The
primary result of my two years' research at the United Nations
University in Tokyo, which I am making public here as promised. It is
too long to post here in full, so if the abstract and contents
attract your interest, you can view the complete text by clicking here.
I am
not an academic, and write things like this with the sole purpose of
making a contribution to a better world. So though I am aware my
written English is a bit of a minefield at times, I deliberately do
my best to reject academic jargon and politically-motivated
euphemisms throughout this kind of work; write without any
consideration for the effect on my own prospects; and will make no
pretence at impartiality, for sometimes there is no such thing. So
if you are not of an academic background but still take interest in
the subject matter, then please do not feel daunted by the scale of
this work, and feel free to ask me if you want anything explained
more clearly.
Abstract
The great
diversity of human sexual and gender identities, senses, behaviours
and feelings is a central part of the human experience. Hostility to
this diversity, along with the prejudicial violence, discrimination
and ostracization that hostility produces worldwide, constitutes
today one of the gravest challenges to the United Nations's founding
pursuit of the rights and dignity of the human person. Nonetheless,
this issue has been marginalized and misunderstood in international
politics until recent decades, becoming recognized and addressed only
during the 1990s and 2000s, primarily on the human rights agenda: and
then only through a painstaking struggle that still endures against
hostile forces who seek its exclusion. This study thus inquires into
the current state of sexual diversity as a human rights concern in
international policy discourse and practice, particularly in the
United Nations agenda. It examines the recent history of sexual
diversity as a complex political and human rights issue; the movement
whose efforts have advanced it; and the hostile counter-movement's
drivers, methods and contexts. Ultimately, in pursuit of an
international system free of heteronormative biases and the
recognition of the full relevance of sexual diversity across all its
major policy fields, the thesis explores and asserts the significance
of sexual diversity for the vision and practice of the United Nations
– and above all for the integrity and prospects of universal human
rights.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1 – The UN Agenda:
Overcoming Exclusion
a) Human
Rights
b)
Development
c) Peace
and Security
d)
Convergence
i) Gender
ii) Sustainability
iii) Health
iv) Towards Sexual Diversity
Rights
Chapter 2 – Sexual
Diversity: The History and Movement
a) Sexual
Diversity as Politics
b) Sexual
Diversity as a Human Right
c) The
Sexual Diversity Rights Movement: Academics
d) The
Sexual Diversity Rights Movement: NGOs and Social Activists
e) A Case
Study: Gaya Nusantara, and the Sexual Diversity Rights Movement in
Indonesia
Chapter 3 – Hostility to
Sexual Diversity: The Counter-Movement
a)
Counter-Discourse and Counter-Practice
b)
Analysing Hostility
i)
Cultural Relativism
ii)
Construction of History
iii)
Moral and Medical Pathologization
Chapter
4 – Sexual Diversity Rights: The Challenge
a)
Conclusion: Universal and Diverse – Not One or the Other, but Both
b)
Recommendations
i)
The UN
ii)
Activists
iii)
Moral Authorities
iv)
Academics
c)
An Exhortation
Again, you can access the full text here. In
addition, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and
Intersex Association (ILGA), one of the foremost international sexual
diversity rights organizations bringing together over 750 groups
around the world, has also made the text available on their website here (angry photo included!).
