The presentation contains a brief historical review of the recognition and guarantees of LGBT Community' Human Rights ending with the ground-breaking decisions of the United Nations through its Human Rights Council

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2. 2
Human Rights and Sexual
Identity
The Rights of the
LGBT
Community

3. Historical Approach (1)
Greek Culture: love among perfect beings
 Sappho, Greek lyric poet born on Lesbos, died on 570 BCE.
Recognised as one of the nine lyric poets of the Greek civilization.
 Famous for singing to lesbian relationships
 Lesbianism comes from the Greek root
 Exiled c. 600 BCE.

4.  Justinian I (527–565) legally blame homosexuals for natural
disasters and plagues
 The Visigoths invaded Rome and convert it to Catholicism
 Conversion promotes a revision of the law and legalisation
for the persecution of gays and Jews started.
4
Historical Approach (2)

5. Religion
 Council of Elvira, in 305- 306 barred pederasts the right to Communion.
WCH
 Council of Ankara, 314 . This council was representative of the ECH no
Sacraments for 15 years to unmarried men under the age of 20 who were
caught in homosexual acts, and for life if he was married and over the age
of 50.
 Emperor Constantin -342 – The first law against same-sex marriage was
promulgated
 In the year 390, the Christian emperor Theodosius I declared homosexual
sex to be illegal and those who were guilty of it were condemned to be
burned alive in front of the public.

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Psychology
 No studies before the 19th century.
 Efforts to understand human sexual behavior came from European doctors
and scientists.
 Sigmund Freud and Magnus Hirschfield.
 Sympathetic to the concept of a homosexual or bisexual orientation
occurring naturally in an identifiable segment of humankind,
 Freud himself did not consider homosexuality an illness or a crime

7. Second World War (1)
 Formation of Hitler's Philosophy finished former tolerance
• Hirschfield's great library was destroyed and the books burnt by Nazis on May 10,
1933
 England’s position always very conservative
• Against gay and lesbian writers such as OscarWilde and Radclyffe Hall

8. 8
Second World War (2)
 USA made first attempt to create advocacy groups supporting gay and
lesbian relationships until afterWorldWar II
 Greenwich Village and Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance of the
1920s.
 World War II allowed formerly isolated gay men and women to meet as
soldiers, war workers, and other volunteers

9. Historical Approach (3)
Early 1950s: Persecution of Senator Joseph McCarthy against
communists, gays and lesbian.
Prohibition for civil servants’ jobs, military, expulsion from public
employment, business, private companies, movie companies, etc.
Resulted on the first American-based political demands for fair
treatment for gay population towards public policies, employment,
civil rights and mental health.

10. 28 June 1969
New York's Greenwich Village
Initiation and future Commemoration of the Gay Pride Day
10
Stonewall Inn

11. Charter of the United Nations encourages
“Respect for human rights and for fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction”
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Art. 2:
"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms
set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of
any kind."
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(2) UN (1945)

12. 1976The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1976 The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
All core Human Rights Instruments
1993 Vienna Declaration and Program of Action:
All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated, that the international
community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same
emphasis, and that while the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural
and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of states, regardless of their political, economic
and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, universality,
interdependence, indivisibility and interrelatedness of human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and in all other human rights instruments

13. U.N. Secretary-General spoke at a Ford Foundation event in
New York City entitled, "Speak Up, Stop Discrimination."
 The event honored human rights defenders but in this speech, Ban
called for individuals to stand up for the rights of all and specifically
referred to defending the rights of people jailed for their sexual
orientation.
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Decembe(2)r 9, 2010

14. April 6, 2011
 The OHCHR, UNDP, UNAIDS, and the World Health Organization
(WHO) published a brochure entitled:
"The United Nations Speaks Out: Tackling Discrimination on Grounds
of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity."
This brochure cites statements that have been made by U.N. senior
officials and human rights experts regarding LGBT rights —
including statements from the U.N. Secretary General and the U.N.
HCHR.

15. Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State stated that “one of
the remaining human rights challenges before the world today is
guaranteeing the equality and dignity of members of the LGBT
community.
 She called LGBT community the "invisible minority," whose human
rights were in jeopardy throughout the world
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Dec. 6, 2011

16. December 15, 2011
 OHCHR released its first report on the human rights of
LGBT persons.
 The report details the worldwide manifestations of
discrimination based on sexual orientation, noting that
violence against LGBT persons has a history of hate-motivated
violence, such as discrimination in work, health
care, education, detention and torture.

17.  85 countries signed on to a statement calling for the decriminalization of
homosexuality in March 2012.
 Subsequently, a resolution initiated by South Africa was passed in September
2014 becoming the first U.N. resolution calling for the support of gay rights.
17
Human Rights Council

18.  Expressing grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed
against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity,
 Welcoming positive developments at the international, regional and national levels in the fight against
violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,
 Welcoming also the efforts of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the
fight against violence and discrimination based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status
 1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
entitled “Discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual
orientation and gender identity” (A/HRC/19/41) and of the panel discussion held at the nineteenth session of
the Human Rights Council;
 2. Requests the High Commissioner to update the report (A/HRC/19/41) with a view to sharing good
practices and ways to overcome violence and discrimination, in application of existing international human
rights law and standards, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-ninth session;
 3. Decides to remain seized of this issue.
24 September 2014
A/HRC/27/L.27/Rev.1

19.  The resolution expressed "grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination,
in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual
orientation and gender identity.”
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Human Rights Council

20.  Yes U.S., European Union, Brazil and other Latin –American countries.
 No Russia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Pakistan.
 China, Burkina Faso and Zambia abstained
23 votes in favor and 19 against
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Human Rights Council

21. Unprecedented!
FREE & EQUAL
UNITED NATIONS CAMPAIGN FOR LESBIAN, GAY,
BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER EQUALITY

23. Criminalization
In I76 countries, discriminatory laws criminalize private, consensual same-sex
relationships, exposing millions of individuals to the risk of arrest, prosecution
and imprisonment.
 In seven countries, the punishment is the death penalty

24. Death Penalty
• Legally prescribed punishment for
homosexuality and related offences
in the following countries:
• Iran
• Mauritania,
• Saudi Arabia,
• Sudan
• Yemen,
• Applied by religious courts in regions
of Somalia and Nigeria

25. LGBT International Legal Perspective (1)
“Let me say this loud and clear:
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are entitled to the
same rights as everyone else. They, too, are born free and equal”.
Ban Ki Moon,
UN Secretary General
2014

26. LGBT International Legal Perspective (2)
“States must repeal discriminatory laws and ban discriminatory
practices. They must punish violence and hatred, not love”.
Navi Pillay,
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
2014

27. Searching Machines - Google- Society Prejudices

28. Positive Developments
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World –wide (1)

29. Equal Marriage Successes
Brazil allows marriage between same sex partners
France passed legislation allowing same-sex marriage
New Zealand parliament passed legislation equalising marriage
Uruguay legalised same-sex marriages
In July legislation allowing same sex marriage in England and Wales
Colombia adopted the law in July 2011 came into effect in and saw the
country’s first same-sex marriages celebrated

30. Legal Sphere before Resolution (1)

31. Legal Sphere before Resolution (2)
Sweden
Provision forcing trans people to
be sterilised
Overturned July 2013
South Korea / Taiwan
Trans and intersex individuals
could legally change their legal
gender without undergoing medical
intervention
Adopted December 2012

32. Negative Developments
32
World –wide (2)

33. Equal Marriage Set-backs
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean voters
overwhelmingly
supported
a new constitution that
contained provisions
that outlaw same-sex
marriage
Croatia
Croatia overwhelming
supported a constitutional
amendment defining
marriage as being only
between a man and a
woman
Australia
Short-lived attempt to
introduce equal marriage laws in the
Australian
Capital Territory annulled it after it was
found to
be incompatible with Australian federal
laws that
explicitly ban same sex marriage.
The 27 couples
that married during the law’s four-day
reign have
had their marriages annulled

34. Legal Perspective of Homosexuality (1)
Russia
Russia’s introduction of a
law prohibiting the
‘propaganda of non-traditional
sexual
relations’
Uganda
‘Kill the Gays’ bill
Ugandan Parliament removed
the death penalty, under the bill
life imprisonment will apply in
cases of ‘aggravated
homosexuality’.
Aggravated circumstances for
“repeat offender”
Punishment of promotion of
homosexuality
Nigeria
Homosexuality remains illegal, in
some regions with punishment of
stoning
Penal clauses outlaw LGBT
organisations, or organisations that
work with LGBT people

35. Legal Perspective of Homosexuality (2)
Singapore
Singapore High Court
reaffirmed
Enforcement of Section 377A of
the Penal Code which outlaws
any act of ‘gross indecency’
between men
Belize
Penal Code Section 53
outlaws “carnal intercourse
against the order of nature
with any person.”
India
Supreme Court ruled
to effectively criminalise
activities “against the order
of nature.”

36. Still on Going Procedures
 “Punitive” or “corrective” rape of
lesbians on the pretext of trying to
“cure” their victims of homosexuality
 Involuntary medical treatment
including anal examinations of gay
men to “prove” their homosexuality,
Unwanted sterilization of transgender
people
Forced electric shock therapy intended
to “change” someone’s sexual
orientation
Torture and ill-treatment of
lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and intersex people
has also been extensively
documented people may be
victimized by police officers,
prisons guards, or their own
peers while State agents turn a
blind eye

37. Norway
Baby Shop

38. Dr Miriam Estrada-Castillo
Professor
miriam.estrada@rwi.lu.se
38