The EU Center's Fall 2020 Virtual Reception and Lecture by Occidental College's Phillip M. Ayoub

By Nicholas Zalewski, M.A. Student in European Union Studies and Graduate Research Assistant, European Union Center

For the European Union Center’s opening lecture as part of the Fall 2020 virtual reception, Phillip M. Ayoub, Associate Professor of Diplomacy and World Afairs at Occidental College, described the findings that he wrote about in his book, When States Come Out: Europe’s Sexual Minorities and the Politics of Visibility (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Professor Ayoub discussed how rather than national movements increasing LGBTI rights, it has been transnational movements that have motivated the rapid adoption of LGBTI rights in a lot of European countries. Ireland, which is a predominantly Catholic country, adopted gay marriage before Germany. This influenced Germany to adopt gay marriage as it was seen as an embarrassment that a Catholic country was more progressive than Germany in adopting legislation that allowed and protected the right to gay marriage. Besides influencing Germany, Ireland also influenced numerous European Union member states, including Italy and Greece, to adopt civil unions. When Poland outlawed LGBT public assembly, marches and protests were organized in Germany. Then, they were bussed into Poland. This transnational pressure eventually led to an increase in LGBTI+ rights in Poland.

Professor Ayoub also discussed how countries that share a trait such as Catholicism may still have different outcomes in the level of LGBTI+ rights that they have. While Ireland adopted a law to protect gay marriage, other Catholic countries still only have civil union laws. Differences can also be seen within the different regions of Europe and in the different waves of when countries joined the European Union. Sweden, which joined in 1995, has the most LGBTI rights protections in the European Union. Meanwhile, Greece, which joined in 1981, has the lowest level of LGBTI rights protections.

After Professor Ayoub’s lecture, the EUC held its annual fall reception. Several professors gave short presentations on their favorite European wine (or favorite alcoholic beverage) and a European cheese that pairs well with it. Some professors chose a wine and cheese pairing from a country they discovered while visiting the country, while others presented on a wine and cheese from their home country. Some showed how to properly decant and serve the wine. These presentations showcased wine and cheese pairings from a wide variety of countries, including Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Germany, and Hungary.

The full recording of Professor Ayoub's lecture may be found here. See here for a recap of the post-lecture graduate student meeting with Professor Ayoub.