'This brilliant study provides a compelling answer to the question of what drives policy success of LGBT movements in particular and of social movements more generally. Phillip Ayoub anchors his empirically rich, meticulously researched, and theoretically sophisticated argument in the idea that norm visibility is the key to policy success. This book is a must-read for scholars and activists interested in how marginalized groups gain agency and generate political change.' Sabine Lang, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, and author of NGOs, Civil Society, and the Public Sphere (Cambridge, 2012)

'Why, like their counterparts in the United States, have some European Union states advanced LGBT rights much more rapidly than others in recent years? In When States Come Out, Phillip Ayoub marries a sophisticated theoretical framework to a wealth of empirical data to advance a compelling argument about the importance of transnational norms and the domestic politics of visibility to shaping real progress on the rights of sexual minorities. This is an important contribution not only to the literature on LGBT politics, but also to that on comparative social movements and the politics of social change more broadly.' Robert Singh, Birkbeck, University of London

'When States Come Out sheds new light on long-standing questions about the conditions under which weak, marginalized, and stigmatized groups are able to bring about political and social change. Focusing on the inconsistent diffusion of rights and recognition for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people across European Union states, Phillip Ayoub draws on a wealth of evidence to demonstrate the important role of individual and collective visibility in provoking both recognition of but also resistance to justice and equality for LGBT people. His analyses lead to important and often surprising insights about the sources and consequences of both movement victories and setbacks, offering reasons for optimism at the same time as they deliver sobering reminders about continued persecution and barriers to justice.' Dara Z. Strolovitch, Princeton University

'There are many well-trained scholars of social movements; many others who are experts on European transnational politics; and still others who specialize on the LGBT movement. But there is no one who has encompassed all three more elegantly than Phillip Ayoub has done in this richly documented, carefully researched, and intellectually inspiring book. More than a consummate exercise in comparative research, and more than an in-depth inquiry into the LGBT movement in both parts of Europe, it is also a profoundly enlightening inquiry into the factors that produce cultural openness to diversity and those that inhibit it.' Sidney Tarrow, Emeritus Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Government, Cornell University, and author of Power in Movement (Cambridge, 2011) and The Language of Contention (Cambridge, 2013)

'This is an excellent examination and analysis of what makes the efforts of sexual minorities, and social movements in general, successful or not … Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.' W. K. Hall, Choice

'More than just a sophisticated case study, When States Come Out is a resource for anyone seeking to promote human rights at the civil society and state levels.' Ethics & International Affairs