© Ana Caldeira/CES-UC
 

Principal Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra (CES-UC), Ana Cristina Santos, has just won a 2 million euros funding awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) to lead the project TRACE - Queer Citizenship Over Time: Ageing, Ageism and LGBTI+ policies in Europe.

This is the second time that the ERC rewards the work developed by this researcher. According to Ana Cristina Santos, “the TRACE project focuses on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex elderly population as holders of precious knowledge resulting from their experience of memory, struggle and resistance against oppressive regimes”. The study focuses on Southern Europe, researching over 5 years Portugal, Italy, Malta, Greece and Slovenia. By analysing, on the one hand, the role of the European Union in the legal transformation of each country and, on the other hand, the impact of equality policies throughout the life of LGBTI+ people, the TRACE project will take into account several phases of history, from the criminalisation of diversity, through the AIDS/HIV crisis to the current anti-discrimination policies.

This study is particularly relevant at a time of political turbulence in Europe. In the words of the principal researcher, “The countries included in the TRACE project offer a comprehensive picture of LGBTI human rights in Southern Europe over time, from Malta with a 94% recognition rate to Italy with only 22%, according to data from ILGA Europe. These are countries that have moved from repressive political or socio-cultural regimes to models that offer some legal protection, but in which the effects of far-right populism and anti-gender campaigns can be observed.”

Also according to Ana Cristina Santos, the main objective of TRACE is “to contribute to inclusive LGBTI+ policies for people over 60, avoiding waste of experience and producing evidence-based knowledge on LGBTI+ ageing”.

With TRACE, a set of impacts are expected in terms of the production of original scientific knowledge, training of early career researchers, articulation with policy makers at national and European level, empowerment of diversified publics and social awareness. There will also be a documentary film, a photographic exhibition and the creation of the online Archive Queer Lives 60+.

Sociologist with a PhD in Gender Studies, Ana Cristina Santos is Principal Researcher at CES-UC, where she is Co-Coordinator of the PhD Programme Human Rights in Contemporary Societies and Chair of the Democracy, Justice and Human Rights Thematic Line. Member of the Executive Committee of the European Sociological Association, she has published extensively and led a number of research projects on LGBTQI+, gender, body and intimate citizenship issues. Her most recent books are: The SAGE Handbook of Global Sexualities and The Tenacity of the Couple Norm, published in 2020.

This grant is already the eighth ERC funding that CES has obtained in recent years, achieved in the most competitive competitions in Europe. The aim of the Consolidator grants is to support researchers at a stage when they are consolidating their independent research teams. In this context, this new attribution to studies conducted at CES-UC, should be further emphasized as representative of the quality and innovation of projects that are developed by the scientists of the institution.