ABSTRACT

This book identifies, analyses and discusses the nexus of legal issues that have emerged in recent years around sexuality and gender. It audits these against specific human rights requirements and evaluates the outcomes as evidenced in the legislation and caselaw of six leading common law jurisdictions. Beginning with a snapshot of the legal definitions and sanctions associated with the traditional marital family unit, the book examines the subsequently evolving key concepts and constructs before outlining the contemporary international framework of human rights as it relates to matters of sexuality and gender. It proceeds by identifying a set of themes, including the rights to identity, to form a family, to privacy, to equality and to non-discrimination, and undertakes a comparative evaluation of how these and other themes indicate areas of commonality and difference in the approaches adopted in those common law jurisdictions, as illustrated by the associated legislation and caselaw. It then considers why this should be and assesses the implications.

chapter |3 pages

Introduction

part I|101 pages

Background

chapter 1|21 pages

Sexuality and gender

Cultural context, concepts and parameters

chapter 3|59 pages

The international legal framework and themes of intersection

Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity

part II|210 pages

Law, policy and practice

chapter 4|36 pages

England and Wales

chapter 5|34 pages

Ireland

chapter 6|45 pages

United States of America

chapter 7|33 pages

Canada

chapter 8|34 pages

Australia

chapter 9|26 pages

New Zealand

part III|30 pages

Evaluation

chapter 10|25 pages

Themes of commonality and difference

chapter |3 pages

Conclusion