Honolulu Community College hosts public dialogue on marriage equality

Free public presentation by Dr. Jaye Cee Whitehead

Honolulu Community College
Contact:
Billie K T Lueder, (808) 845-9187
Communications & External Affairs, Chancellor's Office, Honolulu Community College
Posted: Feb 9, 2012

HONOLULU – Honolulu Community College and the UH Diversity and Equity Initiative are proud to host a free community presentation entitled “The Nuptial Deal: Motivations for and the Tradeoffs of Marriage Equality,” a talk by Dr. Jaye Cee Whitehead.

Friday, February 17, 2012
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Norman W.H. Loui Conference Center
Building 2, Room 201
Light refreshments will be provided.
 
Whitehead places the marriage equality movement in its proper political economic context; as marriage is one of the few legally recognized ways that Americans can care for loved ones without state intervention at a time when the public infrastructure for care is dwindling. Centering on the everyday struggles, feelings, and thoughts of marriage equality activists, Whitehead describes the tradeoffs inherent to the marriage model and explains why the mainstream LGBTQ movement is hesitant to question marriage’s exclusive hold on defining legitimate family arrangements.
 
“For a scholar of the same-sex marriage movement, it feels particularly appropriate to speak in Hawaiʹi, as it is widely known as the launching point for the modern movement for same-sex marriage. But, because I consider myself a public intellectual, I take great pleasure in presenting my work at Honolulu Community College, whose mission explicitly includes affordable public access to quality academic programming,” shares Whitehead.
 
An assistant professor of sociology at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, she received her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 2007. In her most recent work, "The Nuptial Deal: Same-Sex Marriage and Neo-Liberal Governance" (University of Chicago Press, 2012), Whitehead analyzes the marriage equality movement in the context of neo-liberal governing strategies that erode public safety nets and leave families to face responsibilities for managing social problems such as poverty and illness.
 
“As a sociologist teaching at Honolulu Community College, I am proud to be a part of an institution that clearly values what sociology can bring to the community and the interaction between the community and academia,” says Honolulu CC Professor and Hawaiʻi Sociological Association President Fumiko Takasugi. “As an open-door institution that represents a diverse student population with close ties to our community, I hope that many will take the opportunity to attend Dr. Whitehead’s presentation.”
 
Whitehead will be the featured speaker at the Hawaiʻi Sociological Association’s 33rd Annual Meeting on Saturday, Feb. 18, the day after her presentation at Honolulu Community College.
 
 
ABOUT HONOLULU COMMUNITY COLLEGE
For more than 90 years, Honolulu Community College has been serving the community as a comprehensive community college in the heart of Honolulu meeting the post-secondary educational needs of individuals, businesses, and the community. A member of the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers, Honolulu Community College has been continuously and fully accredited since 1970 by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges.