Margaret Robinson is a feminist scholar and bisexual activist based
Her research interests include
Health Research: LGBTTI2Q issues in health equity,
the social aetiology of mental illness, the social construction of substance
use, and sexual identity development.
Religion: Christian sexual ethics, religion & politics,
feminist theology, postcolonial theology, gender & sexuality, religious-based
prejudice (esp. anti-Judaism and homophobia), LGBTTI2Q issues in religion,
critical theory & religion, queer theology, sexual ethics, and new
Sociology/Political Science: queer studies, LGBTTI2Q
issues & gender in film, identity politics, LGBTTI2Q activism and
community formation, criminal subcultural identities.
Margaret works in the Health
Systems & Health Equity Research division of the Centre for Addiction
& Mental Health. She is currently the Project Coordinator of Risk
and Resilience Among Bisexual People in Ontario: A Community-Based Study
of Bisexual Mental Health.
This project will include a quantitative survey of 800 bisexual people
from across Ontario. We aim to identify practices or strategies that
improve mental health for bisexuals, and also identify barriers to mental
health or mental health services. This study will use respondent-driven
sampling, a method by which people who complete the survey recruit new
participants from their own social networks. This method has been demonstrated
to reduce sample bias.
For more details about this study visit our
Re:searching for LGBTQ Health team website.
Margaret also works as a writer for Rainbow Health Ontario, compiling
factsheet on the latest research in LGBT health. A complete list of the
documents she's produced can be found here,
on their website, but titles include:
Bisexual Mental Health
(2011, August). Monogamy and Polyamory
as Strategic identities. American Psychological Association Convention,
The emerging concept of relational orientations makes shifts in sexual
identity difficult to accommodate and may mask women’s actual
sexual practice. Drawing on a qualitative study of 40 bisexual women
in Toronto, this paper argues that polyamory and monogamy are strategies
by which bisexual women explore their sexuality, rather than cohesive
identities or behavioural orientations. Nearly a quarter of the monogamous-identified
women reported having previously identified as polyamorous. Among total
participants, 12.5% reported shifting between monogamy and polyamory
more than once. These shifts enable women to manage and negotiate their
visibility as bisexuals. There was a significant disjoint between self-identity
and sexual behaviour. The majority of the polyamorous women were not
dating multiple partners at the time of the interview, while over a
quarter of the monogamous women reported having threesomes in their
current relationship. Viewing monogamy and polyamory as strategic identities
can help health care practitioners more accurately assess their clients’
needs and risks, within a social determinants of mental health framework.
(2011, May). Pride, Performance, and Praise: Bisexual Anthologies
as Bible. American Academy of Religion, Eastern International Region,
Bisexual anthologies construct spirituality as an integral part of a
healthy sexualit, yet few works have examined these anthologies as texts.
My paper analyses these anthologies as Bibles through an interpretive
textual analysis, using an iconic and performative lens. First I identify
the socio-political subject positions made possible by the text’s
use of the category of spirit. Second, I examine the iconicity of bisexual
anthologies and argue that the sign to which they refer and which they
are designed to resemble, is the real or imagined bisexual community.
Third, I argue that such Bibles exercise a performative function both
through the trope of the coming out story and through their role as
community archetype. Finally I argue that the subject positions offered
by the text shape and are shaped by the function of these bi Bibles
as icons of community.
(2011, May). Review
of Sean Mills, The Empire Within: Postcolonial Thought and Political Activism
in Sixties Montreal. Journal of Postcolonial Theory & Theology,
Looking For The Lost. Postcolonial Networks: Rethinking Postcolonial
in Interstitial Spaces. Invisible Worlds, untold Stories.
(2010, October). Veganism and Mi'kmaq
Legends: Feminist Natives Do Eat Tofu. American Academy of Religion
conference, Atlanta, GA.
This paper proposes a postcolonial ecofeminist reading of Mi’kmaq
legends as a basis for a vegetarian or vegan diet rooted in indigenous
culture. Mi’kmaq legends portray animals as siblings to Lnu’k
(the people). Rather than dominion over the animals, humanity and animal
life are presented as being on a spiritual and physical continuum. These
legends offer an alternative to the widespread stewardship/domination
model of human-animal relations found in the Genesis story. The development
of ecofeminist readings of traditional stories is complicated by the
gendered nature of food production and consumption in Mi’kmaq
culture. Ecofeminist exegesis of Mi’kmaq legends provide us with
an indigenous grounding for vegetarian or vegan practice while offering
a critical standpoint on issues such as the indigenous fishing industry.
The text of this talk has also been reprinted at The
Althaus-Reid: As a Bi Feminist Theo/Methodological Resource. Journal
of Bisexuality 10(1/2).
(2010, May). Psychological Decolonization:
Getting Back My Indian Soul. American Academy of Religion
Eastern International Regional Conference, Ottawa, ON. .
(2010, February). Keynote Address.
Don’t Box Me In: Diversity in Gender and Sexuality, the 8th
Annual Gathering of Pacific Northwest Reconciling Ministries Network,
(2009, November). Postcolonial Outrage[ous]:
Marcella Althaus-Reid’s Critical Bisexuality. American
Academy of Religion Conference, Montreal, Q.C.
(2010, February). Who is God and How
Do We Know? irobyn.com.
Ph.D. in Theology, 2009
University of Saint Michael's College, Toronto School of Theology
Dissertation: “Turning Points in Identity and Theology: Bisexual
Women Choosing Between Monogamous and Polyamorous Relationships”
Download the pdf
Supervisor: Marilyn Legge
My dissertation examines the conflation of bisexuality with polyamory.
I used voice-centred relational analysis and critical theory to examine
email interviews with bisexual women in the Toronto area. I show how
participant’s relationship choices are incorporated (or not) into
their bisexual identity.
M.A. in Theology, 2001
University of Saint Michael's College, Toronto School of Theology
Thesis: "The Influence of Gender Construction on Catholic Approaches
to Same-Sex Desire"
Supervisor: Ronald Mercier
B.A. in English and Religious Studies, 1997
Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Thesis: "Non-Heterosexual Liberation Theology"
Supervisor: Paul Bowlby