Human rights for some: Universal human rights, sexual minorities, and the exclusionary impulse

Abstract

This article explores historical and present-day exclusionary impulses within the human rights movement. It juxtaposes the widely celebrated expansion of universal human rights in the second half of the twentieth century with ideological and institutional counter-movements that have sought to restrict the scope of human rights. Using the exclusionary experience suffered by LGBT people as sexual minorities, the paper argues that we must pay attention to the exclusionary impulses that continually threaten to undermine the full realization of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ vision of human rights protection for all, and not just for some.