuality or HIV status. 

“Blue Diamond Society is one of the most effective human rights groups in the world. What Sunil and other members have been able to do in such a short time to build visibility and effective action around LGBT issues in Nepal and international renown among their global peers is nothing short of astounding,” said Paula Ettelbrick, the Executive Director of IGLHRC. “It is truly our honor to continue to work with them and to honor all they have done to promote human rights for everyone, everywhere - not just in Nepal.” The Blue Diamond Society (BDS), Nepal's only organization for sexual minorities, was founded in 2001 in an effort to address the needs of sexual minorities. In June 2004, in response to increasing incidents of police brutality against LGBT people, BDS organized the first public demonstration to support human rights for sexual minorities. Two months later, in another incident, Nepalese police arrested and jailed 39 LGBT activists.Immediately afterward, BDS spearheaded a national and international campaign to secure the release of the detainees. BDS’ mission is to create an acceptance of sexual minorities in the society, reduce stigma and discrimination of sexual minorities, reduce high-risk sexual behaviors and increase Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) service utilization among sexual minorities for prevention of STI/HIV infection in Nepal, and to provide care and support for those sexual minorities who are HIV positive. 

In the past few years, BDS has played an active role in Nepal’s politics by supporting the pro-democracy movement in the country. Since the gay community was systematically targeted and oppressed under the absolute reign of King Gyanendra, BDS joined other Nepalese people in opposing his regime. Following the King’s agreement to hand over power to the Nepalese people in April 2006, BDS has been working with the new government to include sexual minorities’ basic human rights and protections in the new constitution. 

In January 2007, Blue Diamond Society organized a forum on “Nepal’s New Constitution and the Rights of Minorities” where Lena Sundh, Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Justice Edwin Cameron, Supreme Court of Appeal, South Africa shared their thoughts and experiences with Nepalese legal and political experts. “[Receiving] this [award] is such a great honor for Blue Diamond Society, all the Nepalese LGBTs and our families and friends who have been supporting of us,” said Sunil Pant, director of the Blue Diamond Society in Kathmandu, Nepal. “This award means increased visibility of the Nepalese LGBT community and empowering us in a crucial moment for the country as well as for the LGBT community itself.” 

Nominations for the Felipa Award are solicited each year from activists around the world. Nominees go through a rigorous review by the staff, board and the International Advisory Committee of IGLHRC. The Award embodies the spirit and story of Felipa de Souza, who endured persecution and brutality after proudly declaring her intimacy with a woman during a 16th Century inquisition trial in Brazil. The Felipa Award carries with it a $5,000 (USD) stipend to assist and strengthen the ability of grassroots human rights groups to do their work. The awardees will also have the opportunity to meet with U.S.-based LGBT activists and supporters during special award ceremonies and public education events in New York and San Francisco. Previous Felipa Award winners include: Rauda Morcos, founder of ASWAT (Voices) the first group for Palestinian lesbians, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), the first organization to push for the human rights of LGBT people in Zimbabwean society and to provide counseling services and HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns; Simon Tseko Nikoli, the famed LGBT/HIV activist from South Africa; Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, whose leader Brian Williamson was murdered in 2004; Lohana Berkins, a globally known transgender activist from Argentina; and Maher Sabry, the Egyptian activist who notified IGLHRC of the arrests of the Cairo 52, a group of 52 men who were arrested by the Egyptian police at a Cairo gay nightclub in 2001.