Introduction

Queer curiosity brings to the mix of emancipatory curiosities, and the critical analysis they foster, a particular concern with conventions of sexuality and the part they play in signifying hierarchical relations of power – not only in their attachment to material bodies, but to structures of understanding that constitute the norms and practices of international law. This chapter explores the queer possibilities of international law's commitment to the peaceful resolution of international disputes and to promoting transitional justice. It argues that rights advocacy has become embedded within a security discourse which has taken the radicality out of queer, rather than resulting in the queering of international human rights. The chapter analyses the paradox of international law's continuous evolution towards evermore-diverse forms of juridical violence through the frame of the UN Security Council's first-ever meeting on the persecution of 'LGBT Syrians and Iraqis' by the so-called Islamic State in 2015.