Sexual Rights PSC 354

1. Sexual RightsPSC 354 Janae DeRusso Erin Elzo Maggie Griffiths Leilani Mroczkowski Julie Shires

2. Interesting Facts Homosexuals are subject to the death penalty in twelve countries in the world In about 30 countries or provinces lesbians, gays and bisexuals are subject to a discriminatory age of consent In more than 40 states around the world same sex acts are illegal In about 15 countries or provinces the free association and free expression of lesbians, gays and bisexuals are denied explicitly through legal provisions

3. Thesis Sexual Rights should indeed be included in the category of Human Rights and those individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transvestites, transsexuals, and intersex should not be discriminated against in any way, shape, or form.

4. Legal Aspects/ Introduction

5. What is Sexual Orientation? An enduring emotional, romantic, sexual or affectionate attraction to another person. It ranges from exclusive homosexuality to exclusive heterosexuality and includes various forms of bisexuality. This includes: gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transvestites, transsexuals, transgender and intersex. Refers to feelings and self-concept. Main principles of the rights approach on sexual orientation relate to equality and non-discrimination. Human rights advocates, lawyers and other activists seek to ensure social justice and guarantee the dignity of lesbians, gays and bisexuals.

6. What is Sexual Orientation? (con’t)

7. UDHR Article 1 of UDHR: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Article 2 of UDHR: “Everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Article 2.2 of the International Covenant of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights states that: “the States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Individuals are only protected against invidious discrimination, which is “discrimination that tends to ill will or causes unjustifiable harm.

8. Laws & Treaties Highly controversial issue with no chance for an international consensus on “even a working text for a draft declaration on the rights of homosexuals.” “Amending” the International Human Rights Covenants would be tedious and extremely difficult. Better to “rely instead on interpretation.” A “campaign to emphasize these status disabilities can at least highlight the suffering publicly imposed on sexual minorities.” Create pressure through “a widespread social attitude of tolerance” to silence critics and challengers of this acceptance. Baby steps first, then strides to achieve ultimate goal stated in Article 2.

9. Then and Now The best known Western examples of time periods in which “(male) homoerotic relationships” were “tolerated or even highly valued” are from ancient Greece. However, “even the Christian tradition does not seem to have been consistently homophobic during its first millennium. Melanesia, South Asia, and the Muslim Near East also have traditions of male homoerotic relations.” Society is now more inclusive and also emphasizes differences among sexual minorities, especially transvestites and transsexuals. This “undermines conventional links between sex (defined by genitalia or chromosomes), behavior, gender, sexual orientation, and personal identity.”

10. Still Human Beings… Human rights entail “that all human beings have basic rights simply because they are human.” One may choose to lead his/her life however they’d like because of the right to privacy under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. One cannot lose his/her rights because society rejects them, because they are still human beings and thus “entitled to equal protection of the law and the equal enjoyment of all internationally recognized human rights.”

11. Discrimination “In numerous countries sexual relations among adult members of the same sex are legally prohibited.” Punishments include life in prison, death, and various other violent means including “social cleansing.” “Homosexual advances have even been accepted as excuses for manslaughter” in countries such as the US. Profoundly immoral in many societies around the world. A “threat to public morals.” “In most countries, sexual orientation is an accepted ground for discrimination in employment, housing, or access to public facilities and social services. With a few recent exceptions, same-sex couples are denied civil status, resulting in discrimination in inheritance, adoption, and social insurance.” Like so many other groups throughout history, sexual minorities are seen as inferior. This inferiority is seen as grounds for “permission to hate” and treat group members as less than human. Erik Erikson developed the term “pseudospeciation,” to refer to the “dehumanization of a cultural group.”

12. International and Regional Instruments for Protection The binding treaties can be used to force government to respect the treaty provisions that are relevant for the human rights of LGBT. The non-binding instruments, such as declarations and resolutions, can be used in relevant situations to embarrass governments by public exposure. The following international and regional treaties determine standards for the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons: United Nations ILO Convention (No. 111) on Discrimination in Employment or Occupation (1958) (article 1) This treaty of the International Labour Organization does not itself prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but permits state parties to add additional grounds. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) (article 2, 26)For sexual orientation the Covenant - the main international treaty on civil and political rights - is important because in 1994, in the case Toonen vs. Australia, the Human Rights Committee held that the references to "sex" in Articles 2, paragraph 1, (non-discrimination) and 26 (equality before the law) of the ICCPR should be taken to include sexual orientation. As a result of this case, Australia repealed the law criminalizing sexual acts between males in its state of Tasmania. With this case, the Human Rights Committee created a precedent within the UN human rights system in addressing discrimination against lesbian, gays and bisexuals.

13. International and Regional Instruments for Protection (con’t) Others include: Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984) (article 1), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1979), Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (article 2), and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. European Court of Human Rights First international body to find that sexual orientation criminal laws violate human rights and it has the longest and largest jurisprudence in addressing sexual orientation issues. However, restrictions may be applied for various reasons including health issues and transgender relationship cases.

14. Asylum Over the past few years there have been a few countries that have “begun to recognize sexual orientation or behavior as a grounds for asylum, …Which in international law requires establishing that one has a well-founded fear of persecution back “home.”

15. National Protection and Service Agencies Several states or provinces have clauses in their constitutions regarding protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation. South Africa, Ecuador, several states in Australia, Canada and Brazil Other states have sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws or articles in the Penal Code. The Netherlands and Romania. The anti-discrimination provisions are adopted usually by including sexual orientation among the non-discrimination grounds from the beginning in the draft legal initiatives. In practice, the implementation of existing anti-discrimination provisions is dependent on the political will. Some states created public agencies to investigate (sexual orientation) discrimination, and some of them can initiate legal actions for remedies to the benefit of the victim

16. Canada Standpoint

17. Canada Standpoint

18. Timeline

19. Timeline (con’t)

20. U.S. Standpoint

21. Current Same-Sex Legislature States that legalize same-sex marriage Massachusetts (as of May 17th, 2004) Connecticut (as of October 10th, 2008) Iowa (as of April 3rd, 2009) Vermont (as of April 7th, 2009) States that recognize same-sex marriages wed OUTSIDE of the state New York (as of May 29th, 2008) Washington D.C. (as of April 7th, 2009)

22. Proposition 8 Passed on November 4th, 2008 Changed state constitution to oppose same-sex couples and eliminated their right to marry Added new section to Article I “Only marriage between a man and a women is valid or recognized in California” Overruled the In re Marriage Cases ruling (May 15th, 2008)

23. Lawrence v. Texas (6/26/03) The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, declared unconstitutional a Texas law that prohibited sexual acts between same sex couples Overruled Bowers v. Hardwick Criminalized oral & anal sex in private between consenting adults

24. Matthew Shepard “Even where violence against sexual minorities is prosecuted, ‘gay-bashing’ is often sadly common.” An example was a case in the United States that occurred in the fall of 1998, in which “Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming college student, was brutally beaten and left to die, tied to a fence like a scarecrow, simply because he was gay. More often, it is lost in the everyday flow of crime or simply unreported.” (Donnelly 232)

25. Laws Regarding Same-Sex Partnerships Same-sex marriages ¦Foreign same-sex marriages recognized ¦Unions granting rights similar to marriage ¦Unions granting limited/enumerated rights ¦No specific prohibition or recognition of same-sex marriages or unions ¦Statute bans same-sex marriage ¦Constitution bans same-sex marriage ¦Constitution bans same-sex marriage and other kinds of same-sex unions

26. U.S. and the UN Gay Rights Declaration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCxvEXrc1g0 A statement was released on March 18th, 2009 stating that the Obama Administration would endorse the UN Gay Rights Declaration "The administration's leadership on this issue will be a powerful rebuke of an earlier Bush administration position that sought to deny the universal application of human rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals," said Mark Bromley of the Council for Global Equality, which promotes equal rights for homosexuals.

27. Iran Standpoint

28. Middle Eastern Countries where homosexuality is illegal Afghanistan Bahrain Iran Kuwait Lebanon Oman Pakistan Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria United Arab Emirates Yemen Middle Eastern Countries Where Homosexuality is Illegal

29. Middle Eastern Countries Where Homosexuality is Legal… …Or laws are unclear, but human rights violations still occur Egypt Iraq Jordan Palestine Turkey Turkey is one of the most liberal nations in respect to LGBT rights. However, they are banned from the armed forces.

30. Sharia Law Classical Muslim Law A body of rules, norms, and laws Moral and legal guidance for Muslims Sodomy between men is punishable by 100 whiplashes for an unmarried man and death by stoning for a married man Sodomy is always punishable by death Same-sex sexual activities other than sodomy are punishable by flogging Sodomy, as used here, is described strictly as anal sex

31. Activism IGLHRC: International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Committee Al-Fatiha IRQO: Iranian Queer Organization ILGA: International Lesbian and Gay Association

32. Transgender Issues

33. Transgender Issues

34. Definitions

35. Aspects of Transgender

36. Aspects of Transgender (con’t)

37. Objections/ Solutions Biblical sense of “marriage” Separation of church and state, individual rights to freedom Shari’a law=civil law Debate against death penalty in modern democracy vs. Shari’a law Right to Life Harms the society, family structure Individual rights vs. cultural right Civil right, not a human right Even though it’s not covered in most human rights terminology, it is a basic given human right (in correlation with identity/ religion, ethnicity, NOT COVERED IN MOST HUMAN RIGHTS LAW Outfront (Amnesty International), Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Campaign

38. WORKS CITED Coman, Adrian. "Sexual Orientation and Human Rights." Human Rights Education Associates. 2003. 19 Apr 2009 <http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=161>. "ILGA." International Lesbian and Gay Association. May 2002. International Lesbian and Gay Association. 19 Apr 2009 <http://www.ilga.org/index.asp>. "Lawrence v. Texas." Supreme Court Collection. 2003. Cornell University Law School. 19 Apr 2009 <http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-102.ZS.html>. Lee, Matthew. "UN Gay Rights Declaration To Be Signed By US." UN Gay Rights Declaration To Be Signed By US. 18 Mar 2009. The Huffington Post. 19 Apr 2009 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/18/un-gay-rights- declaration_n_176231.html>.

39. WORKS CITED (con’t) Sexual Orientation and Human Rights. Retrieved April 16, 2009, from Human rights Education Association Web site: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=161&&wv_print=1 Donnelly, J. (2003). Universal Human Rights: In Theory and Practice. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Hurley, Mary C. . "Sexual Orientation and Legal Rights (92-1E)." Publications List. 13 May 2007. Library of Parliament. 18 Apr 2009 <http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/921e.htm>.