Teaching gay and lesbian studies: Looking back on a professional and radical practice

SummaryThis article takes a look back at the introduction of Gay and Lesbian Studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). More precisely, it retraces the inception and evolution of the course Homosexuality and Society which was created in 1995 to introduce students to the perspectives of a new field of knowledge born in the wake of the social movements of the 1970s. This area of study, which would subsequently expand to include all minoritized sexualities, differentiated itself from prior scholarship both by its rupture with the traditional scientific discourse that turned homosexuality into a pathology, and by its determination to produce alternative forms of knowledge that would contribute to the political, cultural and intellectual life of gay and lesbian communities. Geographic and cultural proximity to the United States, the point from which new knowledge spreads, and emulation of the English universities in the province are two elements which favoured the creation of such a course in French in Québec. Ideas such as sexual parity, cooperative work and interdisciplinarity influenced the conception of the course, though putting them into practice subjected them to the test of reality. The course has proven to be continuously popular, notably among students in Sexology. From the point of view of teaching practice, many challenges were raised by the shortage of pedagogical tools available in French, as well as by the selection of the course content from the greatly expanded realm of sexual diversity studies, the heterogeneity of the groups and the rapid evolution of the socio-political issues. On a more personal note, this article describes the gratification drawn by the author from teaching this course on both a professional and a radical level. The conclusion notes the constant renewal of interest in this course at the same time as it calls for an education program that is more diversified, particularly in those programs oriented towards training our future professionals (sexologists, social workers, educators…).