Sexual Orientation Equality Research Articles

Kissing is not a universal right: Sexuality, law and the scales of citizenship

Equalities legislation has provided the basis for lesbian and gay-identified individuals to create new spaces of sexual inclusion in the UK. However, national rights to sexual orientation equality do not always translate into equal rights to sexual expression at the local scale. The paper demonstrates this by focusing on an instance where a display of homosexual intimacy – a same-sex kiss – was legitimately removed from a licensed premise despite the existence of legislation outlawing homophobic discrimination. This seeming contradiction demonstrates the limits of a perspective that regards citizenship as something negotiated solely at the scale of the nation-state, with those charged with maintaining public order at the local scale often appearing indifferent to nationally-secured rights. The paper accordingly warns against essentialist notions of the state, concluding that the interplay of a heterogeneous set of actors operating on different jurisdictional scales ultimately determines the limits of sexual citizenship.

Equality, diversity and corporate responsibility

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the triggers to the development of sexual orientation diversity policy and practice in the UK private sector, based on the perspectives of those “championing” sexual orientation diversity work.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on 22 in‐depth key informant interviews which can be broken down as follows: diversity specialists (5), management (6, of whom 3 were sexual orientation senior management “champions” in their organisations), trade union (3) and LGBT network group representatives (8), as well as access to company and trade union web sites and publications. Interviews sought to trace the history of sexual orientation equality and diversity work, development of structures, policies and practices as well as triggers and barriers to progress and areas of innovation.Findings – Recent literature on equality and diversity in the British national context has sought to explore the implications of a social justice versus a business case driven eq...

Equality and diversity in the public services: moving forward on lesbian, gay and bisexual equality?

A key change for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people in the European Union has been the prohibition by the Employment Equality Directive (2000) of discrimination in employment on grounds of sexual orientation. This article focuses on the UK, which in 2003 introduced legislation making it unlawful to discriminate on these grounds. It explores the factors encouraging ‘good practice’ in sexual orientation equality work. It considers progress within the public services that have ‘pioneered’ sexual orientation equalities work, drawing on the views of LGB employees, management and trade union stakeholders. The recent legislation is considered to have provided a major impetus for change; however, an emerging ‘business case’ within the public service modernisation agenda is considered to have provided both opportunities and barriers to progress. A challenge for HR practitioners is getting organisational commitment to sexual orientation work, which is still perceived within organisations as a ‘sensitive’ area.

Hatred, Sexual Orientation, Free Speech and Religious Liberty

In recent years, the clash between supporters of religious liberty and sexual orientation equality legislation has led to repeated battles both in Parliament and the courts. First came the clashes over the scope of exemptions in employment discrimination legislation for religious groups. The UK Regulations dealing with employment discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation give a limited exception for ‘employment for purposes of an organised religion’, which allows an employer to apply a requirement related to sexual orientation to comply with the doctrines of the religion, or to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion's followers. A legal challenge brought to the scope of this exception was unsuccessful but, despite that, the exemption has not averted damaging findings of discrimination against the Church of England. The Bishop of Hereford was held to have discriminated unlawfully in blocking the appointment of a practising homosexual to a youth-officer post within the Church of England. The partial success of religious groups in achieving exemption was followed by defeat in the equivalent regulations dealing with discrimination in goods and services, made under the Equality Act 2006, despite the claims of Catholic adoption agencies that they would rather close than place children with same-sex couples.

Human rights commissions and public policy: The role of the Canadian Human Rights Commission in advancing sexual orientation equality rights in Canada

Abstract: This article examines the capacity of human rights commissions to foster public policy change by focusing on the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and its role in advancing sexual orientation equality rights in Canada. The case study is informed by commission annual reports, speeches by past chief commissioners, presentations by the commission to parliamentary committees, and an examination of 442 sexual orientation complaints closed by the commission by 2005. The study shows that, from its inception, the commission had a simple and consistent message: sexual orientation should not be the basis for denying individuals employment, services or benefits. Using a variety of strategies, the CHRC facilitated the incorporation of this message into the Canadian Human Rights Act by promoting the designation of sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. Subsequently, the commission became actively involved in securing equal access to employment‐related benefits in the federal sphere for same‐sex couples and also added its voice in support of legal recognition of same‐sex marriage. The authors conclude by discussing how the unique position of human rights commissions gives them the potential to play an important role in public policy development, even when there may be a lack of political will or public support.Sommaire: Le présent article examine l'aptitude des commissions des droits de la personne à encourager les changements dans la politique publique en mettant l'accent sur la Commission canadienne des droits de la personne (CCDP) et son rôle dans la promotion des droits à l'égalité en matière d'orientation sexuelle au Canada. L' étude de cas tire ses informations des rapports annuels de la commission, des allocutions prononcées par d'anciens présidents de la commission, des présentations faites par la commission aux comités parlementaires, et d'un examen de 442 plaintes relatives à l'orientation sexuelle traitées par la commission jusqu'en 2005. L' étude indique que, depuis sa création, la commission avait un message simple et unanime : l'orientation sexuelle ne devrait pas être un motif invoqué pour refuser de l'emploi, des services ou des avantages sociaux à des particuliers. Grâce à diverses stratégies, la CCDP a facilité l'intégration de ce message à la Loi canadienne sur les droits de la personne en faisant en sorte que l'orientation sexuelle soit désignée comme un motif de discrimination interdit. Par la suite, la commission a été active sur la scène fédérale pour assurer que les conjoints de même sexe bénéficient de l' égalité d'accès aux avantages liés à l'emploi, et elle a également soutenu la reconnaissance légale du mariage des conjoints de même sexe. En conclusion, les auteurs discutent la position unique des commissions des droits de la personne qui leur offre le potentiel de jouer un rôle important dans l' élaboration des politiques gouvernementales, même avec un manque de volonté politique ou de soutien public.

Sources of Status-harm and Group Disadvantage in Private Behavior

This article, considering competing visions of the equal protection clause, takes note of some consequences of the current Supreme Court majority's rejection of Owen Fiss's "group disadvantaging" principle in favor of a jurisprudence of formal neutrality. One result is that constitutional doctrine offer minimal substantive protection for the values of equal citizenship in people's real lives. In particular, the prevailing doctrine leads the judiciary to ignore the crucial role of private behavior in imposing status-harms. Given this crabbed view of the equal protection clause, the achievement of equal citizenship increasingly depends on the enactment and enforcement of civil rights statutes. Yet, if judges are reluctant to interpret these laws generously, or inclined to hold them unconstitutional, private behavior--still the most important source of group disadvantage and status-harm--will remain. The article initially makes these points in reference to racial equality--Fiss's central concern in the 1970s--and goes on to show their application in the fields of sex equality and sexual orientation equality.

"Transforming" the Debate: Why We Need to Include Transgender Rights in the Struggles for Sex and Sexual Orientation Equality

In this Essay, Taylor Flynn observes that and sexual orientation equality jurisprudence is premised upon the traditional understanding of sex as determined by anatomy at birth. The presumption typically followingfrom this reduction of to anatomy is the notion that certain gendered attributes are inherent in biological maleorfemaleness. Professor Flynn asserts that these erroneous and unduly narrow views significantly hamper courts' ability to address the core of and sexual orientation discrimination-hostility based on failure to conform to conventional gender norms. Surveying workplace, public accommodation, asylum, marriage, and custody cases, Flynn explains how conventional jurisprudence fails a wide array of persons. Looking to the burgeoning transgender case law, Professor Flynn demonstrates how individuals ranging from working women, gay men and lesbians, and stay-at-home dads can benefit from a jurisprudence that adopts more accurate and multifaceted understandings of and gender.