ABSTRACT
“No constitution, no legislation without participation” could easily be regarded as the leitmotiv of any constitution-making and relevant law-making exercise in the first two decades of the 21st century. This chapter analyses the successful participation story. It discusses the participatory mechanisms themselves and the strategies undertaken by Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) organisations and movements to make their voice heard and to translate their political and cultural claims into constitutionally entrenched clauses, into acts of parliament and into courts' judgments. The chapter investigates the concrete capacity of the law, even when it is the product of participatory processes, to be a vector for social change. Participation was crucial to secure that the law meets LGBTI people's expectations. Without a progressive legal framework and recognised and enforced rights and liberties, the lives of LGBTI people in South Africa would definitely be harder.
