The intersection of public washrooms and gender has become increasingly politicized in recent years: queer and trans folk have been harassed for allegedly using the 'wrong' washroom, while widespread campaigns have advocated for more gender-neutral facilities. Cavanagh explores how public toilets demarcate the masculine and the feminine and condition ideas of gender and sexuality. Based on 100 interviews with GLBT and/or intersex peoples in major North American cities, the author delves into the ways that queer and trans communities challenge the rigid gendering and heteronormative composition of public washrooms. She argues that the cultural politics of excretion is intimately related to the regulation of gender and sexuality and asserts that although toilets are not typically considered within traditional scholarly bounds, they form a crucial part of our modern understanding of sex and gender.
Provides a summary of research looking at the barriers lesbians face when trying to access health and/or social services in Quebec. Includes a list of recommendations aimed at making health and social services accessible to all lesbians.
States that established scientific studies are often not reflected in laws and judicial opinions for lesbians with regard to employment, taxation, pensions, disability, healthcare, immigration, military service, marriage, custody, and adoption. Finds that psychological and epidemiological research confirms that the public discriminatory attitudes and second-class legal status cause physical, emotional, and financial harm to lesbians, their families, and their children, and that some lesbians experience discrimination in healthcare and avoid routine primary healthcare. Argues that to decrease the harm, and improve the health of lesbians, medical institutions can include sexual orientation and gender identity in their nondiscrimination policies and offer domestic partner coverage in employment benefits.
Provides a critical analysis of incrementalist strategy and the formal equality approach as applied to the legal recognition of same-sex couples in Canada.
<p>Includes bibliographical references. Issued also in French under the title: L'effet de la reconnaissance des unions sur les lesbiennes au Canada.</p>
