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Sexuality and the Law

Selected Works

Sexual orientation

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Full-Text Articles in Human Rights Law

Asian Courts And Lgbt Rights, Holning Lau Dec 2019

Asian Courts And Lgbt Rights, Holning Lau

Holning Lau

Courts have played an integral part in advancing the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities in many parts of Asia. For example, Taiwan’s highest court ruled in 2017 that it was unconstitutional to exclude same-sex couples from marriage. As a result, in 2019, Taiwan became the first jurisdiction in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Among judicial decisions from Asia, Taiwan’s marriage ruling has gone the furthest in affirming same-sex relationships, but it is not alone in vindicating the rights of gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. Courts in Asia have also advanced transgender rights. For example, building on …

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Sexual Orientation, Equal Treatment And The Right To Manifest Religion: Lee V Mcarthur, Mel Cousins Nov 2017

Sexual Orientation, Equal Treatment And The Right To Manifest Religion: Lee V Mcarthur, Mel Cousins

Mel Cousins

This note outlines the recent decisions of the Northern Ireland courts in what has become known as the ‘gay cake’ case. The county court ruled that the bakery (Ashers) and its directors had discriminated against Mr. Lee on the grounds of sexual orientation (under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006) and on the grounds of political opinion and/or religious belief (under the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998). The court further held that any limit on the manifestation of the defendant’s religious beliefs was necessary in a democratic society and a proportionate means of achieving a …

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Afterword – Straightness As Property: Back To The Future-Law And Status In The 21st Century, Symposium: Liberalism And Property Rights, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol, Shelbi D. Day Aug 2015

Afterword – Straightness As Property: Back To The Future-Law And Status In The 21st Century, Symposium: Liberalism And Property Rights, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol, Shelbi D. Day

Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

As is evident from the other works in this Symposium, throughout history in both the United States and the greater Western World, status-based exclusion of individuals and groups from property rights has been central to the existence of political and social hierarchies. Specifically, exclusion based on status — whether it be nationality, culture, race, sex or sexuality — has plagued our history and has been integral in the formation and development of both constitutional and property law regimes. Consequently, both regimes are at best uneven in the grant and distribution of rights and benefits. A forward-looking examination of the link …

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