Intersectionality and Sexuality: The Case of Sexuality and Transgender Equalities Work in UK Local Government

Abstract

The last 25 years has seen the introduction and expansion of studies concerning intersectionality (see for instance Crenshaw, 1989; Hill Collins, 1990). Intersectionality is claimed by some authors as a central aspect of feminist thinking, one which has transformed the conceptualisation of gender in research (Shields, 2008). As is well rehearsed, intersectionality theory grew out of a critique of models of inequality which framed social forces as operating in layered or additive ways. Intersectionality can be used as ‘a method for interrogating the institutional reproduction of inequality, whether at the level of the state, the family, or of legal structures more generally’ (Grabham et al., 2009: 2). This more structural form of intersectionality thinking moves analysis away from the individualising approaches that have been criticised by authors such as Conaghan (2009). Such an approach would have purchase in developing understandings of inequality, identity and difference in the area of sexuality; an area which has been relatively neglected within the field of intersectionality studies.