Nonfiction, Literary Scholarship · Lesbian · Dutch
About
Gloria Wekker is a Dutch Afro-Surinamese scholar, writer, feminist, and lesbian activist whose work examines race, gender, sexuality, colonialism, and Black and migrant women’s experiences. She is Professor Emerita at Utrecht University.
Biography
Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, in 1950, Wekker moved to the Netherlands as a child and grew up in Amsterdam. She studied Cultural Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and earned her doctorate in Social and Cultural Anthropology from UCLA in 1992. Her research has focused on gender, sexuality, race, and the African diaspora, particularly the experiences of Afro-Surinamese women.
Wekker co-founded Sister Outsider in 1984 with Tania Leon, creating community and visibility for Black lesbian women in the Netherlands. She also helped bring Audre Lorde to the Netherlands, strengthening connections between Dutch Black lesbian organizing and the wider Black lesbian feminist movement.
At Utrecht University, Wekker held the Chair in Gender and Ethnicity and contributed to the development of Black feminist Diaspora Studies. Her major works include The Politics of Passion (2006), White Innocence (2016), and the collaborative Caleidoscopic Visions (2001; English edition 2025). She is Professor Emerita at Utrecht University.
BQW Impact
Wekker connects Black feminist scholarship, lesbian activism, diaspora studies, and movement history. Her work with Sister Outsider helped create visibility and community for Black lesbian women in the Netherlands. Her scholarship has documented Black, migrant, and refugee women’s organizing while examining how race, gender, sexuality, migration, and Dutch colonial history shape society. Her work has become influential across Black feminist, queer, Caribbean, and postcolonial studies.
Notable Works
Sister Outsider (1984)
Black lesbian collective co-founded by Wekker and Tania Leon.
I Am a Gold Coin (1992)
Doctoral dissertation examining gender, sexuality, and subjectivity among working-class Afro-Surinamese women.
Caleidoscopic Visions (2001; English edition 2025)
Collaborative history of Black, migrant, and refugee women’s organizing in the Netherlands.
The Politics of Passion (2006)
Study of women’s sexual culture in the Afro-Surinamese diaspora.
White Innocence (2016)
Examination of Dutch colonialism, race, sexuality, and colonial memory.
The Gloria Wekker Reader (2026)
Collection of Wekker’s essays, interviews, poetry, and letters.
Recognitions
Ruth Benedict Prize, American Anthropological Association, 2007
Joke Smit Prize, 2017
Amnesty International Chair for Human Rights, Ghent University, 2022
Distinguished Achievement Award, Association of Queer Anthropology, 2025
Learn More
Academic biography and research.
History of Sister Outsider.
Utrecht University Research Portal
Caleidoscopic Visions publication record.
The Gloria Wekker Reader.
Profile details
- Fields: Literature
- Roles: Nonfiction, Literary Scholarship
- Gender Identity: Woman
- LGBTQ Identity: Lesbian
- Nationality: Dutch
- Ethnicity: Afro-Surinamese
- Topics: Black Feminism, Queer Literature