ABSTRACT
This submission to the critical areas section of the book will address human rights debates about global lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) politics. Considering that this topic may be new to some students, this section will begin with an overview of key terms including LGBTQ, queer, intersex, sexual orientation, and finally gender identity before then going into specific issues of LGBTQ human rights. To broadly frame this topic, attention will be paid to the bridge between feminist and queer organizing for LGBTQ issues. Because this book will likely have a large readership of students in American universities the section will include a brief review of which issues of LGBTQ politics have been prioritized in domestic politics, including the Obergefell V. Hodges case for marriage equality as well as the fight for inclusion of LGBT individuals in the American military. The section will then review mobilizing for LGBTQ issues through the lens of large global civil society organizations including OutRight International and ILGA as compared to a number of small organizations in the Global South. The role of human rights as contained in UN documents on the global scale verses human rights concerns as articulated by local organizations will then be compared. The section will conclude with a look at the critical pushback on the human rights paradigm as a way to achieve security and equality for LGBTQ individuals due to the colonial legacy of the institution as expressed by some transnational feminists.
