Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in The Commonwealth

9780957354883(1)

Human rights in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity are at last reaching the heart of global debates. Yet 78 states worldwide continue to criminalise same-sex sexual behaviour, and due to the legal legacies of the British Empire, 42 of these – more than half – are in the Commonwealth of Nations. In recent years many states have seen the emergence of new sexual nationalisms, leading to increased enforcement of colonial sodomy laws against men, new criminalisations of sex between women and discrimination against transgender people.

Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in The Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change challenges these developments as the first book to focus on experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) and all non-heterosexual people in the Commonwealth. The volume offers the most internationally extensive analysis to date of the global struggle for decriminalisation of same-sex sexual behaviour and relationships.

Read a review in the Canadian Journal of Sociology.

This publication is listed as a resource by Kaleidoscope Trust, Stonewall, and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and ILGA-Europe.

Videos of the Toronto launch of Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth can be viewed by clicking the following links:

Sexuality, Repression, and the Law - Part One (in partnernership with the Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights project)

Sexuality, Repression, and the Law - Part Two (in partnership with the Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights project)

Sexuality, Repression, and the Law - Part Three (in partnership with the Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights project)

The video of the London launch of Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth can be viewed by clicking here.

About the editors:

Dr Corinne Lennox is Lecturer in Human Rights at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, United Kingdom.  

Dr Matthew Waites is Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Social and Political Sciences at University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Open Access Contents

  Author
Preliminaries, including abbreviations and contributors' bios  
Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity in the Commonwealth: from history and law to developing activism and transnational dialogues​ Corinne Lennox and Matthew Waites
The sodomy offence: England’s least lovely criminal law export?​ The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG
This alien legacy: the origins of ‘sodomy’ laws in British colonialism Human Rights Watch
LGBT rights in Commonwealth forums: politics, pitfalls and progress?​ Frederick Cowell
United Kingdom: confronting criminal histories and theorising decriminalisation as citizenship and governmentality Matthew Waites 
Wolfenden in Canada: within and beyond official discourse in law reform struggles Gary Kinsman 
Australia: nine jurisdictions, one long struggle Graham Willett 
A few respectable steps behind the world? Gay and lesbian rights in contemporary Singapore Simon Obendorf 
The Malaysian dilemma: negotiating sexual diversity in a Muslim-majority Commonwealth state Shanon Shah
Decriminalisation of consensual same-sex sexual acts in the South Asian Commonwealth: struggles in contexts Sumith Baudh 
Decriminalising homosexuality in Africa: lessons from the South African experience Gustavo Gomes da Costa Santos
The development of sexual rights and the LGBT movement in Botswana Monica Tabengwa with Nancy Nicol
The LGBT situation in Malawi: an activist perspective Undule Mwakasungula
The incremental approach: Uganda’s struggle for the decriminalisation of homosexuality Adrian Jjuuko
Religious institutions and actors and religious attitudes to homosexual rights: South Africa and Uganda Kevin Ward
‘Buggery’ and the Commonwealth Caribbean: a comparative examination of the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago​ Joseph Gaskins Jr.
Beyond cross-cultural sensitivities: international human rights advocacy and sexuality in Jamaica​ Conway Blake and Philip Dayle
The use of equality and anti-discrimination law in advancing LGBT rights​ Dimitrina Petrova 
Conclusion - Comparative analysis of decriminalisation and change across the Commonwealth: understanding contexts and discerning strategies Corinne Lennox and Matthew Waites
Index