Herman, Didi (1992) Reforming rights : lesbian and gay struggles for legal equality in Canada. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

In recent years, Canadian governments and courts have
increasingly responded positively to the demands of lesbian
and gay communities for legal rights. As a result, in
several instances, such rights have been extended, at both
statutory and
constitutional levels. In this thesis, I
consider the politics of struggles for lesbian and gay
legal equality in Canada. Although I explore several
developments in this area, I focus my analysis upon two key
examples: the struggle, in 1986, to add a "sexual
orientation" ground to Ontario's Human Rights Code; and a
key legal rights case launched in the late 1980s, and still
on-going as of this writing (Mossop).
More specifically, I address three key questions: [1] how
are lesbian and gay subjects and subjectivities constituted
through human rights law and what forces produce these
legal constructions? [2] how capable are liberal
democracies of accommodating 'sexual pluralism', and what
are the implications of this for other areas of social
transformation? [3] what is the relationship between the
lesbian and gay rights movement, its principal opponents
the New Christian Right, and 'the state' - how do the
struggles of social movements for interpretive authority
shape the law-making process (and vice versa)?
In responding to these questions, I draw upon diverse
approaches in legal theory, sociology, feminism, and
lesbian and gay studies. My analysis centres upon the role
of law as a site of struggle. I explore the engagements
between the lesbian and gay rights movement, and its key
opponent the New Christian Right. I assess the effects of
lesbian and gay rights campaigns in both the short and long
terms, considering issues to do with social movement
mobilisation, effective political communication, and the
role of these struggles in shifting dominant frameworks of
meaning. I offer a detailed discussion of the role of
rights, as goal and rhetoric, within political action. And
I consider the relationship between law, and other forms of
knowledge. I argue that the effects of legal struggle are
complex, contradictory, and unpredictable. Lesbian and gay
rights reforms have both entrenched and undermined dominant
paradigms of sexuality, and the effects of legal struggle
in this and other areas must be assessed in the long-term.
This thesis contributes to knowledge in four key areas:
critical rights theory; theories of law and social change;
the sociology of social movements and religions; and
lesbian and gay politics. I use a combination of legal,
sociological, feminist, and historical methodologies.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman K Law [LC] > KE Canada
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Gays -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Canada, Human rights -- Canada
Official Date:	December 1992
Dates:	Date Event December 1992 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Beckford, James A. ; Smart, Carol
Sponsors:	Laidlaw Foundation ; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Extent:	v, 370 leaves
Language:	eng

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