Course Description

This course examines the relationship between sexual orientation, gender identity, and international and comparative human rights law. It explores how international human rights institutions, regional mechanisms, and selected domestic legal systems have responded to questions concerning sexuality, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics. At the same time, the course asks a deeper conceptual question: whether the framework of human rights law itself is capable of fully accommodating queer claims and experiences.

The course begins with an introduction to foundational debates in human rights theory, notably between universalism and cultural relativism. It then introduces key ideas in queer theory and traces the gradual emergence of sexual orientation and gender identity within mainstream human rights discourse. While discussions of queer rights are often confined to questions of sexuality, this course seeks to place equal emphasis on gender identity and gender expression, and examines how these concerns have been addressed within contemporary legal frameworks.

Subsequent modules focus on international human rights law and the interpretation of core human rights treaties in the context of sexual orientation and gender identity. Of the nine core human rights treaties, the course content covers only the ICCPR, the ICESCR, the UNCAT, CEDAW, CRC, and the CRPD. Due to paucity of time, the course does not cover the CERD, CPED, and ICMW. However, most of the readings cover a variety of issues and also touch on the latter treaties. Through treaty provisions, treaty body jurisprudence, individual communications, soft law instruments, and writings by scholars from around the world, students will examine how international human rights law engages with issues such as criminalisation, privacy, marriage, health, and violence. The course also critically evaluates whether rights-based approaches create genuinely emancipatory possibilities for queer communities or ultimately assimilate queer identities into existing (hetero)normative structures.

The course then turns to regional and comparative perspectives. It studies the development of queer rights jurisprudence across regions where institutional protections remain fragmented or underdeveloped, such as Africa and Asia, while also examining more systematic (or at least known to be) structures, such as the ECtHR and the IACtHR. Comparative materials from jurisdictions across South Asia, Southeast Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, and the Americas will be used to understand how different cultures, societies, and institutional designs shape legal responses to sexual orientation and gender identity. A range of materials from the Global North and the Global South shall be engaged with.

The concluding part of the course returns to the broader theoretical question underlying the elective: can human rights law itself be “queered”? Does international human rights law merely extend recognition to queer subjects within existing legal frameworks, or does queer critique fundamentally unsettle the assumptions underlying rights discourse itself?

The course does not substantially engage with Indian constitutional and statutory debates concerning sexual orientation and gender identity, as these questions are addressed in greater detail in other courses and electives offered at the University. Instead, the primary focus of this course remains international, regional, and comparative. For the final question in the concluding module, the discussion may pivot to implementing the framework from the previous modules on sexual orientation and gender identity in India.

The course materials will include scholarly articles, treaty body materials, international instruments, and selected book chapters. Classes will be conducted through a combination of lectures, Socratic discussion, and student-led presentations.