Human Rights and Sexual Minorities - GLBT rights in the public eye

Some countries have extended full equal rights to sexual minorities (gay lesbianbisexual and transgender individuals and groups) while at the sametime others have not progressed or even regressed. Why? This study employsa case-study approach emphasizing the processes of rights acquisitionand the outcomes of those processes to determine what characteristics arenecessary for successful sexual minority rights acquisition movements indiverse settings. The traits examined are levels of development cultural/attitudinalorientations governmental/institutional opportunity structures andcharacteristics of rights proponents' organizations in four countries: DenmarkIndia the Republic of South Africa and the United States. To framethe discussion relevant national debates in each country are analyzed. Thepresence or absence of any level of rights is most strongly informed by thecultural/attitudinal orientation of the country's elites and the organizationalstructure and legal/political strategy of the proponents. This book is addressedto scholars of and activists in GLBT movements as well as students of politicsand sociology.