Kassandra Barber
WGST 202
T/Th 9:30-10:45
Professor
Currans
Blog Topic: Gay,
Lesbian and Bisexual Rights Movement
Joke Swiebel
(2009) Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights: the search for an
international strategy, Contemporary Politics, 15:1, 19-35
I am reviewing an article by Joke
Swiebel titled “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights: the search
for an international strategy.” The
author's main point in the article is explaining why the EU (European Union) is
so involved with the LGBT rights movement, and why exactly the UN (United
Nations) deflected the LGBT communities campaign for equal rights.
The author begins to break down why
it is that the International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) to listen
to what they have to say. Swiebel talks
about the social movement theory which will help to better understand how it is
that INGOs have the ability to raise awareness about the LGBT community. The author points out that it’s much easier
to communicate with the EU, and very difficult to get through to the UN. This mainly stems from cultural and religious
views of the UN’s main members.
Swiebel then moves on to describe
the “agenda-setting model” (Swiebel 20).
First, the movement (LGBT) must gain access to the organization (EU),
which they successfully did. Next,
they have to present the issue in a way
that the International Organization feels they will be able to contribute to
it. In other words, they want some form
of credit for what’s about to happen.
Third, they must make sure that the issue at hand is put into the agenda
that the organization will be going over.
After that the issue must be broken down in to demands that ultimately
need to be fulfilled. And as the last
step, LGBT should make sure that they have political support so ensure that
what they are demanding actually has a surviving chance to come to
fruition. These are the five steps that
are crucial for the movement to really make a stride with the European
Union. Swiebel also points out that in
order for a movement to really get the ball rolling, they really have to know
the “rules of the game” (Swiebel 21).
The author then dives into the
history of the LGBT rights movement and the European Union. This helps to understand exactly why the LGBT
community had an easier time coming through and making strides with the
EU. The push for LGBT rights started
with the EU in 1980s. The movement
initially started off with bringing attention to discrimination against
homosexuals in employment (Swiebel 22).
By the 1990s the movement had access to European Parliament and the
European commission, which was very important.
In 1997, the movement made great strides. An article was passed that actually exceeded
the expectations for the labor market.
One of these stipulations involved sexual orientation. This means that the LGBT community cannot be
discriminated against at a place of employment because of their sex or
gender.
The next section breaks down how
difficult it really is for the LGBT to get through to the UN. As stated before the UN did not want to budge
on where it stood with the LGBT rights movement. Due to the cultural and religious views of
some of the members, it was very difficult to make any sort of stride with the
United Nations. However, a sliver of
progress was made, and a sliver is not an exaggeration. This occurred when a Dutch Junior Minister,
that just so happened to be a woman, decided to present a case for lesbian
rights in front of her fellow members of the UN. In light of the occurrence, the LGBT
community was granted speaking rights during UN conferences. This doesn’t
necessarily mean that anything was going to be truly taken into consideration
about the issue. The movement for LGBT
rights has definitely made some progress
within the EU but as far as the UN id concerned the issued is planted right
where it stands. With the European
Union, the LGBT community has better structure, and people with an “in” to the
EU that people supported the movement.
What really hurt the LGBT movement as far as the UN is concerned is the
serious lack of political support.
This article relates to my blog
topic because it deals heavily with the LGBT rights movement overseas. The movement isn’t just happening in the
United States, which is what makes this article important to my topic because
it shows that this movement is a concern all over the world. This article and my previous article called “Voting
Behaviour among the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered electorate” by
Andrea M.L. Brown, Steven D. Kay, and J. Barry, relate to each other because
both of them deal with how other
governments or organizations deal with the growing issue of the LGBT rights
movement. Although the second article touches base on Canada and this one
connects with the EU and the UN. I think
it’s comforting to know that the LGBT rights movement is making some sort of
progress at an international level, sure things won’t happen right away but
even the baby steps in the rights movement throughout the world make a
difference to the community. I don’t
feel that there is anything that the author left unaddressed; I think that Joke
Swiebel did a very good job breaking down the differences between the EU and UN
and how the movement is making progress with at least one Intergovernmental
Organization.
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