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QP@P: Sitting down with LGBTQ+ and politics research scholar Andrew Reynolds – The Daily Princetonian

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Senior research scholar Andrew S. Reynolds in the politics department is pursuing research of LGBTQ+ representation in the political sphere through Queer Politics at Princeton (QP@P). Since its founding in 2020, the organization has become a hub for queer research and scholarship that Reynolds says “[has] not [been] seen at any other institution.” 

“QP@P is really supposed to shine a light on the reality of this world socially and politically,” Reynolds said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “This is the only queer politics center in the world that is focused on this [LGBTQ+ visibility].”

Through the organization’s creation, Reynolds said he aimed to expand the work he was doing prior to coming to Princeton at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he previously conducted research.

“One of the aspirations that I discussed with SPIA [the School of Public and International Affairs], Politics and the University more generally, was to try and build [the previous work] into a bigger shop here at Princeton,” he said. “I wanted to build it out of Princeton because it seemed to be the best place to use as a foundation. And there’s a lot of enthusiasm to do it.”

According to SPIA concentrator and Research Assistant Paul-Louis Biondi ’24, QP@P’s work is especially important in today’s political climate. 

“What we’re seeing, especially in the U.S. right now, is a big, big reaction against queerness especially in youth and education, and so I think queer elected officials are a big hope and a big need to be seen and talked about more,” they said.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, QP@P has hosted a webinar series of panel discussions with scholars in queer research, including “Bi/Pan Women Parliamentarians” and “Queer and Trans Muslims in the US.” The webinars had regular attendance, with almost 800 people registered in total coming from all around the world.

“Every week, I had somebody in Namibia, or Germany, or Russia, or Jamaica, or Argentina,” Reynolds explained. “It was very internationalized. And it allowed our speakers as well to come from all over the place.”

Though the webinars have not been held as frequently after the first season, Reynolds said he hopes to build up a program for the series next year. QP@P also plans to launch a film directors series next year by inviting directors and screenwriters of queer storytelling for screenings at the Princeton Garden Theatre. According to Reynolds, Dustin Lance Black, who wrote the Oscar-winning movie “Milk,” and David France, best known for his writings and documentaries on LGBTQ+ issues, are coming to Princeton during the 2022–23 academic year.

“We’re gonna start this series just talking to storytellers and understanding how their storytelling about queer issues and lives actually affects people’s views and policy as well,” Reynolds said.

With the start of Princeton’s Gender and Sexuality Resource Center’s Pride Month in April, the QP@P will be publicizing its newly launched website, which showcases the research projects it has conducted so far through its extensive data collection. 

“We redesigned it totally and have amazing new graphics for all the data,” Biondi said.

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One study examines the role of queer identity in elections around the world. 

“We have this data set that allows us to really unpack the impact of identity upon vote share,” Reynolds said. “What does it matter that you’re a gay Asian woman in California running for the Republicans? Or what does it matter that you’re a white, straight man of this education level?”

Another past QP@P research project that Reynolds has conducted involves more complex political interactions, such as those between LGBTQ+ advocacy and xenophobia. 

“A lot of countries, especially in Europe, are very Islamophobic and they use LGBTQ rights issues as a dog whistle against allowing Muslim people or people from the Middle East to immigrate,” said Joshua Babu ’22, who led the data collection for the project.

Tensions even occur within the LGBTQ+ community, he said, which QP@P has also been able to explore. 

“In the U.K. and in the U.S., there are large coalitions of lesbians and gays who are very anti-trans. They have very powerful lobbying groups and organizations that are actively making the political standing of trans people worse,” Babu explained.

“I was really floored by the way in which QP@P tackled the diversity of problems that were facing the queer and trans community at large,” he added.

These projects have been able to uniquely and quantitatively illuminate the political landscape of queerness. 

“We don’t understand how the world changes unless we have the data and the historical evidence, right? Without really knowing who is running for office and being elected, we have no real way of testing our hypotheses about how change happens and the relationship between visibility and change,” Reynolds said.

QP@P has been able to examine the importance of visibility in identity politics, but Reynolds said it has also served as a form of visibility itself. 

“A lot of universities, if not every university, see queer issues as marginalized, out there with home economics and cooking and girly stuff. And I have to tell you, my experience is that Princeton is not immune from that behavior as well. It is a struggle to try and mainstream these issues at Princeton,” Reynolds said. “So [that’s] what I’m trying to do.”

As someone who hopes to pursue a career in academia, Biondi finds the visibility of queer scholars in QP@P rewarding to see. 

“QP@P is the first time I’ve kind of seen more broadly-reflected queer research and queer lab research, which has been really cool,” they said.

Babu shared this sentiment and acknowledged Reynold’s mentorship as he continues his research in trans healthcare. 

“Professor Reynolds has been one of my most important professors — and mentors in general — at Princeton,” Babu said. “I think he fulfills a role that has gone unfilled at Princeton for what I imagine is a very long time.”

As a center for queer research, QP@P is working to establish a network of researchers in queer topics. 

“Within our orbits, I want to be able to ultimately have a network of scholars working on these issues to sort of cross-pollinate, but also allow our students to go study in London or in Amsterdam, or wherever else,” Reynolds said.

But ultimately, Reynolds hopes to bring queer identity to the forefront of political issues and discussions through the scholarship of QP@P.  

“When we think about healthcare, transportation, housing… basic rights of the individual, we do think about gender, and we think about race,” he said. “But we also [need to] think about sexual orientation and gender identity, because we have millions and millions of Americans whose lives are not defined, but are shaped by that.” 

Erin Lee is a Staff News Writer and Contributing Sports writer at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at erinlee@princeton.edu.

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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