Transnational LGBTI Rights

In May 2016, a highly contested resolution passed the UN Human Rights Council condemning discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity and establishing the system’s first ever Independent Expert on the same themes.  The protracted fight for the resolution demonstrated how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights were, and remain, among the most controversial issues in international human rights, law, and public policy. Contestations around LGBTI rights are frequently framed in terms of ‘human rights’ versus ‘traditional values’ which underscores a central challenge to LGBTI rights claims – how to make universalizing claims based on identities that are historically contingent and culturally produced. This course will explore how LGBTI rights impact mainstream debates, such as bilateral relations and good governance, while also teaching students to understand the challenges of fulfilling LGBTI rights, such as access to legal recognition for same-sex partnerships and transgender people. The course will also explore the ways in which anti-LGBTI animus is deployed for political effect and seek to understand the processes whereby LGBTI rights become lightning rods for broader social and political cleavages. This course offers students an opportunity to reflect, in-depth, on the challenges and opportunities of working on LGBTI rights transnationally, surveys debates within the field, and equips students to competently address LGBTI rights as they manifest across a range of academic and professional interests. Breaking news and contemporary debates will be integrated into the course work.