Basis Of Sexual Orientation Research Articles

Social Movements and Political Opportunities: Lesbians, Gays and the Inclusion of Sexual Orientation in the Québec Charter of Human Rights

AbstractIn December 1977, the Québec government, formed by the Parti québécois (PQ), amended the Québec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms to include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. Québec thus became the first jurisdiction in North America to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. This paper examines the reasons why the PQ government stood ahead of everybody else in this matter. It argues that the Québec lesbian and gay movement drew on favorable political and cultural opportunities to secure legal protection against discrimination.

Sexual orientation–based wage gaps in Australia: The potential role of discrimination and personality

This article reports a research finding that lesbians in Australia earn an unexplained wage premium of 0%–13%, whereas gay men experience an unexplained negative wage gap of 8%–18%. Based on data from the Australian household panel Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia, the article is the first to establish these gaps in Australia, and to examine the degree to which credence can be afforded to claims that endowments such as personality traits may help explain such wage differentials. Using ordinary least squares and Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition methods, the study explicitly includes the battery of Big Five personality traits in wage regressions and estimates the contribution of endowments and returns to these traits. The finding is that personality traits and returns to them do not differ along lines of sexual orientation. Gay men in particular suffer a substantial unexplained wage penalty in the workplace. Such unexplained differences suggest that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, though unlawful, may exist in Australia.

Human rights developments in the African Union during 2014

The year 2014 saw the adoption by the AU Assembly of a protocol providing the African Court with jurisdiction over international crimes, and a revised protocol on the Pan-African Parliament providing it with power to adopt 'model legislation'. With regard to implementation, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa affected the effective functioning of, in particular, the African Commission. However, despite this and other challenges, the African Commission adopted important normative instruments, such as a resolution on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, responded to violations through urgent appeals and press releases, and engaged with states through missions and the state reporting procedure. The Commission also adopted some interesting jurisprudence in the period under review. The African Children's Rights Committee consolidated its position as the main regional body for the protection of children's rights in Africa. The African Court received an increasing number of cases and handed down two judgments on merits and an advisory opinion.

Knowledgeshare Feature - selected reviews and updates

This report presents the findings from a programme of tailored work with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) communities in Leicester and Leicestershire which aimed to encourage greater levels of hate crime reporting. Based on face-to-face qualitative interviews, the report outlines LGB&T people’s experiences and expectations of hate crime reporting, and provides best practice guidance. It showed that verbal abuse, intimidation and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity were identified as regular experiences within the context of many participants’ everyday lives. Moreover, many people within LGB&T communities are unaware of and unfamiliar with reporting pathways. The report identifies a number of specific solutions for the problems experienced by LGB&T people in Leicestershire.

Equality with Exceptions? Recovering Lawrence's Central Holding

In the eleven years since the Supreme Court handed down its Lawrence v. Texas ruling, state courts have not consistently adhered to the decision’s implicit rejection of laws that regulate based on animus alone. Relying on the Court’s explicit limitation of its decision to cases that do not involve minors, “persons who might be injured or coerced or who are situated in relationships where consent might not easily be refused,” public conduct, prostitution, government recognition of same-sex relationships, and practices not “common to a homosexual lifestyle”—the so-called Lawrence exceptions—a number of states have continued to use archaic antisodomy laws to police conduct they see as morally reprehensible. This Comment examines the interpretation and application of the Lawrence exceptions by state courts, arguing that by maintaining discriminatory prosecution and punishment schemes for conduct deemed to fall within the exceptions, states run afoul of the core antidiscriminatory logic of Lawrence and of the Court’s earlier ruling in Romer v. Evans. My analysis addresses not only whether laws that fall within the Lawrence exceptions discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, but also whether they enable or invite discrimination along genderand race-based lines.

An Analysis of Workplace Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation

KEYWORDS Discrimination. Sexual-orientation. Homophobia. Constitutional Rights. Remedies ABSTRACT Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation like other forms of prohibited discriminations has become an area of concern in the workplace. The law prohibits discrimination in whatever form and declares it unlawful to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation. People have been harassed and constructively dismissed through homophobia especially when they have openly declared their homosexual, bisexual or transsexual identities. Pursuant to this, this paper examines the legal position and at the same time considers the social implications and concerns for discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. The paper highlights the consequences and remedies available to the victims.

Ruled by hetero-norms? Raising some moral questions for teachers in South Africa

Thirty-eight countries in Africa regard homosexuality as punishable by law with South Africa remaining a standout country advancing constitutional equality on the basis of sexual orientation. In the context of homophobic violence, however, concerns have been raised about schools’ potential to improve the educational, moral and social outcomes for young people. In examining how some South African teachers normalize heterosexuality the paper raises questions about moral education in addressing homophobia. By drawing on interviews conducted with teachers across different social contexts, the paper shows how rights are limited by dominant constructions of heterosexual privilege mediated by a range of interlocking social processes including gender, race and culture. The paper argues that attention to the social and cultural influences in teachers’ account of homosexuality must feature in local designs of moral education. The imperative of working with teachers is presented as a way forward to facilitate the broadening of moral education to include an interrogation of heteronormativity which has evaded the focus of South African moral education.

TWU Law: A Reply to Proponents of Approval

Trinity Western University has a Community Covenant that only permits sexual minorities to attend at considerable personal cost to their dignity and sense of self-worth. All student and staff applicants to TWU are required to sign this covenant pledging not to engage in same sex intimacy. On April 11, 2014, the Law Society of British Columbia accredited TWU’s law degree program despite the university’s formal policy of exclusion on the basis of sexual orientation. Later that month, the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society refused to approve that same program because of concerns regarding the institution’s discriminatory admissions policy. Law societies in some other provinces have yet to make a decision on accreditation. The purpose of this article is to offer a reply to the arguments advanced by proponents of granting law society accreditation to TWU’s proposed program.The paper rejects six of the central claims that proponents of approval have advanced. First it responds to the claim that TWU does not actually discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Second it speaks to the assertion that the Community Covenant represents a voluntary choice not to engage in same sex sexual intimacy. Third it rejects the contention that TWU welcomes gay and lesbian students. Fourth it challenges the distinction TWU supporters draw between a code of conduct that prohibits same sex intimacy and a policy that excludes gays and lesbians. Fifth it rejects the proposition, broadly accepted by the Benchers of the Law Society of BC, that the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in BCCT is dispositive of the issue faced by law societies today. Sixth, it rejects the claim that opposition to public accreditation of TWU can be equated with opposition to a Christian worldview or the desirability of a faith-based university. The final section of the paper argues that the decisions of the LSUC and the NSBS were reasonable and will be respected by reviewing courts.

GLBTIQ teachers in Australian education policy: protections, suspicions, and restrictions

Recognition of human rights on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status by the United Nations has led to the development of new policies concerning homophobia and transphobia in educational contexts. This paper examines new Australian education policies impacting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) teachers. A policy review uncovered a range of protections for GLBTIQ teachers in contexts such as the State of Victoria, alongside restrictions. Experiences of policy discussed in pilot study data from surveys of 63 Victorian GLBTIQ teachers, and in-depth interviews with nine Victorian GLBTIQ teachers, revealed that GLBTIQ teachers were relatively unaware of the protections available to them, compared to their awareness of protections for students. Many teachers were out as lesbian or gay to some staff members but fewer had come out to students. Teachers in religious schools had more difficulties, causing some to leave the sector. Further promotion of protections and more research are recommended.

Queer Questions

As rights claims on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity occupy an increasingly prominent place in international politics, it seems clear that the long-running Woman Question has been supplemented by a set of variously articulated “queer questions.” Drawing on postcolonial, feminist and queer theory, and readings of queer literary and cinematic texts from India and Iran, this article explores moments of resonance, intersection and tension between the Woman Question and queer questions. It argues, first, that contemporary queer questions echo the preoccupations of the Woman Question even as they are uncannily prefigured by it; second, that these questions have been mutually disruptive of one another, so that queer questions are not simply a rerun of the Woman Question; and third, that differences between these questions are problematically flattened out in projections of shared futurity articulated in the abstract universality of “human rights.” Navigating the shared pasts, fraught presents and imagined futures of Woman and queer questions, the article brings queer critiques of temporality to bear on the concerns of postcolonial queer activism. It elucidates opportunities and challenges for alliance between the subjectivities interpellated by these various questions. In addition, it asks how the proliferation of new subjectivities under the sign of “queer” troubles notions of universal human rights.

‘Keeping things straight’: the representation of sexualities in life orientation textbooks

Heterosexism and heteronormativity are pervasive in the South African society, but to what degree are they present in Life Orientation (LO) textbooks? This question, explored through a content analysis of widely used Grade 10 LO textbooks, was framed by queer theory. The paper quantitatively examines the coverage of sexualities, and qualitatively examines how sexualities are constructed and projected in the texts. The quantitative analysis reveals a low percentage of statements devoted to sexuality overall and the normalisation of heterosexuality mainly through the exclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) sexualities but also through techniques of differentiation, hierarchisation and homogenisation. The qualitative analysis reveals inadequate information about sexualities and in its place a simplistic, moralistic ideological approach. Furthermore, discussions of the family, dating, safe sex and marriage assume heterosexuality as the norm. Nineteen years after the democratisation of South Africa and 17 years after the ratification of South Africa's constitution which explicitly forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, LGBT sexualities are largely invisible in school LO curricula. Since this is a subject that is compulsory for all learners and its express aim is to prepare young South Africans for participation as citizens in a just and democratic society, the absence of LGBT issues and identities helps perpetuate prejudice and violence towards LGBT communities.

‘Managing’ the rights of gays and lesbians: Reflections from some South African secondary schools

Against the backdrop of South Africa’s policies that guarantee equality on the basis of sexual orientation, this article documents the ways in which school managers negotiate and contest the rights of gays and lesbians at school, analysing the implications. It draws on a queer approach which recognizes relations of heterosexual domination and subordination as well as the material and social realities through which such relations are produced. Of importance, the study finds that the political emphasis on rights has positive effects for raising the homosexual agenda at schools. Yet, this is not the only means through which rights are managed. Discrimination, sexual denial and religious intolerance combined with racialized and cultural practices point to severe restrictions. Nonetheless, the article provides important insights for educational management noting the broadening options amid political and policy emphasis on schools’ responsibilities for sexual rights.

Navigating The Left Turn

Since the late 1990s, a series of pro-LGBT reforms have taken place in Latin America, coinciding in part with the region's shift away from neoliberalism to the Left. The Ecuadorian state has been at the forefront of this trend, decriminalizing homosexuality in 1997 and including an anti-discrimination clause on the basis of sexual orientation in the 1998 Constitution, the first in the region to do so. The 2008 Constitution went further; redefining the family, recognizing same-sex civil unions and providing legal protection on the basis of gender identity. At the same time, the 2008 Constitution banned same-sex marriage and adoption and continues the ban on abortion – indications that heteronormativity continues to underlie state policy and law. What is at stake in the state's seemingly ambivalent embrace of LGBT and feminist struggles for sexual justice? We argue that this contradictory stance towards struggles for sexual justice is a result of the interplay between homophobic and homoprotectionist state strategies. We draw out the implications of this ambivalent form of state inclusion for queer and feminist politics and argue that activists' navigation of the left turn necessitates a deeply coalitional approach to politics, one that fosters alternatives to state-centered configurations of justice.

Revisiting Evidence of Labor Market Discrimination against Homosexuals and the Effects of Anti-Discriminatory Laws

Anti-discrimination laws on the basis of sexual orientation have been adopted by many states to counteract perceived discrimination in the labor market. However, we find the evidence of earnings disparities between homosexual and heterosexual men to be extremely sensitive to the choice of reference group. Relative to married heterosexual men, gay men earn less, and, over time, anti-discriminatory laws lessen this gap. Relative to unmarried, coupled heterosexual men, however, gay men experience similar levels of earnings. The choice of reference group leads to opposite conclusions regarding the effectiveness and necessity of an anti-discriminatory law for homosexual men, which highlights the need to construct reference groups with care. We also find that homosexual women experience similar earnings to their heterosexual female counterparts, and the law has no effect on these relative wages.

The Size of the LGBT Population and the Magnitude of Antigay Sentiment Are Substantially Underestimated

We demonstrate that widely used measures of antigay sentiment and the size of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population are misestimated, likely substantially. In a series of online experiments using a large and diverse but nonrepresentative sample, we compare estimates from the standard methodology of asking sensitive questions to measures from a “veiled” methodology that precludes inference about an individual but provides population estimates. The veiled method increased self-reports of antigay sentiment, particularly in the workplace: respondents were 67% more likely to disapprove of an openly gay manager when asked with a veil, and 71% more likely to say it should be legal to discriminate in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation. The veiled methodology also produces larger estimates of the fraction of the population that identifies as LGBT or has had a sexual experience with a member of the same sex. Self-reports of nonheterosexual identity rose by 65%, and same-sex sexual experiences by 59%. We conduct a “placebo test” and show that for nonsensitive placebo items, the veiled methodology produces effects that are small in magnitude and not significantly different from zero in seven out of eight items. Taken together, the results suggest antigay discrimination might be a more significant issue than formerly considered, as the nonheterosexual population and antigay workplace-related sentiment are both larger than previously measured. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2503 . This paper was accepted by Uri Gneezy, behavioral economics.

Freedom of peaceful assembly and prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation

In this paper, the author deals with the question of realization of guaranteed freedom of peaceful assembly and the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The prohibition of discrimination and freedom of peaceful assembly are prescribed by international documents and domestic law. The main emphasis will be on the prohibition of the Pride Parade that was to be held in Belgrade in October 2011 and on the rights and freedoms of the LGBT population that were consequently violated. However, on 22 December 2011 the Constitutional Court of Serbia upheld a constitutional complaint lodged by the organizers of the Pride Parade in 2009. The Constitutional Court ruled that the competent authorities in Serbia banned the 2009 Pride Parade in violation of the Serbian Constitution. This decision is of great importance for human rights protection in Serbia and the cornerstone judgment regarding the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and realization and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in our country.

“So, You Think You Have a History?”: Taking a Q from Lesbian and Gay Studies in Writing Education History

At first I thought he was a baseball fan from Cleveland. As he came closer I saw the cross on his blue and red cap, and I realized I had seen this guy before. I was staffing a GOHI exhibit at the Columbus gay pride parade. GOHI is the Gay Ohio History Initiative, a group of volunteers who formed a partnership with the Ohio Historical Society in 2006 to “preserve, archive, and curate Ohio's LGBT history and culture.” Interestingly, the “preeminent history preservation organization” in Ohio is serving as a model of collaboration for public educational institutions concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) history. This may strike one as curious given that two out of three Ohio voters supported a constitutional ban on marriage equality in 2004 even though the state legislature had already adopted a similar measure. The state also does not prohibit employment or housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Yet Columbus maintains a national reputation as a “gay-friendly” city, suggesting that the political terrain in Ohio is as mixed as ever. The old saw—“As goes Ohio so goes the nation”—still seems pertinent.

HIV-Untested Men Who Have Sex with Men in South Africa: The Perception of Not Being at Risk and Fear of Being Tested

A community-based needs assessment among men who have sex with men (MSM) in South Africa found that 27 % (n = 280/1,045) of MSM had never been tested for HIV. The most frequently reported reasons for not having been tested were the perception of not being at risk (57 %) and fear of being tested (52 %). This article explores factors associated with these two reasons among the untested MSM. In multiple logistic regressions, the perception of not being at risk of HIV infection was negatively associated with being black, coloured or Indian, being sexually active, knowing people living with HIV, and a history of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the past 24 months (adj. OR = .24, .32, .38, and .22, respectively). Fear of being tested for HIV was positively associated with being black, coloured or Indian, preferred gender expression as feminine, being sexually active, a history of STIs, and experience of victimization on the basis of sexual orientation (adj. OR = 2.90, 4.07, 4.62, 5.05, and 2.34, respectively). Results suggest that HIV prevention programs directed at South African MSM will be more effective if testing and treatment of STIs are better integrated into HIV testing systems. Finally, social exclusion on the basis of race and sexual orientation ought to be addressed in order to reach hidden, at-risk, populations of MSM.

Understanding and addressing homophobia in schools: a view from teachers

South African schools have been found to be homophobic. Teachers can play an important role in offering a critique of homophobia grounded in South Africa’s legal claim to equality on the basis of sexual orientation. Currently there is a dearth of educational research about how teachers understand and address homophobia. By drawing upon focus-group interviews with teachers based at five schools, this paper shows dominant teaching views which contribute to homophobia, although this is not the only view. Informed by theoretical framings that seek to uncover heterosexual domination, the analysis shows three interrelated discursive constructions through which homophobia is both produced and resisted by teachers. Silencing homosexuality, denying its existence in the curriculum, and religious prohibitions were found to be dominant. It must be understood however that teachers are working in a context without any intervention and support. Their views also show potential for working against the climate of homophobia. Recommendations for such work are indicated in the conclusion of the paper. Keywords: curriculum; homophobia; interventions; religion; secondary schools; sexual silences; teachers

The Case of Karen Atala and Daughters: Toward a Better Understanding of Discrimination, Equality, and the Rights of Women

This article discusses the potential legacy and impact in the development of women’s rights standards of the case of Karen Atala and Daughters; the first ruling of the inter-American human rights system related to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The author suggests that this judgment makes key contributions to international human rights law in five key areas related to the obligations not to discriminate, the guarantee of equality, and the rights of women, including: 1) the scope and reach of the obligations not to discriminate and to guarantee equality under articles 1.1 and 24 of the American Convention; 2) the features of the “rigorous scrutiny” standard and its applicability to prohibited factors of discrimination; 3) the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and its applicability to individual cases related to women; 4) the correlation of this prohibition with the rights to privacy and to protection of the family under international human rights law; and 5) the content of the bests interests of the child under international human rights law. This article concludes that further definition by the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights of the content and scope of the obligations not to discriminate and to guarantee equality in individual cases—such as the one related to Karen Atala and Daughters—is paramount to the development of adequate and effective international legal standards related to women’s rights. These obligations are of utmost importance as they constitute the backbone of the inter-American and universal systems of human rights. They are also priority women’s rights issues pertaining to civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. The author also contends that it is paramount to understand the connection between the obligations not to discriminate and to guarantee equality, and the full panoply of human rights involved in the obligation to respect and guarantee the rights of women, including those related to their sexual orientation, gender identity, privacy, and family. Legal developments in this sense will also open the door for the Inter-American Commission and the Court’s resolution of cases involving forms of discrimination that affect women based on their sex, and other factors of discrimination still unrecognized as “prohibited” or “suspect” by the international community.