About the Book

The global politics of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) human rights have emerged at the heart of global political struggles over culture and identities. The signing of the Declaration of Montréal and the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, by global activists in 2006, symbolises an intensification of international struggles by LGBT movements. LGBT non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are at last achieving substantial representation in global forums; and ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ issues are finally finding a place on international human rights, law and policy agendas. This collection offers much needed analysis of these under-explored developments.

The essays address global, European and national levels of analysis, examining the relationships between universal human rights discourses and specific local contexts. Contributors include leading activists in global LGBT movements such as Joke Swiebel, author of the Declaration of Montréal, and Scott Long of Human Rights Watch, alongside academics informed by gender and sexuality studies. The collection distinctively draws together analyses from sociology, including debates over sexual citizenship, work from politics on the international human rights regime, as well as feminist, transgender and queer theories that critically interrogate ‘LGBT’ identity categories and human rights discourses.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Politics.