Life denied

Written by Н. Анараа Monday, 03 May 2010 00:00

What  is  the  relevance,  or  even  legitimacy,  of  Lesbian,  Gay,  Bisexual  and  Transgender (LGBT) human rights when dealing with social development? How does the human rights aspect of a  particularly  marginalised  group  fit  into  the  issue  of  development?  My  argument  is  that  LGBT human rights are a part and parcel of social development, since the social capital is created by all citizens of any given country, and if one group’s right to contribute positively to the social capital is being  delegitimated  either  historically,  or  religiously,  or  socially,  or  ideologically,  or  all  of  the  above,  it  is  detrimental  to  the  overall  process  of  the  social  capital  creation  –  a  process  that is essentially a ‘civic associativeness’  – and therefore consequently to  social development. Exclusion and inclusion aspects of social capital have been charted out well, thus I shall not expatiate on this point. Conversely, one might be compelled to argue that a rights-based development approach in analysing  the  relevance  of  LGBT  human  rights  is  the  case  in  point  where  LGBT  rights  are concerned.  As  gender   has   been  construed   as  one  of  the  relevant  study   aspects  of   social

development, I argue that so must LGBT people’s contributions to or, at this point, global exclusion from,  the creation  of  social  development  must  be  emphasised and given  importance  in the social development study.It  has been well  documented that  LGBT people have historically contributed positively  to the development and evolution of the civil liberties movements in Western countries, however it is not the case so far in other parts of the world. Demonisation, dehumanisation and delegitimation of LGBT people and ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ 5  or heteronormativity that went unquestioned in the West, but was subsequently deconstructed by the gay rights movement, are still unchallenged in  most of  the  developing  countries 6 .  To  further  deepen  the  argument  of  the  relevance  of LGBT human rights, especially in developing countries, I shall recall the theory laid down by J.S. Mills,  that the right to self-fulfilment is inextricably linked to a liberal and advanced social system.

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