Death
Penalty Issue Brief
In The Killing
Fields of the State:
Why Abolition of the Death Penalty
Is a Queer Issue
This is the first
in a series of AFSC LGBT issue briefs
that explore interrelationships inherent in LGBT anti-violence
work, with particular reference to the U.S. criminal justice
system.
In it, we examine the death penalty through a queer
lens, always placing the issue in a broader
social and economic context, and within a
human rights framework. Race and class are
central to an understanding of the death
penalty and how it is applied in the United
States.
In a global context, it is necessary
to understand that the death penalty is
used in many different nations, not only as
a response to serious wrongdoing, but to
sustain the social, political, and economic
status quo. People may be sentenced
to death and executed on the
basis of many factors, including
expression of political ideas, sexual
and gender identity, religious
expression, and ethnicity.
AFSC speaks to these issues from our
own experience of more than 50
years’ engagement with the criminal
justice system in the U.S. and more
than eight decades of work with
those harmed by the violence of
war, ethnic cleansing, hatred, and
poverty.
Although we have a
clear point of view and spiritual
belief about the death penalty—
we consider it unacceptable
under any circumstance
and work for its abolition— we do not seek to polarize
the discussion or demonize
those who disagree
with us.
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the issue brief (PDF, 279 Kb)
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