Nicholas Lyon

Graduate Student Research Funding | 2018 - 2019 Academic Year

Transnational Advocacy and Same-Sex Rights in Uganda

Do the courts follow public opinion or does the judiciary change attitudes? Perceptions of the LGBT+ community in sub-Saharan Africa are generally negative, but advocacy groups in certain countries have gained traction in having their cases for equal rights heard by the courts. In a context of low underlying support for LGBT+ rights, does the legalization of same-sex activity decrease negative attitudes towards members of that community? In this research, Nicholas Lyon will conduct a survey experiment in Kenya and Uganda that seeks to answer this question by leveraging a recent ruling by the Kenyan High Court on same-sex behavior.

Nicholas Lyon, Department of Political Science

Nicholas Lyon is a PhD student in political science. He holds BA degrees in political science and economics from Columbia University and an MSc in African development from the London School of Economics. Prior to coming to Stanford, Lyon worked as an associate at ID insight in Nairobi, Kenya. Lyon’s current work focuses on social change, citizen-state relations, and the management of diversity in sub-Saharan Africa with a particular emphasis on the inclusion of marginalized populations. He has conducted fieldwork in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia.

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