ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how religious actors engage with attempts to define and obtain recognition for sexual and gender rights by facilitating or resisting attitudinal change and attempting to influence law and policy. The widespread criminalisation of same-sex relations by colonial governments is briefly discussed in the first section. An analytical framework drawn from social movement research is used to identify the factors influencing the emergence of movements seeking the recognition and realisation of the rights of sexual and gender minorities and the outcomes of their campaigning in SSA and South Asia. These include the actors involved and their organisational platforms and mobilisation strategies, which influence the way they frame their goals, whether they can take advantage of political opportunities when they occur, the resources they are able to mobilise and the tactics they employ. The discussion draws on research on movements campaigning on issues of sexuality and gender in Uganda, South Africa and South Asia. The dominance of conservative religious and social values, the political salience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) rights and the relative weakness of LGBT+ organisations and networks in the face of religious bodies and governments with public support and superior organisational resources are manifest in the widespread failure to repeal oppressive laws.
