Calyn Shaw & Frank Halderman: Project Proposal - Submission to the United Nations

LGBT Rights are Human Rights: How to increase consensus amongst U.N. member states for the advancement of LGBT sexual and human rights internationally.  

Objective:

To make a clear argument for the legitimacy of including LGBT rights as a component of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to propose strategies to promote the inclusion of LGBT sexual and human rights in this declaration as a more universally acceptable international standard. In short, human rights are everyone’s right regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity (HRW, 2008). 

Background:

The proposed U.N. declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity has the U.N. divided. The declaration, presented to the General Assembly on Dec. 18, 2008, condemned violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization, and prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The proposed declaration prompted an Arab League-backed statement opposing it. Both statements remain open. 67 member nations have signed in support and 57 have co-sponsored the opposing statement. 

There is no question that the subject between human rights and sexual orientation is now firmly established on the agendas of human rights advocates and policy makers alike. However, as Alice Walker elucidates, there are some critical aspects that need to be determined. These include “on what terms, for whom, for what purposes, about which aspects of sexuality, and with what limits” should sexual rights be included in human rights legislation (2009, p. 7).  Indeed, this is where the work begins when trying to understand how to frame a discussion with regards to international human rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgendered (LGBT) individuals.

In order to prepare a submission to the United Nations regarding the internationalization of LGBT human rights, it is important to create a road map regarding the advances of human rights, and more specifically LGBT rights, at the U.N. and in international law. The two papers by Frank Halderman; LGBT Human Rights: Canada, its role domestically and impact on furthering international legislation and Calyn Shaw; Gay Rights are Human Rights: Challenges for international LGBT rights, will provide this important background information. This will enable us to identify which U.N. member states are in favour or oppose this legislation, to understand the rationale behind their policy positions, and determine ways to move this issue forward. Recommendations, and policy strategies and positions will be incorporated into our U.N. submission for the promotion and protection of LGBT human rights internationally (Karen, 2010).     

Bibliography:

Human Rights Watch. (2008). UN: General Assembly to Address Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Accessed on September 29, 2010 from http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/11/un-general-assembly-address-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity

Hunt, Paul. (2004). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. United

Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. UN

Doc. E/CN.4/2004/49. www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/

E.CN.4.2004.49.En. http://projects.essex.ac.uk/ehrr/V2N1/Hunt.pdf

Karen Human Rights Group; Documenting the voices of villagers in rural Burma. Submission for the UN Universal Periodic Review (2010). Accessed on September 29, 2010 from http://www.khrg.org/khrg2010/khrg1003.pdf

Kolman, Kelly, and Matthew Waites. (2009). “The Global Politics of LGBT Human

Rights.” Contemporary Politics 15, no. 1.

Miller, Alice M. (2009). Sexuality and Human Rights, Discussion Paper. International Council on Human Rights Policy. Accessed on September 26, 2010 from  http://www.ichrp.org/files/reports/47/137_web.pdf

Murray, Patricia. (2010).  “Military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy Blocked in Senate”. The Capitalist. Accessed on September 28, 2010 from http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/09/21/republicans-block-dont-ask-dont-tell-repeal/

Ottoson, D. (2010). State Sponsored Homophobia. International Lebian, Gay, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). Accessed on September 26, 2010 from http://old.ilga.org/Statehomophobia/ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2010.pdf 

Sanders, D. (1996) “Getting Lesbian and Gay Issues on the International Human Rights Agenda,” Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 1 pp. 67-106

Comments

[Michael Byers]

So far, so good!

You will want to look at the Yogyakarta Principles.

And it's time for you to contact Bruce Knotts at the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office: BKnotts [at] uu-uno.org

Also, I'd be interested in knowing where the Canadian government stands on these developments at the UN. Are they actively supporting? Just voting? Obstructing behind the scenes?

Finally, you might want to look at the issue of LGBT rights in the context of refugee determinations in Canada.

Keep up the good work!

[Dave Morgan]

Looks good so far! Obviously there are some big obstacles to address (the clear divide in the UN General Assembly provides a pretty good indication of that).

This might be hard to answer at this point, but what's the end goal here? Is it an argument presented to the UN as to why they should adopt the present declaration, or does it entail the adoption of a new resolution / convention on LGBT rights? And more importantly, who is the audience? The 67 states who have signed on to the current declaration will obviously be receptive of this proposal, but they are not really the target. However, generating change among the opposing states may prove extremely difficult, as this would likely require a cultural shift.

[Pablo Antezana]

Calyn & Frank:

If I'm not wrong, today marks the one year anniversary of the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 into the Parliament of Uganda. I'm sure you are aware of this situation and all the background. Just in case, I'm copying a useful link with updated information:

http://crowdvoice.org/lgbt-rights-in-uganda

[Frank Halderman]

Bruce Knotts - Universal Unitarian United Nations Office.
We have had an opportunity to talk with Bruce Knotts regarding LGBT human rights. He has a direct relationship with the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights and has said that he will assist us in whatever way he can with this issue.
We are currently waiting for communication from the Commissioner's office as to what aspect of LGBT human rights we could provide research on.
Bruce Knotts has suggested that one area we could consider writing about is:
Personally, I would like to know more about the exportation of homophobia from North America and from fundamentalist Islamic countries to the developing world and how that has effected relations with the LGBTI community in those countries. From my own experience in Africa, I have noticed that the traditional African tradition of respecting the privacy of others has been greatly eroded to the point where newspapers and other publications now publish the names, e-mails, and phone numbers of gay people calling them Chief HOMOS or in "Not Wanted" posters published by Projectsee.com.

[Michael Byers]

This is great assistance, but the topic he suggests would be very difficult to do in the time frame -- and with the resources -- you have.

[Calyn Shaw]

Frank and I are going in a different direction with our advocacy project. We are focusing on advocacy in Canada and we are building a website. The goal will be to get every federal political party in Canada to add LGBT rights friendly language and policy to their party platforms before the next election.

This is not a project that will end when the course ends. I have purchased the domain www.lgbtpolicy.ca and Frank and I will be using the website to articulate guidelines for party platforms. We will not tell them what exact language to use, but will suggest an LGBT rights framework that reflects a consistent pursuit of equality rights in Canada and Internationally.

The LGBT friend platform guidelines are in draft for right now. We are using our research and conversations with the communities to inform our policy asks.

We will also use the website to blog on the topic and invite others across Canada to blog. We will tweet on the issues and post our own research work as well as other links to other important research and literature.

In addition to the website we are working on an op-ed that will promote the entrenchment of LGBT rights in Canada and advocate for more rigorous engagement of LGBT rights internationally by the Canadian government.

A new draft of our proposal will be posted next week. Any further suggestions about what to include in the website would be very helpful.

As of right now the full list of website elements is as follows:

Website elements
• History of LGBT rights in Canada
• LGBT right in Canada today
• LGBT policy guidelines
• Blog
o Activists/advocates
o Politicians
o Students
o LGBT community across the Canada
• Working papers
• Information of key relevant Canadian politicians
• LGBT rights newsfeed
• International section – LGBT rights around the world (challenges and opportunities)