From Thursday 11th to Friday 12th September 2025 will take place at the University of Palermo (Central Campus, Viale delle Scienze, 90128, Sicily, Italy) the ESA RN 23 Sexuality Mid-Term Conference, on the topic "Deviants, Sinners, and Rebels. Sexuality Studies in Times of Trouble".

The conference is co-organised between the Department Cultures and Societies of the University of Palermo, Conference Convenor Prof. Cirus Rinaldi, and the European Sociological Association Research Network 23 Sexuality Board, Deputy Conference Convenor Dr. Marco Bacio.

The title of the conference is inspired by the sociology of deviance and its surprisingly tight relationship with sexuality studies. As we know, sociological approaches to sexuality studies have found it difficult to establish themselves as a specific and autonomous field within the discipline of sociology. Attempts at doing so, paradoxically, fed into the tendency to study sexualities as ‘taboo’ and to focus on phenomena that deviate from (assumedly) ‘normal’ sexual practices. In the early days of sociological analysis, there was a strong focus on the ‘normal’ occurrence of things and the verification of social typicality. It does not seem a coincidence, then, that sociology approached sexuality by including it within the studies on deviant phenomena and conduct, with the main objective of normalising its structures, manifestations, and practices. In the sociology of deviance, the study of sexuality often meant the study of those labelled as deviants – or sinners, in the language of various conservative-religious groups objecting to sexual rights and liberties of those breaking the patriarchal and heteronormative constraints of societies.

Over the last decades of sexuality studies, our field has found many ways to break free of these labels and to imbue the studies of sexuality with rebelliousness that has questioned and challenged these norms and constraints – both of the sociological discipline and societies in general. Sociological sexuality studies became interested in ‘dissident sexualities’ and embraced the figure of sexual rebels, asking questions on how it is possible to ‘resist’ oppressive ideologies and practice, and gendered, sexual, and intimate normativities. Still, new times of trouble now loom large on our horizon, with conservative and authoritarian movements and governments challenging and interfering into progressive work that takes account of gender and sexual diversity.

In our previous Mid-Term Conference (Zagreb, September 2023) we highlighted how gender and sexuality studies were subject to funding cuts and obstructive state and political interventions, which even led to the closure of entire university degree courses and departments in both Western and Eastern Europe. Moreover, in our society, we face oppressive and discriminatory practices together with a resurgence of traditional beliefs and values that seems to specifically target minorities, inside which the LGBTIQ+ community is undoubtedly the most affected and undermined. Two years later the panorama worsened. Reflecting on these challenges, the ESA Sexuality Research Network 23 wishes to stimulate productive discussions on how the sociological study of sexualities has been operating as a scholarly and activist tool for change and on how it can achieve even more by looking at the broader implications of sexual politics and the politics of sexuality.

Today, we face multiple challenges and attacks, from the new Trump’s administration and his allies (such as Elon Musk) to Europe’s quasi-dictatorship of Viktor Orban and his ‘patriots’ allies scattered all around the Old Continent that we read as signs of neo-populism, neo-liberalism, and re-traditionalization. Therefore, our aim is to bring together scholars and activists to approach sexuality studies as a platform for resistance in these times of trouble.

We have been labeled as ‘deviants’, ‘sinners’, and ‘rebels’ by those who want to make us quiet and put us at the margin of our societies. We think it is time that we (re)claim the label of ‘rebels’ as for ourselves. We will continue to fight any injustice we and other minorities suffer to find a place for all in this World.

We look forward to sharing knowledge and to discussing ways in which we can contribute to the field of sociology of sexualities. We would like this Mid-Term Conference to be an opportunity to gather together and to be a place where our histories, cultural legacies, social and emotional dynamics, potentials, and future directions, all become a way to continue our struggle.

For any query, please send us an email: esarn23@gmail.com