Professor Kirkup is one of the top legal scholars in Canada studying gender and sexuality law. His work frequently unsettles common understandings of LGBTQ2+ rights and protections, breathing new life into crucial questions that are too often ignored or glossed over by existing legal frameworks.
When members of LGBTQ2+ communities become subjects of the criminal justice system, modern legal mechanisms do not adequately address the unique hardships they face due to their sexual and gender identities. Professor Kirkup challenges conventional narratives about human rights protections, demanding that we rethink how LGBTQ2+ communities experience policing and punishment. By exploring existing shortcomings, Professor Kirkup is creating space to critically interrogate our collective understandings of concepts such as policing, punishment and retribution. This innovative work has positioned him as an important voice for progressive legal analysis in Canada and abroad.
Based in Germany, the Global Young Academy provides a rallying point for outstanding young scientists and scholars from around the world, developing, connecting, and mobilizing new talent from six continents. The Academy seeks to empower young researchers, providing members with the opportunity to develop their leadership by addressing interdisciplinary public policy issues related to the role of scientific research and the improvement of its influence in international development. In an era when communities around the world are faced with common issues, the Global Young Academy offers an immense opportunity for global collaboration.
Professor Kirkup is the seventh member of the Faculty of Law to be elected to the GYA. Common Law’s Suzanne Bouclin (2016), Sarah Morales (2018) and Vanessa MacDonnell (2019) were all selected to join. And in the Civil Law Section, Dean Marie-Eve Sylvestre (2018), Sophie Thériault (2020) and Thomas Burelli (2022) have all been elected to the GYA’s ranks.
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Congratulations to Professor Kirkup!