New Blog Resource

York academic Paul Johnson has taken the plunge and started a blog called 'ECHR Sexual Orientation Blog'.  Well worth a look! 

Homosexual Offenses and Human Rights in Isle of Man

I previously blogged a link to an excellent piece by Paul Johnson on Homosexual Offenses and Human Rights in Guernsey.  He's now published 'Part 2' which explores Homosexual Offenses and Human Rights in Isle of Man.  It's well worth a read.  Check it out here.

Homosexual Offenses and Human Rights in Guernsey

The wonderful Paul Johnson has produced a really interesting piece on Homosexual Offenses and Human Rights in Guernsey on the Jurist site.  Check it out here.

The Impact of X. v. Turkey: Homosexuality and the ECHR

Paul Johnson has written a compelling piece examining the first successful use of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human rights by a gay man.  Check it out in Jurist here.

Event: Civil Society Strikes Back

The British Institute of Human Rights have released details of a rather interesting tour that some readers may find of interest:

 Human Rights are for everyone. Human Rights are the result of centuries of struggle, by groups and individuals who suffered persecution or neglect at the hands of an often all too powerful state. Human Rights became international law after the horrors of World War II when, thanks to the advocacy of civil society, the international community adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human Rights are under attack. Too many of our political leaders and some sections of the media want to go backwards, not forwards. Join the fight back at the BIHR 2012 Human Rights Tour – coming soon to a city near you!

Human Rights go to the heart of the kind of society we want to be. Learn more, and get involved, at the 2012 Human Rights Tour.

Venues and dates: 

All venues are centrally located. Further details on remaining venues will be posted shortly. Please note: Some of the dates have changed since our initial correspondence regarding the Tour; the dates on this page and the booking form are confirmed.

Cardiff – 17 September - Cardiff County Hall, Committee Room 3, Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff CF10 4UW

Truro - 20 September - Truro Town Hall, Municipal Buildings, Boscawen Street, Truro, TR1 2NE 

Ipswich – 25 September - Ipswich Town Hall, Cornhill, Ipswich IP1 1DH

Bournemouth - 3 October - Bournemouth University, Room TBA

Brighton – 11 October - Brighthelm Community Centre, North Road Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1YD

Inverness - 17 October - Spectrum Centre, 1B Margaret Street, Town Centre, Inverness IV1 1LS 

Edinburgh - 18 October - Pleasance Theatre (Edinburgh Students Union), 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ

Preston – 30 October - The Avenham Park Pavilion, South Meadow Lane, Preston, PR1 8JT 

Manchester – 1 November - Age Concern Manchester, 24 Mount Street, Manchester, M2 3NN

Belfast – 5 November - NICVA, 61 Duncairn Gardens, Belfast, BT15 2GB

Bangor – 15 November - Central venue (TBA)

Leicester – 22 November - Leicester Guildhall, Guildhall Lane, Leicester, LE1 5FQ

Boston – 29 November - Centenary Methodist Hall, Red Lion Street, Boston, Lincolnshire, PE21 6NY

Sunderland – 4 December - Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, Burdon Road, Sunderland, SR1 1PP

London - 7 December, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL

York – 12 December - York University (Room TBA)

More information and booking details can be viewed here.

NWT Canada Finance Minister accused of trans bullying

Jane Fae reports a fascinating incident on her blog. She notes that the Finance Minister of Canada’s Northwest Territory, Michael Miltenberger has been reported to the Human Rights Commission. Why you might ask...Well, he is apparently accused of discriminating against a woman in Fort Smith, NWT, during a visit by the Governor General to Aurora College campus on 9 December because she is transgender.

Read the full story/details on Jane's blog here.

Hot Air American Style: International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons

Hillary Clinton is a busy woman and so I can only imagine the US Secretary of State was a) too busy to pre-read a speech she delivered this week in Geneva and b) the victim of her staff having a little fun.  Along with the White House she announced a commitment by America to the 'human rights' of LGBT people around the world - and a commitment to promote human rights issues in this area.  She also announced a new Global Equality Fund with $3 million in the kitty - and the hope other countries would chip in (the world is after all flush with cash).  For America, the $3 million figure is interesting - presumably Obama and Hillary had a root around the backs of official sofas for some small change, but the wider issue is of course America lecturing the world on LGBT rights - I mean really?

So, the question about whether Hilary actually knew what she was saying (surely she'd correct it or ask "hang on guys, this is for real?"was taken up by the media.  Via the wonders of open government, the teleconference briefing on the story was published on the US State Department website.  You can read it here.  One member of the media asked if Hilary had actually written the speech.  This was the punchy and clear response from officials:

Well, she has a terrific amount of input into all of her speeches, but this is a speech that is very much crafted in her voice and with her guidance and her intentions in mind. I mean, she knew when she was going to give the speech. She knew that, as she said in the speech, that it is a topic that is still sensitive for some, and she wanted to be aware of that, sensitive to that, respectful of that. As she said in the speech, she wanted to give people a chance to raise what they were concerned about, afraid about, et cetera. And yet it’s something on which she also said in her speech over time – over the course of her life, her own sensitivities and convictions have deepened. And so I think, as I said at the outset, the speech was – because of her guidance and because of the work that she did on the speech, she worked through multiple drafts and makes edits and captures exactly what kind of tone she wants and writes out paragraphs longhand, et cetera. And I think in doing that, she really – she very purposefully made it both firmly principled and also unimpeachably respectful. And I think in that respect, it reflects her broader vision and her leadership in this area.

Hmm! The full speech can be viewed here and watched below:




It is of course to be welcomed that America broadly takes this approach but perhaps their speech and political efforts should be focused inwardly as well as externally.   Moreover, careful reading of the speech will reveal an administration balancing freedom of religion with sexuality and a focus upon ensuring LGBT people are not criminalised,a rested and physically injured.  It avoids the tough questions of same-sex marriage, employment protections, goods and services rights, adoption and fertility rights, medical access for those seeking to transition and so on.

This failure -and that's what it is - enables countries such as Nigeria to dismiss these calls, and the whole speech to amount to nothing more than vacuous remarks.

The US administration also issued a Presidential Memorandum - quite literally a note from the boss to government agencies.  That memo applied to the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Export-Import Bank, the United States Trade Representative, and such other agencies as the President may designate.

It made a series of specific directions to agencies, requiring them to:

• Combat the criminalization of LGBT status or conduct abroad.
• Protect vulnerable LGBT refugees and asylum seekers.
• Leverage foreign assistance to protect human rights and advance nondiscrimination.
• Ensure swift and meaningful U.S. responses to human rights abuses of LGBT persons abroad.
• Engage International Organizations in the fight against LGBT discrimination.
• Report on progress.

The memorandum is worth reading in full which you can do here, and although it received less attention in the media, it is equally vacuous.  America, this isn't good enough.

EHRC in Equality Law U-Turn

In the video above, you can hear and see a car screeching as it comes to an abrupt unplanned halt. A similar sound could be heard coming from the Equality and Human Rights Commission as they confirmed that they will not seek ‘reasonable adjustments’ to be made for religious workers who refuse to serve gay people. The Commission had planned on supporting a number of cases appearing before the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds of religious discrimination.

I blogged on the original planned legal action next month (see it here). I wrote:

'This case is about discrimination and ultimately the Commission is trying (and failing) to find a third-way between discriminating against the religious, and discriminating against homosexuals. I often tell students that understanding the law is about the application of values and ideas. There is no such thing as equality in this arena - there is instead the necessary choice of which side you back - a hatred of homosexuals or a hatred of religious freedom.'

Words I stand-by and the Commission has clearly made a fresh choice. In doing so, and as I indicated last month, they merely irritate an alternative audience - this time, the religious.

Pink News reports that Don Horrocks, head of public affairs at the Evangelical Alliance, has condemned the move, stating: “It seems pretty clear that the commission has been successfully intimidated against proceeding as they initially announced.

“They appear to have changed their initial approach as a result of the outcry from those groups who wish to restrict freedom of religion and religious rights of conscience being recognised more fairly by the courts.”

She is right. This is about restricting the freedom of religion, but if you are opposed to that, you must be in favour of homophobia. The EHRC had to made a choice and they have. However, the decision is open for consultation for two weeks so further flip-flopping on this issue can't yet be ruled out.