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What explains sub-Saharan Africa's strong attitudes and increasing government policies against sexual minorities? This talk surveys popular explanations for the continent's widespread anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments.

Providing evidence of variation within the continent and possible shifting opinions, and then examining religion's role in shaping and shifting opinions, Dreier draws on her own fieldwork and quantitative analysis (of AfroBarometer survey data), international relations scholarship, and sociological research on religion to discuss the ways in which religious, social, and political forces interact to shape--and potentially dislodge--attitudes against sexual minorities throughout the continent. 

Sarah K. Dreier studies comparative politics, law, and religion. Her research focuses on religion and political governance in post-colonial contexts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. She incorporates comparative politics scholarship, qualitative and quantitative methods, colonial/postcolonial theories, comparative religion, and international human rights scholarship into her research. Her work and study of Swahili have been funded by the UW Chester Fritz Fellowship, the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, and the Ottenberg-Winans Fund. Dreier previously directed the international policy portfolio for The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C. and served as a researcher at the Center for American Progress.

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The LGBTQ Speaker Series is funded by multiple organizations across Drexel: The Office of International Programs, LGBTQA+ Faculty and Professional Staff CRG, Women and Gender Studies Program, the Department of Sociology, The Department of Global Studies, The Africana Studies Program, the Alumni Association, the Student Center for Diversity and Inclusion, the Department of Politics and the Center for Public Policy.