The Impact of French Culture on the LGBT Movement in France

By: Lauren Potter '14

Advising Faculty: Jeffrey Cole

For my senior integrated project for the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA), I explore how French culture informs the experiences of LGBT youth in France today and the difficulties that members of the young LGBT community must navigate within this cultural location. I ask how marriage laws, such as the PACS (pacte civil de solidarité), have influenced conceptions of marriage and family in France, and how, within this context, gay identity is formed. The project is based on the funded internship I conducted in Summer 2013 with the student organization Caélif (Collectif des Associations Etudiantes LGBT d’Ile-de-France), which works on issues unique to LGBT students and also serves as an umbrella organization for other LGBT student organizations.

Related Fields: Anthropology, CISLA