International Human Rights
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HUMAN RIGHTS, LGBT MOVEMENTS AND IDENTITY: AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL AND SOUTH AFRICAN LGBT WEBSITES A thesis presented to the faculty of the Center for International Studies of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Masters of International Affairs Laura Mack June 2005 This thesis entitled HUMAN RIGHTS, LGBT MOVEMENTS AND IDENTITY: AN ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL AND SOUTH AFRICAN LGBT WEBSITES BY LAURA MACK has been approved for the Department of International Development Studies and the Center for International Studies by Ann Tickamyer Professor of Sociology and Director, International Development Studies Josep Rota Director, Center for International Studies MACK, LAURA. M.A. June 2005. International Development Studies Human Rights, LGBT Movements, and Identity: An Analysis of International and South African LGBT Websites (109 pp.) Thesis Director: Ann Tickamyer This thesis examines human rights, the international and South African lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movements, and their organizations, exploring how they articulate human rights, sexuality and identity. The literature review includes the different perspectives on human rights philosophy and the LGBT movements, their influences and philosophical underpinnings. Issues of identity, continuity in the movements, and conceptualizations of rights are also explored. Organization’s websites, from both the international and South African movements, are analyzed using a post- structural textual analysis methodology to see how these organizations represent themselves and articulate human rights and homosexuality. Through this research, it is clear that both sets of organizations view human rights as universal and homosexuality as natural, but there are variations in the types of rights emphasized and the way homosexuality is represented and articulated. Though both groups of organizations collaborate and interact, they are distinct movements with unique approaches to LGBT rights. Approved: Ann Tickamyer Professor of Sociology and Director, International Development Studies 4 Table of Contents Abstract................................................................................................................................3 List of Tables .......................................................................................................................5 Acronyms.............................................................................................................................6 Chapter 1: International Human Rights ...............................................................................7 Universalism ............................................................................................................8 Cultural Relativism................................................................................................12 Socialist..................................................................................................................16 Imperialists ............................................................................................................18 The Paradigms and Sexual Orientation as a Human Right....................................20 Conclusion .............................................................................................................22 Chapter 2: International LGBT Movement........................................................................24 History of the International Movement..................................................................27 Analysis of the International Movement’s Focus and Assumptions .....................32 Critique of the International Gay and Lesbian Movement ....................................35 Conclusion .............................................................................................................41 Chapter 3: South African Gay and Lesbian Movement.....................................................43 History of the South African Movement ...............................................................46 Analysis of the Movement.....................................................................................55 Opposition and Critiques.......................................................................................58 Conclusion .............................................................................................................63 Chapter 4: Research Topic and Methodology ...................................................................65 Significance............................................................................................................67 Methodological Legitimacy...................................................................................68 The Sample ............................................................................................................70 Approaching the Quantitative Analysis..................................................................73 Approaching the Qualitative Analysis ..................................................................75 Chapter 5: Observations, Findings, and Conclusion .........................................................78 Quantitative Results...............................................................................................79 Qualitative Results.................................................................................................83 Similarities......................................................................................................83 Differences......................................................................................................89 Findings and Conclusion .......................................................................................98 Further Study.......................................................................................................104 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................105 5 List of Figures Figure 1: Content Analysis Table ......................................................................................80 Figure 2: Durban Lesbian and Gay Community and Health Center’s Logo ...................103 6 Acronyms African National Congress.................................................................... ANC Association of Bisexuals, Gays, and Lesbians.............................ABIGALE Azanian Peoples’ Organization........................................................ AZAPO British Broadcasting Corporation ..........................................................BBC Gay Association of South Africa ........................................................GASA Gay Identification Development and Enrichment ............................ GAIDE Gays and lesbians of the Witsatersrand .............................................GLOW Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome......................................HIV/AIDS International Covenant of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights..ICESCR International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission...........IGLHRC International Lesbian and Gay Association .........................................ILGA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender ................................................. LGBT Lesbians and Gays Against Oppression ............................................ LAGO National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality............................ NCGLE Nongovernmental Organization............................................................NGO North American Man Boy Love Association .............................. NAMBLA Organization for Lesbian and Gay Action......................................... OLGA Organization of African Unity..............................................................OAU United Democratic Front .......................................................................UDF United Nations .........................................................................................UN United Nations Economic and Social Council...............................ECOSOC Universal Declaration of Human Rights ........................................... UDHR 7 Chapter 1 International Human Rights Although the concept of human rights is internationally known and debated, it is hardly an issue with a standard understanding or universally accepted definition. Even though under the United Nations there are many international treaties and declarations which define and describe human rights, and many nation-states throughout the world are signatories to these instruments, the topic of human rights is one with differing ideologies, debates, and disagreements. The first of these instruments, created in 1948, was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and although this instrument is only a declaration and not legally binding, it serves as a foundation for other subsequent human rights conventions, resolutions, etc. However, issues including whether human rights are universal, indivisible, individualistic, applicable to groups and not just individuals, of Western origin, compatible with non-Western values, culturally specific, or not applicable to all cultures are debated and hotly contested by both scholars and politicians alike. Human rights as a concept and as a discourse is internationally known, but different philosophical approaches to human rights have emerged. Through all of these differing understandings, sexual orientation and gender identity as human