ABSTRACT
In 2004, Paul Hunt, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, issued a groundbreaking report that provoked the ire of more than a few country delegates to the Human Rights Commission (which, in early 2006, became the Human Rights Council). In that report Hunt states, ‘sexuality is a characteristic of all human beings. It is a fundamental aspect of an individual’s identity. It helps to define who a person is.’ This means that fundamental human rights principles and norms must incorporate a ‘recognition of sexual rights as human rights’, including ‘the right of all persons to express their sexual orientation, with due regard for the wellbeing and rights of others, without fear of persecution, denial of liberty or social interference’ (Hunt 2004, p. 15).
