In this article I seek to examine some of the key issues arising from a relatively new and rapidly expanding literature on sexuality and citizenship, looking primarily at how lesbian and gay theorists have engaged with the concept of sexual citizenship in general and lesbian citizenship in particular. I shall explore the question of whether sexual citizenship is being used as a sexual/gender-neutral or a sexual/gender-differentiated concept. In addition, and in so far as citizenship is defined in terms of rights and duties, the question of sexual rights and obligations will be discussed. Overall, an attempt is made to critically assess the complex interrelationships between this new body of work and lesbian/feminist perspectives. I hope to demonstrate how within such theoretical frameworks the expansion of a concept of sexual citizenship is far from unproblematic. These theoretical developments in understanding sexual citizenship are located against a backdrop of changing notions of `sexual politics', more especially the increasingly dominant `equal rights' approach to claiming citizenship.
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