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Matthew Waites is internationally recognised for research expertise on issues of human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity in international contexts (pronouns: he or they).  Research focuses on the global politics of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights and the sociology of human rights; with recent articles such as 'Decolonizing the Boomerang Effect in Global Queer Politics: A New Critical Framework for Sociological Analysis of Human Rights Contestation' (International Sociology, July 2019), and 'Genocide and Global Queer Politics' (Journal of Genocide Research, 2018). In 2019-2020 Waites has represented the University of Glasgow within the co-creation phase of Strong in Diversity Bold on Inclusion project, to support LGBT+ inclusion in five African cities, with partners including HIVOS, Coalition of African Lesbians and African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR).  Research interests include global sexual politics; sexualities; gender; sociological, political and cultural theory; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, and others marginalised by heterosexuality and the gender binary; feminist and queer politics and theories, and their relation to postcolonial and decolonial analyses; youth and childhood; activism, NGOs, social movements & citizenship; and critical analysis in contexts of multi-dimensional inequalities. Interdisciplinary research has contributed to sociology, politics, law, socio-legal studies and history.  During 2017-18 Waites was Visiting Professor at Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. Waites is a co-founder of Glasgow Human Rights Network (Co-Convenor 2018-19) and an Associate Director of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships; also co-editor of the Global Queer Politics book series, with Jordi Díez, Sonia Corrêa, and David Paternotte.  Updates via Twitter @MatthewWaites.

A central concern is the contested relationship of the British Empire and the Commonwealth to sexual orientation and gender identity issues, in a context where the British Empire criminalised same-sex sexual behaviour.  These themes are explored in the first book on the Commonwealth context: Corinne Lennox and Matthew Waites, eds. (2013) Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change (published on a not-for-profit basis by School of Advanced Study, University of London, and available open access online). The book offers data on 54 Commonwealth states, with more detailed discussion of 16 states by activists and academics - and comparative analysis - covering UK, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Uganda, Malawi, Botswana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas.  

Invited Lectures and Presentations since 2017 

12 October 2017 Invited lecture 'Approaches to Decriminalisation in Scotland, England and Wales', Intimate Conviction international conference, The University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica [available on video at 1.34 within Day One Afternoon session: see 'Intimate Conviction' conference on three videos published via Youtube by Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network: Day One Morning; Day One Afternoon; Day Two Morning.    

9 November 2017 Discussant at Glasgow Human Rights Network postgraduate conference, panel 'Marginalisation within Human Rights Protection' (3.30-4.45pm), Senate Room, University of Glasgow.  

29 November 2017 'Genocide and Global Queer Politics: Contesting the Meaning of Genocide in Relation to Uganda and the Gambia', Sociology Seminar Series, University of Glasgow, 4.00-5.30pm, room 916 Adam Smith Building.

4 December 2017 Invited lecture 'The Global Queer Politics of Human Rights: Between Transnational Solidarities and Differences', opening paper at Transnational Solidarities and Global Queer Politics international conference, as Visiting Professor 2017/18 at Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

21 March 2018 Invited lecture 'Genocide and Global Queer Politics: Developing Critical and Sociological Analysis', Marrett Series on Politics and Violence, Department of Political Science, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.   

3 April 2018 Invited Lecture, 'Queer Politics in the Commonwealth: Between Human Rights and Decolonial Analysis' in day workshop 'Developing Pathways through the International Polarization of LGBTIQ Rights', at International Studies Association conference, San Francisco, USA.       

Previous Events and Projects

Film 'The Abominable Crime' and 'Maurice Tomlinson In Conversation', 12.00-14.30pm 22 October 2016 Document International Human Rights Film Festival, Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), Glasgow. Conversation with Maurice Tomlinson (video).  Maurice Tomlinson is a leading Jamaican LGBTIQ activist and the inaugural recipient of the David Kato Vision and Voice Award; discussion covered homophobia in Jamaica, legal action against criminalisation of same-sex sexual behaviour, and the transnational politics of LGBTIQ activism in contexts shaped by colonialism (Event site).   Supported by Glasgow Human Rights Network and Centre for Research on Families and Relationships. 

LGBTI Human Rights Activism and Film project funded by Glasgow Human Rights Network in partnership with Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights, Document International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival and the Human Rights Consortium and Institute of Commonwealth Studies at School of Advanced Study, with events on Sunday 15 November 2015 at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow - and partner events in London.    UK premieres of Envisioning films And Still We Rise, from Uganda, and No Easy Walk To Freedom on the struggle for decriminalisation in India.   

Diverse Identities in Sport conference - steering group and plenary speaker.  The conference was held on 4th March 2016, with organisation led by LEAP Sports Scotland, in collaboration with the European Gay and Lesbian Sporting Federation, together with Scottish Transgender Alliance, Sport Scotland, and Pride Sports UK.  Presentations can be viewed on a video via the conference website (Matthew Waites 1.17-1.32).

The Present Situation for LGBTI People in Uganda (16 June 2015), seminar with Dr. Frank Mugisha (Executive Director, Sexual Minorities Uganda), in conversation with myself and with contribution from Scott Cuthbertson of Equality Network; joint event of Glasgow Human Rights Network and Gender and Sexualities Forum.  Audio recording available.  Dr. Mugisha was awarded the Honorary Degree Doctor of the University, on Commemoration day at the University of Glasgow.

As part of University of Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 activities for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games (23 July-3rd August), on behalf of Glasgow Human Rights Network I collaborated in organising the LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference, held in Sir Charles Wilson Building at University of Glasgow on Nelson Mandela International Day, 18 July 2014. This free event was a partnership with Equality Network, Scotland's leading LGBT equality and human rights organisation, and with Kaleidoscope Trust and Pride Glasgow; steering group members also included Nigerian activist Bisi Alimi and Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda. See the Glasgow Human Rights Network's LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference website, including conference brochure with programme of speakers, and pictures. The conference film can now be viewed as six videos on the GHRN website and Youtube. See also conference report from Kaleidoscope and Equality Network conference pages; and Glasgow Sociology blog posts: 'LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth - A Public Engagement', 30 June 2014; and 'Publicly Engaged @GUSociology: LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference on video'. The LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference Statement on Nelson Mandela International Day, was approved near-unanimously; I contributed to drafting this to foreground British colonial laws and address racism and religious discrimination, (see article in The Conversation: 'The Commonwealth can play a role in the worldwide struggle for LGBTI human rights' 23 July 2014).

The LGBTI People of the Commonwealth exhibition project commenced in July 2014, led by Equality Network and funded by Celebrate and Big Lottery Fund - for which I have been a steering group member.  The exhibition recognised the contributions of LGBTI peoples from 53 Commonwealth states, by showcasing these in venues including Pride House Glasgow, in a booklet and on a website during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The exhibition used our book Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change as a source, and copies were donated to Pride House (see Pride House blog).     

As a publicly engaged sociologist who contributes to activism - for example through supporting LGBT asylum seekers in Glasgow - I engage in mainstream public and movement counter-public debates.  In 2015 I was one of the nominees for the Outstanding Campaigner of the Year Award at the first Scottish LGBTI Awards.   Relatedly, published analyses consider the public sphere, NGOs and movements in sexual politics.

The UK book launch of Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in The Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change was hosted by Institute of Commonwealth Studies at Senate House in London on 5 July 2013, with speakers including chapter authors Adrian Jjuuko on Uganda and Philip Dayle & Conway Blake on Jamaica (video of Matthew Waites opening introduction to the book: http://www.sas.ac.uk/videos-and-podcasts/politics-development-human-rights/human-rights-sexual-orientation-gender-identit#.Uhkq7cJp1Kk.facebook). A Canadian book launch was held in Toronto on 26 June during Pride week, at the event 'Sexuality Repression and the Law' in partnership with the Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights project led from York University, involving chapter authors speaking on Botswana and Canada (videos by Prof. Nancy Nicol of Matthew Waites' opening presentation and all speakers: Part 1 http://vimeo.com/70217990 ; Part 2 http://vimeo.com/70371903 ; Part 3 http://vimeo.com/70417403). Further invited speaking engagements in Canada included at Department of Political Science, University of Guelph; on 'Sex City' on radio station CIUT; and at the Glad Day LGBTQ bookstore, Toronto. More recently the book's concluding comparative analysis was presented at the International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society bi-annual conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the UK I have engaged in discussion with (then) UK government Minister Lynne Featherstone MP from Department for International Development, and Alistair Stewart, Assistant Director of Kaleidoscope Trust, at a fringe meeting of the Liberal Democrat Party conference on 'LGBT Rights Abroad and in the Commonwealth' - making suggestions about how to change the politics of LGBT human rights in the Commonwealth by bringing voices from the global South to the fore, as the book argues. Academic dissemination in the UK has included a paper at the British Sociological Association conference, an invited keynote for the BSA Postgraduate Forum, and an invited presentation commencing the University of Edinburgh's Sociology Seminar Series 2013/14. Contributing to Policy Scotland (video and podcast introducing the book), I have discussed policy implications of the book internationally. The book's Scottish launch was at the event 'The Family, Sexuality and Human Rights in Global Perspective', hosted by Glasgow Human Rights Network and Gender and Sexualities Forum at University of Glasgow.

Research on human rights in the Commonwealth developed from work concerning India. In January 2008 I was an invited faculty member lecturing at the Sexuality and Rights Alumni Institute, an advanced forum for sexual and reproductive rights practitioners from across India, organised in Khandala (near Pune) by CREA (Creating Resources for Empowerment Action) and TARSHI (Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues). From this an analysis was developed of the groundbreaking 2009 Delhi High Court ruling which decriminalised adult same-sex sexual behaviour: 'Human Rights, sexual orientation and the generation of childhoods: analysing the partial decriminalisation of "unnatural offences" in India' (International Journal of Human Rights, Vol.14, no.6, November 2010). Following the Supreme Court's reversal of this decision on 11 Dec 2013, to oppose this I have been engaging with mainstream media in India and internationally, for example being quoted in The Times of India and the Wall Street Journal's live blog (12 December). Simultaneously I am participating in local activism in Glasgow by supporting individuals in the LGBT Unity group of asylum seekers and refugees; and in transnational activism via social media; for example on the Global Day of Rage against Section 377 on 15th December 2013, links to the Commonwealth book, videos, press and journal articles etc were offered to queer activists in India and internationally, via assistance from groups including 377 Global Day of Rage (@377gdr), Genderlog (@genderlogindia) and Delhiqueerpride (@delhiqueerpride), and BritishAsianLGBTI (@BritishAsianLGB). This is exciting because the book is a medium for sharing sociology (including social movement theories), and critical theory concepts (such as from Foucault and Gramsci).

Relatedly over recent years I have been developing research on the sociology of human rights, associated with launching the British Sociological Association's Sociology of Rights Study Group, as Co-Convenor 2009-2014 (with Patricia Hynes, Michele Lamb and Damien Short). This work contributed to the institutionalisation of the sociology of rights through creation of a BSA conference stream addressing rights, a BSA Sociology of Rights study group wiki-website, co-organisation of workshops and co-editing of three special issues of journals: Sociology and Human Rights: New Engagements, special issue of International Journal of Human Rights in November 2010 (also published as a Routledge book, 2011); The Sociology of Human Rights, special issue of Sociology, October 2012; and New Directions in the Sociology of Human Rights, special issue of International Journal of Human Rights in 2012 (also published as a Routledge book, 2013; see 'Publications'). I have also contributed to British sociology on the Editorial Board of Sociology, journal of the British Sociological Assocation (2007-9), for example by proposing the expansion of the International Advisory Board to achieve improved global representation, especially from the global South. I am one of four founding members on the steering group of Glasgow Human Rights Network; and Associate of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at University of Glasgow.

An earlier book The Age of Consent: Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) has been cited in law reform debates in Canada as well as debated in the UK press, with earlier articles on this theme fed into a Home Office review of sex offences and appearing to influence the form of laws in England and Wales (cf. Chapter 8). Its proposals remain relevant to consider in current UK age of consent debates. The book was discussed by Professor Judith Butler in a Keynote Lecture at the Judith Butler Symposium (video) in Columbia Law School, New York, on 5 March 2010.

Developing future research will focus on deepening analysis of the global queer politics of human rights through further development of themes and theories in the sociology of human rights for that purpose.

My work also contributes to research on LGBTI and queer people's experiences in Scotland, for example through PhD supervision on issues such as transgender experience or LGBTI psychological wellbeing and online experience in Scotland (see 'Supervision'); and by co-hosting and co-organising the second one-day seminar in the Economic and Social Research Council 'LGBT Lives' Seminar Series in Scotland, on the theme 'Place/Space - Global Local' (University of Glasgow, 12 May 2009, co-organised with Ian Rivers, Richard Ward, Kelly Kollman and Jeff Meek). I am a member of the Gender and Sexualities Forum for staff and postgraduate students based in School of Social and Political Sciences, and also participate in the Colonial and Postcolonial Discussion Group.

See the great film 'Its Gets Better - Glasgow University' with LGBTI students and staff voices.

Media

Please direct media enquiries initially to University of Glasgow, Media Relations (tel. 0141 330 3535; media@glasgow.ac.uk).

• Interviews include: BBC Radio 4 'The World at One' with Martha Kearney discussing Tom Daley, coming out and sexual or romantic identities (4 Dec 2013); CIUT radio station, 'Sex City', Toronto, Canada, discussing LGBT rights in the Commonwealth (25 June 2013); BBC Radio 5 Live interview with Kate Silverton discussing homophobia and hate crime (1 November 2009); Gaydio on LGBT Human rights in the Commonwealth (16 July 2014);  BBC Commonwealth Voices Radio (21 July 2014).
• Authored newspaper/online articles include: The Herald, on Nelson Mandela's role in gay liberation (7 Dec 2013); The Independent; New Law Journal; The Conversation.
• Quoted from interview by Wall Street Journal in 'India "Was a Beacon" for Gay Rights, Till Today' following India's Supreme Court ruling to re-criminalise same-sex acts as 'unnatural offences' (12 Dec 2013). Also quoted and discussed on this ruling on 12 December by The Times of India; Zee news; Sahara Samay; Business Standard; and World Latest News.
• Quotation/discussion in newspapers including: The Scotsman, The Daily Telegraph, The West Australian, The Scottish Sunday Mirror, The Sunday Herald.
• Quoted in SCOTSGAY article 'LGBT People of the Commonwealth' March 2014, for Glasgow Human Rights Network, announcing international LGBT human rights conference on 18 July at University of Glasgow, for Commonwealth Games.
• Quoted in National Children’s Bureau journal Children and Young People Now.
• Quoted and discussed on websites including The Sociological Cinema, Gscene.com and Britske Lisky (in Czech Republic; 12 Dec 2013).

Recent and forthcoming conference and seminar presentations, and public speaking events

17/18 January 2014: 'The Same-Sex Marriage effect in human rights politics in the Commonwealth', invited presentation at seminar From Civil Partnership to Gay Marriage 2004-2014: Interdisciplinary Reflections, co-hosted by Birkbeck Institute for Gender and Sexuality/Birkbeck School of Law/Kent Centre for Gender, Sexuality and Law. Birkbeck, University of London.

23 January 2014, 5.00-8.00pm: 'The Family, Sexuality and Human Rights in Global Perspective'. Joint book launch at University of Glasgow hosted by Glasgow Human Rights Network and Gender and Sexualities Forum, chaired by Vikki Turbine (Politics) with speakers from School of Social and Political Sciences: Kelly Kollman, Politics (The Same-Sex Unions Revolution in Western Democracies); Roona Simpson, Sociology (Living Alone: Globalization, Identity and Belonging, co-authored with Lynn Jamieson); and Matthew Waites (Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change, co-edited by Corinne Lennox).

11 February 2014, 5.00-6.30pm: 'International comparative perspectives on Russia' at 'LGBT equality and the geopolitics of human rights: insights from Russia', seminar of Gender and Sexualities Forum in association with Central and East European Studies and Glasgow Human Rights Network, University of Glasgow.

7 March, 12.00am-1.30pm Protest - LGBT Human Rights in Uganda and Nigeria, The Mound Precinct, Edinburgh - organised by Equality Network. Video - A Message From Scotland to LGBT People in Nigeria and Uganda.

12 March 7.30pm GULGBTQ+ student society, campaigns event - panel on international LGBTQ+ rights, Committee Room 1, Queen Margaret Union, University of Glasgow. Speakers including from UNITY including LGBT UNITY group and asylum seekers from Pakistan and Nigeria.

4 April 2014 Invited paper 'Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth and Global Queer Politics', seminar 'The Global Politics of LGBT Rights, Rules and Responses', Centre for Global Constitutionalism, School of International Relations/Department of Philosophy, University of St Andrews.

28-30 May Orientations and Identities: Sexuality and Human Rights on the Global Stage - workshop (invitation only), Los Angeles, USA. Co-sponsored by Program on Global Health and Human Rights, Institute for Global Health, University of Southern California (USA); La Trobe University (Australia); Williams Institute, University of California Los Angeles (USA); and Occidental College (USA).

5 June 2014: Invited Opening Keynote 'The New Transnational Politics of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Decriminalisation and Human Rights', Sexual Causes: Sexuality and Collective Mobilization, International Symposium, Association Internationale des Sociologues de Langues Francaise (AISLF) GTO7, Universite de Lausanne, Switzerland.

12 June 2014, 6.00-8.30pm Invited talk 'A Backlash Against Human Rights? Analysing Recent Developments Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity', hosted by Research Group for Law, Gender and Sexuality, University of Westminster.Facebook event. with Jessica Stern, Executive Director IGLHRC; Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International. 

13 June 2014: Invited Keynote 'The New Transnational Politics of LGBT Human Rights: Critical South/North Reorientations’, seminar Campaigning for Change: Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities, Cultural Significance of Place Interdisciplinary Research Group, University of Newcastle, 12.30-5.00pm.

18 July 2014 LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference, University of Glasgow. Organised by Equality Network to coincide with the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, with Matthew Waites for Glasgow Human Rights Network, and partners  Kaleidoscope Trust and Pride Glasgow, plus steering group including Nigerian activist Bisi Alimi  and Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda. Introduction in Glasgow Sociology Blog post 'LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth - A Public Engagement'. Conference updates via Twitter #lgbtihrc .

22 May 2015 'Queering Genocide', invited paper at Queer/Coercion, joint seminar of (Re)situating Queer Theory seminar series and Critical Sexology seminar series, French Studies, University of Warwick.

16 June 2015 The Present Situation for LGBTI People in Uganda, seminar with Dr. Frank Mugisha (Executive Director, Sexual Minorities Uganda), with discussant Matthew Waites and Scott Cuthbertson of Equality Network; joint event of Glasgow Human Rights Network and Gender and Sexualities Forum. Audio recording available. Dr. Mugisha was awarded the Honorary Degree Doctor of the University, on Commemoration day at the University of Glasgow.

5 October 2015 Invited speaker at Queer Question Time, hosted by Saints LGBT+ and University of St Andrews Students Union, Lower Parliament hall, University of St Andrews.   

17 October 2015 Invited speaker to introduce two films 'Nana' and 'Shadow Fighters' in Document Human Rights Film Festival, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow.   

15 November 2015 Organiser/Chair and speaker: LGBTI Human Rights Activism and Film, at Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow. Premieres of And Still We Rise (made with Sexual Minorities Uganda) and No Easy Walk To Freedom (made with Voices Against 377). Glasgow Human Rights Network with Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights and further partners Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, Gender and Sexualities Forum, Human Rights Consortium, Radical Film Network, Document Human Rights Film Festival; Being Human Festival; Human Rights Consortium. Glasgow Human Rights Network event webpage.             

29 January 2016 Discussant at book launch for Surya Monro (2015) Bisexuality: Identities, Politics and Theories. 7.30-9.00pm, LGBT Foundation, 5 Richmond Street, Manchester.

10 February 2016 'Activist Intellectuals Working Critically and Intersectionally in Global Queer Politics', Pecha Kucha presentation at Glasgow School of Art Student Union, organised by Clare Biddles. 

25 February 2016. 'The Sociology of Genocide and Queer Politics', GU Sociology Society. 5-7pm.  Room 412 Boyd Orr Building, University of Glasgow.   

4 March 2016 Diverse Identities in Sport conference organised by LEAP Sports Scotland, to accompany the European Gay and Lesbian Sporting Federation Annual General Assembly in Glasgow. Steering group member and Keynote speaker, with PhD student Sylvia Morgan (video on conference website).  Steering group included: Scottish Transgender Alliance, Sport Scotland, Pride Sports UK.

6 April 2016 'The Sociology of Genocide encounters Anti-Homosexuality Acts in Africa', Rights, Violence and Crime stream, British Sociological Association Conference 'Global Societies: Fragmenting and Connecting', Aston University, Birmingham. 16.00-17.30pm.

7 April 2016 'Anti-Homosexuality and the Question of Genocide: Reflections on Uganda and The Gambia', invited paper for book launch seminar Religion, Homosexuality and LGBT Rights in Africa', University of Leeds, organised by Dr. Adriaan van Klinken, Associate Professor of Religion and African Studies.  

13-15 June 2016 'Genocide and Queer Politics in Africa', Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, International Conference: Unequal Families and Relationships, University of Edinburgh.       

4-5 August 2016 'The Queer Politics of Genocide between Europe and Africa'; in Panel 4 'Migration of Rights: Europe-Africa legal exchange in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity'; at Proud in Europe? LGBTI Emancipation in Comparative Perspective, University of Amsterdam.   

1-2 October 2016 'Genocide in Global Queer Politics and Scholarship', at After Marriage, CLAGS, CUNY.  

22 October 2016 'Maurice Tomlinson In Conversation', Document Human Rights Film Festival 2016, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow. 1.30-2.30pm.

12 November 2016 Invited Keynote: 'Social Understandings of Student Mental Health and the Equality Duty', University of Glasgow Psychology Society Conference, 1045-11.30am, University of Glasgow.    

28 January 2017 Invited Keynote: 'Transnational Queer Politics: Negotiating Human Rights, the Commonwealth and Decolonisation', Sexpression UK conference, University of Glasgow.    

12 April 2017 'The Global Queer Politics of Genocide: from Nazi Germany to Political Homophobia in the Gambia', on Human Rights and Human Justice panel (1.30-3.00pm), Politics in Interesting Times: Political Studies Association International Conference, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, 10-12 April 2017.     

12-14 July 2017 'LGBTI organisations claiming human rights between the UK and the Commonwealth', International Conference of Europeanists, Council of European Studies, at University of Glasgow.   

7 September 2017 Invited speaker, An International Scotland?  event of Equality Network, at Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, 6.30-8.30pm.

For earlier past presentations, see 'Additional Information'.   

Research groups

• Sociology

Selected publications

Waites, M. (2024) The international politics of development for LGBT+ inclusion: how the UK’s Johnson government used crisis as a political opportunity. International Politics, (doi: 10.1057/s41311-024-00612-6) (Early Online Publication)

Waites, M. (2024) Contesting colonial criminalization: Customary law’s significance for decolonizing queer analysis. In: Fischel, J. J. and Cossman, B. (eds.) Enticements: Queer Legal Studies. Series: LGBTQ politics. New York University Press: New York, pp. 85-108. ISBN 9781479807635

Freude, L. and Waites, M. (2023) Analysing homophobia, xenophobia and sexual nationalisms in Africa: comparing quantitative attitudes data to reveal societal differences. Current Sociology, 71(1), pp. 173-195. (doi: 10.1177/00113921221078045)

Waites, M. (2023) Challenging criminalisation in the Commonwealth: theorising legacies and colonialities in LGBTIQ movement strategies. In: Beasley, C. and Papadelos, P. (eds.) Living Legacies of Social Injustice: Power, Time and Social Change. Series: Social Justice. Routledge: London. ISBN 9781032318905 (doi: 10.4324/9781003311928-15)

Gomes da Costa Santos, G. and Waites, M. (2022) Analysing African advances against homophobia in Mozambique: how decriminalisation and anti-discrimination reforms proceed without LGBT identities. Sexuality and Culture, 26(2), pp. 548-567. (doi: 10.1007/s12119-021-09908-8)

Gomes da Costa Santos, G. and Waites, M. (2019) Comparative colonialisms for queer analysis: comparing British and Portuguese colonial legacies for same-sex sexualities and gender diversity in Africa – setting a transnational research agenda. International Review of Sociology = Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 29(2), pp. 297-326. (doi: 10.1080/03906701.2019.1641277)

Waites, M. (2019) Decolonizing the boomerang effect in global queer politics: a new critical framework for sociological analysis of human rights contestation. International Sociology, 34(4), pp. 382-401. (doi: 10.1177/0268580919851425)

Waites, M. (2018) Genocide and global queer politics. Journal of Genocide Research, 20(1), pp. 44-67. (doi: 10.1080/14623528.2017.1358920)

Lennox, C. and Waites, M. (Eds.) (2013) Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change. School of Advanced Study, University of London: London. ISBN 9780957354883

All publications

List by: Type | Date

Strong in Diversity, Bold on Inclusion 

The Strong in Diversity, Bold on Inclusion project was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) UK AID Connect programme, for a 'co-creation' phase from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020 (University of Glasgow £24,708). The project has aimed to support LGBT+ people and organizations in five African cities: Nairobi, Dakar, Lagos, Maputo and Lusaka. I have represented the University of Glasgow as a partner of the consortium;  Principal Investigator at University of Glasgow, and a Co-Investigator within the Research Team led from School of Advanced Study (within University of London) and with Centre for Human Rights at University of Pretoria. The consortium has been led by HIVOS, with further partners including Coalition of African Lesbians, African Men for Sexual Health and Rights, Kaleidoscope Trust, Article 19, Synergia and Workplace Pride. Phase 1 for 'co-creation' has been completed, from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020 (extended due to Brexit and COVID-19), with a full submission of activities and budget proposed by partners.  In light of COVID-19 economic effects and in the context of the merger of DFID into the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the UK government has not yet confirmed phase 2 funding (pending).     

Previous Funded Projects  

The Regulation of Sexuality: Autonomy, Protection and Consent, October 2001-August 2002. Research Grant £24,597 - South Bank University Research Development Fund (refereed).  Principal Applicant. The project analysed public and policy debates over the regulation of young people’s sexual behaviour surrounding the Home Office review of Sex Offences in England and Wales.

LGBT Human Rights and Global Politics Conference,  2007. Grant £2000 - Chancellor's Fund, University of Glasgow (refereed). This project led to outputs including a journal special issue 'The Global Politics of Human Rights' co-edited by the conference organisers Kelly Kollman and Matthew Waites, in Contemporary Politics Vol. 15, no.1, March 2009.

LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth, 2014. £2000 - Glasgow Human Rights Network. For LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference 18 July 2014 in Sir Charles Wilson Building at University of Glasgow, in partnership with Equality Network, Kaleidoscope Trust and Pride Glasgow, to coincide with Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.     

LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference film 2014. £1600 - College of Social Sciences Internationalisation Fund.    Film published via Youtube and Glasgow Human Rights Network website.  

LGBTI Human Rights Activism and Film, 2015. £1500 - Glasgow Human Rights Network. Project supporting event LGBTI Human Rights Activism and Film on 15 November 2015 at Centre for Contemporary Arts, in collaboration with Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights, Sexual Minorities Uganda, Voices Against 377, Document Human Rights Film Festival, Being Human Festival, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, Human Rights Consortium, Radical Film Network and Bertha Dochouse.    

Transgender: Intersectional/International conference, 2019. Grant £5000. Co-applicant for application to Scottish Graduate School of Arts & Humanities and Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences, to support Transgender: Intersectional/International conference, 28-29 May 2019.      

PhD and MPhil supervision information 

I welcome approaches from individuals considering the possibility of a PhD, who are seeking supervision. I have experience of supervision across a wide range of topics, and particularly welcome applications related to my current research interests in sexuality, gender and/or human rights, postcolonial and decolonizing analysis (see research interests on 'Profile' page).  There are other staff working on these themes with whom the required team of two supervisors can be formed; on LGBTIA/queer issues and politics these notably include Dr. Kelly Kollman (Senior Lecturer in Politics). 

The Universitas 21 global network of research universities, of which University of Glasgow is a member, includes several institutions in Commonwealth states and offers particular opportunities for joint or collaborative PhD supervision.

I will be glad to support suitable applicants for Commonwealth Scholarships to fund postgraduate research:          Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.   University of Glasgow is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Current PhD students     

• Kirstie English, How well does quantitative data in the UK reflect diverse sexual orientations and gender identities? First supervisor, with Dr Jo Ferrie and Dr Nema Dean. Funded by College of Social Sciences Scholarship, University of Glasgow. From September 2019. 
• Nastassia Rambarran, A comparison of the colonial legacies and transnational processes involved in queer activism in Guyana and Barbados: a decolonial analysis.  First supervisor, with Professor Mo Hume. Funded by College of Social Sciences Scholarship, Latin America's Queer Movements Between Transnationalism and Decoloniality, University of Glasgow. From September 2020.   
• Tanvir Alim, Sexualities and Genders beyond Heterosexuality in India and Bangladesh: Contestations between Decoloniality and Digital Cultures. First supervisor, with Dr Rohit Dasgupta. Funded by College of Social Sciences Scholarship, University of Glasgow. From September 2021.

For current PhD student webpages see: http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/students/

PhD students participate in the postgraduate cluster of Glasgow Human Rights Network: www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/glasgowhumanrightsnetwork/researchclusters/

PhD examinations

• External Examiner for Douglas Janoff, School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies, Carleton University, Canada, 29 March 2021. The Emergence of Queer Diplomacy: Navigating Homophobia and LGBT Human Rights in International Relations.   
• External Examiner for Po-Han Lee, Department of Sociology, University of Sussex, 18 July 2019. How is 'nothing' produced and justified? International inaction in the face of the health disparities of sexual and gender minorities.
• External Examiner for Nelson Muparamoto, Rhodes University, South Africa, 2018. Understanding Defiant Identities: An Ethnography of Gays and Lesbians in Harare, Zimbabwe.  
• External Examiner for Matthew Farmer, Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, University of Lancaster, 30 March 2017. Under the Spectre of Colonialism: An Analysis of UK-Based NGOs Engaged in Contemporary Transnational LGBTI Activism.
• External Examiner for Kate Mariat, Department of Media, Culture and Language, University of Roehampton, 25 September 2015. Parliamentary Discourse on Sexuality over a Period of Legislative Change 1986-2005.        
• External Examiner for Danny Beusch, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, 11th December 2008.  Queering Nazism or Nazi Queers?  A Sociological Study of an Online Gay Nazi Fetish Group.
• External Examiner for Robert Rhodes-Kubiak, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, 7 June 2013. Activist citizens: Social movement theory, citizenship and the development of LGBT activism in Serbia (revised for publication as Activist Citizenship and the LGBT Movement in Serbia: Belonging, Critical Engagement and Transformation, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).
• Internal Examiner for Ben Wilson, Sociology, University of Glasgow, 2018. Scotland, Malawi and the Post-Development Critique: An Analysis of Power and Equality in International Development.  
• Internal Examiner for Tom Bosire, Sociology, University of Glasgow, 2012. The Bondo Secret Socety: Female Circumcision and the Sierra Leonean State.        
• Internal Examiner for Sarah Vernon, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences, University of Glasgow, 13th January 2010.  The Private, The Public and The Pubic: Naked Power in Scotland. 
• Internal Examiner for Francesca Stella, Central and East European Studies, University of Glasgow, 11th November 2008. Lesbian identities and everyday space in contemporary Russia.     

PhD Research Proposal examinations 

• External Examiner for Ayo Sogunro, LLD Research Proposal, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. 'Advocacy, Social Control and the Criminalisation of Same-Sex Relationships: The Evolution and Enforcement of "Anti-Gay Laws" in Nigeria', 22 November 2018.  
• External Examiner for David Ikpo, LLD Research Proposal, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, 'A Place for Indigenous Storytelling in Nigerian Queer Rights Advocacy', 20 March 2019.      

PhD and MPhil completions

• Kumud Rana Transnational Resources and LGBTI+ Activism in Nepal. First supervisor (with Dr Kelly Kollman). Funded by College of Social Sciences Scholarship, University of Glasgow. Confirmed for PhD award by examiners 2020.  
• René Wolfsteller The British Human Rights Regime: Between Universalism and Parliamentary Sovereignty. PhD 2018. Second supervisor, with Kelly Kollman (Politics). College of Social Sciences Scholarship. Dr. Wolfsteller is now Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Academic Coordinator of the Research Cluster 'Society and Culture in Motion' at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.   
• Andria Christofidou Men in dance: undoing gender, challenging heterosexual hegemony and the limits of transgression.  PhD 2017. First supervisor, with Dr. Simon Murray (Theatre, Film and Television Studies) and Dr. Andrew Smith (Sociology). Dr. Christofidou is now employed in research and lecturing in sociology by the University of Cyprus.  
• Sylvia Morgan Constructing identities, reclaiming subjectivities and reconstructing selves: an interpretative study of transgender practices in Scotland.  Part-time. PhD 2017. First supervisor, with Emeritus Professor Bridget Fowler. Thesis approved - available online via University of Glasgow library. Dr. Morgan works at the University of Glasgow.    
• Christine Rivers Interrogating Pathology: An Exploration of Mental Distress and Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Identity. PhD 2006. London South Bank University. Second supervisor; Prof. Janet Holland Director of Studies, and Prof. Jeffrey Weeks. Dr. Rivers has since worked as Head of Equality and Human Rights at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.
• Jen Birks Newspaper Campaigns, Publics and Politics. PhD 2009. University of Glasgow. First supervisor Prof. Greg Philo; second supervisor M. Waites.  Funded by Economic and Social Research Council, UK. Dr. Birks is now Assistant Professor in School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at University of Nottingham, and has published News and Civil Society: the contested space of civil society in UK media (Ashgate, 2014).
• Meghan Ferriter Changing the Game?: Gender, Ethnicity and Age in Mediated Sport.  PhD 2011. University of Glasgow. First supervisor. Dr. Ferriter has since held an academic post at Smithsonian Institution, George Mason University, Washington, USA.
• Christian Holz The Public Spheres of Climate Change Advocacy Networks: An Ethnography of Climate Change Action International within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). PhD 2012. University of Glasgow. First supervisor. Funded by Economic and Social Research Council, UK. Dr. Holz became Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences at Carleton University, Ottawa, where he teaches. He was Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada from 2012-2014. 
• Carin Runciman, Mobilisation and Insurgent Citizenship of the Anti-Privatisation Forum, South Africa: An Ethnographic Study. PhD 2012.  University of Glasgow. Second supervisor with Prof. Satnam Virdee. Funded by University of Glasgow Postgraduate Scholarship. Dr. Runciman is now Associate Professor in the Centre for Social Change, Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. 
• Lisa Curtice, Lessons for Inclusive Citizenship? Difference, Disability and Rights in the Lives of People with Learning Disabilities who have High Support Needs. PhD 2010. University of Glasgow.  Second supervisor with Prof. N. Watson. Dr. Curtice is Programme Director, People Powered Health and Wellbeing, Scotland; she was formerly Director of the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability (until 2013).
• Lyle Christine Processes of Recovery from Problem Gambling: A Qualitative Exploration, second supervisor. MPhil 2014.  Funded by Responsible Gambling Trust.  Lyle Christine has since worked as a researcher for ODS Consulting.

• Zheng, Congwei
  Study on the phenomenon of surrogacy among gay men in China

Postgraduate

• Sexualities and Society, SOCIO5025.  Semester 2. Course Coordinator.
• Contributions to: Equality and Human Rights; Introduction to Social Theory for Researchers; Gender Relations.   

Undergraduate

• Global Civil Society and Human Rights (Honours). SOCIO4014.  Course Coordinator [available semester 2 2021-22]. 
• Sexualities (Honours). SOCIO4023.  Course Coordinator.  
• Dissertation in Sociology and/or Anthropology (Honours). SOCIO4008P. Supervisor.

Course specifications can be found in the Course Catalogue: 
http://www.gla.ac.uk/coursecatalogue/courselist/?code=SOCIO&name=Sociology

Previous Experience at University of Glasgow including:

Postgraduate Taught Programmes Convenor for Sociology, 2008-10 & 2014-16.  

Course Convenor, Level 1 Sociology and Anthropology, 2006-9. 

Prizes, awards & distinctions

• 2017: Visiting Professor, Atelier Genre(s) et Sexualité(s) (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Grant committees & research advisory boards

• : Economic and Social Research Council, Joint Collaborative Studentships Commissioning Panel

Editorial boards

• 2023: Sexualities
• 2023: Sexuality & Culture
• 2020: International Journal of Human Rights
• 2020: Culture, Health and Sexuality
• 2008: Journal of Gender Studies
• 2007 - 2009: Sociology
• 2007 - 2010: Journal of LGBT Youth

Professional & learned societies

• 2015: Associate Director, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships
• 2018: Member, Cross-Party Group on LGBTI+ Issues, Scottish Parliament
• 2018: Steering Group Member, Queer Research UK (QRUK)
• 2018: Member, International Network of Genocide Scholars
• 2018: Member, UK Roundtable on LGBT Themes in International Development (chaired by Stonewall)
• 2011 - 2019: Co-Founder, Convenor (2018-19) & Steering Group Member, Glasgow Human Rights Network
• Associate, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research
• Associate, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow
• 2018: Member, International Sociological Association
• 2018: Member, International Studies Association
• Member, British Sociological Association
• Member, Political Studies Association (UK)
• Member, Socio-Legal Studies Association
• Member, Human Rights Researchers Network, School of Advanced Study
• Member, Higher Education Academy
• 2009 - 2013: Co-Convenor, BSA Sociology of Rights Study Group
• Member, Glasgow Centre for International Development
• Member, Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network

Selected international presentations

• 2018: Marrett Lecture Series on Politics and Violence (McGill University, Canada)

Supplementary

• External Examiner, Department of Sociology, City University 2013-14

Research - Referee Experience

• Research Grants
• • Economic and Social Research Council
  • Arts and Humanities Research Council;
  • Big Lottery Fund;
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada;
  • Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
  • Council for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
  • The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland

• Referee of Journal Articles for British Journal of Sociology; Contemporary Politics; Society and Space - Environment and Planning D; Environment and Planning A; Sexualities; Sociology; Sociological Research Online; Sexualities, Evolution and Gender; Culture, Health and Sexuality; Men and Masculinities; Feminism and Psychology; Journal of Gender Studies; Journal of Youth Studies; Journal of LGBT Youth; Politics; Journal of the History of Sexuality; Qualitative Sociology; International Journal of Human Rights; Law & Society Review; Sex Education; BJPsych Bulletin; Current Sociology; Journal of Homosexuality; Australian Journal of Political Science; Arts; British Journal of Politics and International Relations; Development and Change; Feminist Review; International Sociology; Journal of Human Rights; Sociological Review; American Sociological Review; Parliamentary Affairs; Millenium; Identities; Global Studies Quarterly; International Political Sociology; International Studies Quarterly; International Feminist Journal of Politics; Journal of Civil Society; Sociolinguistic Studies; South Asian Popular Culture; International Affairs; European Journal of Politics and Gender; Social Epistemology; Journal of International Development; African Human Rights Law Journal; Genocide Studies and Prevention; Journal of Genocide Research.  

• Referee of Book Proposals/Books for Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Zed Books.
  

Education

• PhD, 1999 South Bank University, London (ESRC studentship).
• MA Culture and Society, with Distinction, 1995. Department of Sociology, University of Essex (ESRC Studentship).                     
• BSc. Hons. Politics, First Class, 1994. Department of Politics, University of Bristol.
• Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching, Sheffield Hallam University, 2003.

Invited Papers and Presentations

• Analysing Age of Consent Debates: Comparative Perspectives and Transnational Dynamics, British Sociological Association Youth Study Group, Youth Sexualities conference, hosted by Centre for Sex, Gender and Sexuality, University of Durham, 18 October 2013.  
• Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth: Comparative Analysis with Insights from Sociology and the Global South, Sociology seminar series, University of Edinburgh, 25th September 2013.
• LGBT Rights Abroad and in the Commonwealth, meeting jointly organised by Liberal Youth and LGBT+ Liberal Democrats at Liberal Democrats party autumn conference, SECC, Glasgow, with speakers including Lynne Featherstone, Minister at Department for International Development, and Alistair Stewart, Kaleidoscope Trust. 16 September 2013. 
• Global Gay Liberation and Queer Politics Now! Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth, hosted by Human Sexualities Research Group and Prof. Carol Dauda, Dept. of Political Science, University of Guelph, Canada, 27 June 2013.
• Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in The Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change, opening address for international book launch, at seminar 'Sexuality, Repression and the Law', hosted by Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights, Toronto, Canada, 26 June 2013 (videos by Prof. Nancy Nicol/Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights: Part 1 http://vimeo.com/70217990 ; Part 2 http://vimeo.com/70371903 ; Part 3 http://vimeo.com/70417403).
• Academics, Movements, NGOs and Publics: Critical Dialogues in LGBT and Queer Politics, Recognising Diversity? Gender and Sexual Equalities in Principle and Practice, conference at Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, University of Leeds. 20 June 2013. 
• Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in The Commonwealth: Developing a Post-colonial Political Analysis of Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change, Glasgow Colonial and Postcolonial Discussion Group, University of Glasgow, 14 May 2013.    
• Sexual Politics Goes Global: New Agendas in Transnational Analysis, Invited Keynote, British Sociological Association Postgraduate Forum, British Sociological Association conference, London, 2 April 2013.
• Decriminalisation of Same-Sex Sexual Acts and the Implications for Children and Young People in Commonwealth States in Asia, at LGBT Rights in the Commonwealth: historical legacies and contemporary reforms conference, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, London, 17 January 2011.  
• Career Biography and Research, British Sociological Association Postgraduate Forum, British Sociological Association conference, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, 6 April 2010.
• The Global Politics of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Human Rights, Edinburgh Humanist Group, Quaker Meeting House, Edinburgh, 1 February 2010.
• Humanism and Human Rights, invited after dinner speech at the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) annual weekend conference, Newcastle, 5th September 2009 (Report 'Humanism and LGBT Human rights' in GALHA NEWS).
• The Global Politics of 'Sexual Orientation', 'Gender Identity' and Human Rights: Homonationalism and LGBT Critical Cosmopolitanism, opening keynote at ESRC Seminar Series 'LGBT Lives', Seminar 2 'Place/Space-Global/Local', University of Glasgow, 12 May 2009.
• Challenging Disciplinary Politics, Imagining Radical Pluralism at Making History Personal: Celebrating the Work and Contribution of Professor Jeffrey Weeks, The Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life, Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, 28 November 2008.
• The Age of Consent and Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Human Rights, as Invited Faculty Member of the Sexuality and Rights Alumni Institute 2008, organised by CREA (Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action) and TARSHI (Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues), Northpoint Centre of Learning, Khandala, India, 25-29 January 2008.
• Critique of "Sexual Orientation" and "Gender Identity" in Global LGBT Human Rights Discourse: The Exclusions of Global Civil Society, Sociology Seminar Series, University of Newcastle, 16 January 2008.
• Bisexuality, 'Sexual Orientation' and Human Rights: The Global Politics of Sexual Identities, Critical Sexology Seminar Series: International Approaches to Bisexuality, London South Bank University, 7 November 2007.
• The Age of Consent: the Future of Research, Debates and Politics, Children and Young People Research Group Seminar, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Open University, 17 November 2007.
• Should the Age of Consent be Lowered? Young People, Sexual Citizenship and the Case for "Age-Span" Provisions, School of Sport and Education Seminar Series, Brunel University, Friday 9th March 2007.
• A Proposal for Reform of the Age of Consent, invited paper for the Department of Sociology seminar series, University of Nottingham, 29 November 2006.
• The Fixity of Sexual Identities in Global Civil Society, Global Queeries: Sexualities, Globalities, Postcolonialities, Invited Plenary Paper Presentation, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, 10-13 May 2006.
• The Fixity of Sexual Identities in the Public Sphere: Liberalism, Biomedical Knowledge and the Heterosexual/Homosexual Binary in Late Modernity, Department of Sociology Seminar Series, University of Surrey, April 2006.
• Reconceptualising the Age of Consent: An Argument for Change.  ESRC Gender, Sexuality and Law:  Theory and Practice workshop series 'Sex in Criminal Justice' workshop, 18-19 March 2005, University of Westminster, London.
• Narratives of Fixed Sexual Identity in the Public Sphere.  Invited paper for University of East London's Centre for Narrative Research, Narrative workshop VII, 'Narratives of/on Sexuality' at King's College, Cambridge, 28 October 2004.
• Age of Consent Laws in the UK: Sexuality, Competence and Citizenship.  Invited paper to ESRC Beyond Boundaries: Borders, Bodies and Bonds seminar series, seminar 3: Child Labour and Child Prostitution.  University of Nottigham, 18 April 2002.

Further International and UK Conference Papers and Presentations (from 2007)

• Human rights, sexual orientation, gender identity and the Commonwealth, International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society conference 'Sex and the Marketplace: What's love got to do with it?', University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 30 August 2013. 
• Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth - Learning from the Global South, opening address, UK book launch of Human Rights Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change, hosted at Senate House by Human Rights Consortium, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London. 5 July 2013.
• Global Comparative Analysis of Struggles over Human Rights Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity :  Insights from Commonwealth States in the Global South, Rights, Violence and Crime stream, Engaging Sociology - British Sociological Association conference, Grand Connaught Rooms, London, 5 April 2013.
• Introducing The Sociology of Human Rights, The Sociology of Human Rights Special Issue of Sociology Launch, School of Advanced Study, Senate House, London, 2 November 2012.
• The Politics of Decriminalisation of Same-Sex Sexualities in the Commonwealth: Findings from a Comparative Analysis of Struggles for Human Rights in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Queer Sexualities, Nationalism and Racism in the New Europe conference, Weeks Centre for Social and Policy Research, London South Bank University, London, 19 October 2012.
• Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Human Rights: Post-Colonial Duties and Responsibilities in the Commonwealth, Protecting Human Rights: Duties and Responsibilities of States and Non-State Actors, International Political Science Association Human Rights Research Committee/American Political Science Association Human Rights Section/International Studies Association Human Rights Section/Glasgow Human Rights Network conference, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 18-19 June 2012.
• Global Queer Politics and Human Rights: Towards a More Sociological Analysis, Law, Crime and Rights stream, Sociology in an Age of Austerity - British Sociological Association conference, University of Leeds, Leeds, 11 April 2012.
• Human Rights and Sexual Nationalisms, Law Crime and Rights stream, 60 Years of Sociology - British Sociological Association Conference, London School of Economics, London, 6-8 April 2011.
• Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and the Generation of Childhoods: Analysing the Partial Decriminalisation of Same-Sex Sexualities in India, at Sexual Nationalisms: Gender, Sexuality and the Politics of Belonging in the New Europe, international conference, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 27-28 January 2011.
• The Sociology of Rights and the Decriminalisation of Same-Sex Sexual Acts in India: Whose Voices Against 377?, BSA Sociology of Rights Study Group panel session,  British Sociological Association Conference, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, 9 April 2010.
• Analysing Rights, Gender and Sexuality in Russia and India – What can Politics and Sociology each Contribute? with Vikki Turbine, BSA Sociology of Rights Study Group panel session British Sociological Association Conference, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, 9 April 2010. 
• Human Rights and the Decriminalization of Same-Sex Sexual Behaviour in India, BSA Sociology of Rights Study Group Human Rights Workshop, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London, 30 October 2009.
• Homocosmopolitanism: Beyond the queer critique of Homonationalism to analysis of Homocosmopolitanism in Global Politics and Sociology, British Sociological Association conference, University of Cardiff, 16-18 April 2009.
• The Sexual Politics of Iran and Human Rights in the Shadow of War’, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences Postgraduate Conference, Stirling, 7-8 December 2008.
• The Global Politics of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Human Rights,  Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences seminar series, University of Glasgow, 12 March 2008.
• “Sexual Orientation” and “Gender Identity”: Problematic Categories in Human Rights Discourse, The Global Politics of LGBT Human Rights conference (organised by K.Kollman and M.Waites), University of Glasgow, 16 November 2007. 
• “Sexual Orientation”, “Gender Identity” and Human Rights, European Sociological Association Conference ‘Conflict, Citizenship and Civil Society’, Glasgow Caledonian University and University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, 3-6 September 2007.
• Equality and Human Rights, Gender and Sexual Orientation, Gender Unbound: An International Conference, AHRC Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality, University of Keele, 9-11 July 2007. 
• Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual NGOs in Britain: Past, Present and Future, NGO: Non-Governmental Organisations and Politics in Contemporary Britain, organised by DANGO: Database of Archives of Non-Governmental Organisations, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, 5-6 July 2007.
• “Sexual Orientation” and Human Rights, at Dis/organised Pleasures: Changing Bodies, Rights and Cultures, International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society (IASSCS), Lima, Peru, 27-29 June 2007.
• Sexual Orientation, Human Rights and Global Politics, Political Studies Association Conference, University of Bath, Bath, 11-13 April 2007.