Queer bioethics holds its first conference
by Michael Cook | 21 Sep 2012 | 5:18:44 PMhttp://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10239
The novel field of "queer bioethics" held its first national conference today at the University of Pennsylvania. Among the topics discussed were: "The Cost of Science: Knowledge & Ethics in HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Trials", "Down & Out: Ethical Treatment of War Related PTSD in LGBT Veterans" and "Whose Body Is It Any Way?: Sexual Transformation in Germany, 1890-1933".
"LGBTQI persons are being forgotten in the bioethical discourse," says Lance Wahlert, the project director. "Of course, we could make this same accusation of LGBTQI under-representation in any number of other academic fields. In the case of bioethics or clinical ethics or research ethics, though, the stakes are so high since the day-to-day health care needs of LGBTQI persons and their families are in the balance."
The next step is to grapple with issues like surrogate health-care decision-making rights for patients whose partners may not be legally recognized, care for transgender people, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder's definitions of conditions like gender dysphoria and gender identity.
'Queer Bioethics': The birth of a new academic discipline
September 21, 2012
by Lance Wahlert and Autumn Fiesterhttp://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-queer-bioethics-birth-academic-discipline.htmlIt's not every day that a new academic discipline is born. But that's exactly what happened in 2010, when the
Project on Bioethics, Sexuality and Gender Identity — or "Queer Bioethics," for short—came to life at the University of Pennsylvania.
And now, the nearly 2-year-old effort is seeing results. Earlier this month, the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry published a special issue, guest edited by Wahlert and Fiester, on the theme of "Bioethics, Sexuality and Gender Identity." Two other special issues of journals are already in the works: the Winter 2013 issue of the Journal of Medical Humanities will spotlight the theme of "Queer in the Clinic" and the Spring/Summer 2013 issue of the Journal of Homosexuality will more precisely focus on "Mapping Queer Bioethics: Space, Place and Locality."
In addition, the project has organized a day-long national conference to be held Friday, September 21, in Penn's Houston Hall. Prominent scholars —including several Penn faculty—from fields such as English, communications, sociology and the history of medicine will present on topics ranging from the ethics of HIV clinical trials to the history of sexuality and gender identity in Germany.
