TAG: homosexuality

Gender incongruence of childhood in the ICD-11: controversies, proposal, and rationale

As part of the development of the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), WHO appointed a Working Group on Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health to recommend changes necessary in the classification of mental and behavioural disorders in ICD-10 that are related to sexuality and gender identity. This Personal View focuses on the […]

Report on the UN Human Rights Council’s resolution on the Protection of the family

The present report, by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 29/22.

Human rights contestations: sexual orientation and gender identity

This article asks if and why sexual orientation and gender identity-related rights should connect to a human rights framework. To answer that question it begins by addressing how we understand what makes human rights resonate or not resonate and if addressing a contentious issue such as sexual orientation or gender identity from within a human rights frame advances or detracts from such resonance.

The sexual politics in February 2016

In February, there were good news to report from both Haiti and Europe. In the case of Haiti, the Penal Code reform is underway and the draft document approved by a committee of juridical experts includes a provision that legalizes abortion on the basis of public health concerns and freedom of women. Although this is […]

Walking the Tightrope: Poetry and Prose by LGBTQ Writers from Africa

Among the first of its kind, this book is composed of works by writers from different parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, including first and second generation Africans in the diaspora. With this anthology, the editors seek to challenge and engage individuals and institutions that consider homosexuality immoral. In many African countries, homosexuals are subject to corporal […]

Gay rights are human rights

The human rights of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) people have reached centre stage. Curative petitions have been referred to a Constitution Bench with observations by Chief Justice of India (CJI) T.S. Thakur that “the issues sought to be raised are of considerable importance and public interest …”.

Strasbourg Court: family reunification rights also count for same-sex couples

Yesterday, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that refusing same-sex couples residence permits with the purpose of family reunification on the basis of their sexual orientation is discriminatory. The case was brought to the European Court after Ms Pajić, a woman from Bosnia-Herzegovina, was refused a Croatian residence permit that she requested […]

Portugal Lawmakers Overturn Veto on Gay Rights, Abortion Law

Same-sex couples will soon be able to adopt children in Portugal after lawmakers voted to overturn a presidential veto, with parliament also removing some abortion restrictions Wednesday.

Chilean officials: Conversion therapy is a ‘grave threat’

Chilean health officials on Thursday for the first time expressed their opposition to so-called conversion therapy. Agence France-Presse reported the Chilean Ministry of Health made the statement to the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, an LGBT advocacy group in the South American country.

Equality Is Not Enough: Seeking Full Liberty for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People

The book, by Andrew Park, is about the American political context, so the audience is mostly in the US. It advocates using international human development frameworks as a basis for setting priorities for the domestic US movement. In particular, it looks at the capabilities approach, developed initially by scholars from the global south, and examine […]

Victory in Tunisia: Activist group Shams wins in court

Shams, the Tunisian group pushing for the decriminalization of homosexuality, has won its legal challenge against a government order that it suspend operations. “Shams can resume normal activities, thanks to the decision of the court,” the organization announced on Facebook today. The trial dealt with a legal notification Shams received Jan. 4, ordering the suspension […]

Is the world finally waking up to intersex rights?

A landmark directive in Chile last month said doctors should stop ‘normalisation’ surgery, but tackling the global systematic, societal and cultural abuse against intersex people is an uphill battle When a baby is born the first question is usually about its sex. But for one in 2,000 people binary notions of male and female are […]