The Global Expansion of Trans Rights with Callan Hummel
The Department of Political Science and the Student Center for Equity & Inclusion invite you to attend “The Global Expansion of Trans Rights” with Callan Hummel (they/them) from the University of British Columbia.
Trans rights are rapidly expanding around the world, led by policy innovations from Latin American trans activists. Argentine and Uruguayan activists in particular wrote and passed laws that provided free transition-related healthcare, including surgeries, improved access to identity documents, and created hiring quotas for gender minorities in government jobs. Many of the proposals that started in Argentina and Uruguay have now reached other countries in and outside the region, with Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, and Costa Rica adopting similar proposals and many more countries considering them. At the same time, many trans communities around the world are experiencing policy backsliding and violent backlash. The expansion of trans rights around the world and the role of Latin American activists in this expansion is surprising to observers and political scientists because these activists face many material, political, and structural barriers that typically impede minority rights. This project asks: Why have trans activists expanded rights in some places and issue areas while experiencing setbacks in others?
Callan Hummel is an assistant professor of political science at the University of British Columbia. They study why and how marginalized groups organize and make claims on their governments through community-engaged research. Hummel is the author of the award-winning book Why Informal Workers Organize: Contentious Politics, Enforcement, and the State. They are currently examining the expansion of trans and nonbinary rights worldwide. Their most recent project, co-authored with Ximena Velasco Guachalla and published in Comparative Politics, explains how advances in gender identity rights in Bolivia proceeded despite popular opposition, highlighting how activists leveraged access to legislators. Dr. Hummel has published extensively in political science and public health, including in The Lancet Global Health, BMJ Global Health, Health Affairs, the British Journal of Political Science, and Comparative Political Studies. They have won numerous awards and grants from the American Political Science Association, the National Institutes of Health, the Williams Institute, and more and are currently the chair of the APSA LGBTQ+ Caucus.
Light refreshments will be served.