ABSTRACT
Human rights are strong political currency for the globalised world in which people live. In most cases, human rights discourses on issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity at both the regional and the different domestic levels have focused on a grand strategy of assimilation and taming of sexual and gender difference. This chapter looks at the case law of the European Commission, and Court, of Human Rights (ECommHR/ECtHR) relating to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity from a critical standpoint. Both the case law of the ECommHR/ECtHR and the work of the Commissioner serve to illustrate the difficulties encountered by various actors in the field of human rights when trying to grapple with issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. Indirectly, these issues also contribute to the debate on whether human rights should be gender-specific or gender-neutral.
