QUEER READINGS OF EUROPE: GENDER IDENTITY, SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND THE (IM)POTENCY OF RIGHTS POLITICS AT THE EUROPEAN

The aim of this article is to argue in favour of queer theory’s potential for non-essen-tialist politics and legal strategies within the European context. The issues raised focus on the connection between gay/lesbian and transgender rights politics, and on the queer potential of sexual discrimination litigation. Taking as my example two recent court cases of the European Court of Justice (P v S and Cornwall County Council; Lisa Grant v South West Trains Ltd), I attempt to establish links between the apparently contra-dictory ‘academic queer critiques ’ and ‘practical politics ’ (of litigation) through a queer reading of those cases. Two parallel lines of thought are developed: first, those cases bring the intrinsic connection of gay/lesbian and transgender politics into sight through their combination of sex discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination; sec-ondly, the analysis of the two cases shall illustrate the simultaneous procedures involved in all staging of politics: both cases re-inscribe and disrupt the deviance of homo-sexuality and transgender at the same time. I contend that the apparent gap between ‘practical (legal) politics ’ and ‘queer academic thought ’ need not be as fundamental as many make it out to be and that in the European context a queer legal critique is both necessary and fruitful in that it highlights the ‘dilemma of rights politics’