History of global LGBT rights movement to be examined during lecture

The study of U.S. global policy on HIV/AIDS and a history of the international LGBT movement will be explored during an upcoming event at Grand Valley. 

“Global Gay Rights: An Introduction to the History of the International LGBT Rights Movement” will take place November 16 at 1 p.m. in the Kirkhof Center's Pere Marquette Room. 

Laura Belmonte, professor and chair of the History Department at Oklahoma State University, will be the keynote speaker; she is a specialist in the history of U.S. foreign relations and cultural diplomacy.  Paul Murphy, professor of history at Grand Valley and event co-coordinator, said Belmonte's lecture will focus on research on the shifts in public attitudes toward LGBT rights.

“This is pioneering work just in terms of the LGBT movement, but also pushes into the realm of international cooperation in an age of social media and globalization, and the rise of non-governmental organizations and global activist networks," Murphy said.

Murphy added that this topic is relevant in today’s society because human rights is an essential and vibrant movement, and human rights activists are attempting to create instruments and forums that constitute a global civil society.

“While the focus is on the LGBT community, the broader issues get at the heart of our national and international debates regarding American values, goals and aspirations,” he said. “This is difficult work as simultaneously competing trends toward nationalism, intolerance and antipathy toward the global movement of people are on the rise.”

Belmonte's lecture is sponsored by Grand Valley’s History Department, International Relations program and the Joseph Stevens Freedom Endowment; it is approved for LIB 100/201 courses.