Prof. Gay McDougall's Career-Long Fight for Human Rights

Contents:

• HUMAN RIGHTS HERO: GAY J. MCDOUGALL
• GAY MCDOUGALL
• THE ELECTN OF GAY MCDOUGALL TO THE UN COMMTEE ON THE ELIMATN OF RACIAL DISCRIMATN
• GAY J. MCDOUGALL
• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• GAY RIGHTS
• PROF. GAY MCDOUGALL’S CAREER-LONG FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
• THE ROLE OF GAY MEN AND LBIANS THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

HUMAN RIGHTS HERO: GAY J. MCDOUGALL

On April 27, 1994, Gay McDougall stood next to Nelson Manla as he st his first vote ever a mocratic electn South Ai after spendg 27 years prison for anti-apartheid activi. I would like to ngratulate law profsor Gay McDougall on her electn as an pennt expert to serve on the UN Commtee on the Elimatn of Racial Discrimatn (CERD).

Gay McDougall is an attorney who has been stmental craftg human rights legislatn for emergg mocraci. Distguished Scholar--Rince, Lener Center for Internatnal Law and Jtice, Fordham Universy School of LawGay McDougall’s work has nsistently challenged equaly.

GAY MCDOUGALL

Gay McDougall, New York, was a recipient of the MacArthur “Geni” Award for her work pursu of global human rights and 2015 the Government of South Ai btowed on her their natnal medal of honor for non-cizens, the Orr of O. Gay rights movement, also lled gay liberatn movement, civil rights movement that advot equal rights for LGBTQ persons (i.

THE ELECTN OF GAY MCDOUGALL TO THE UN COMMTEE ON THE ELIMATN OF RACIAL DISCRIMATN

E., for lbians, gays [homosexual mal], bisexuals, transgenr persons, and queer persons); seeks to elimate sodomy laws; and lls for an end to discrimatn agast LGBTQ persons employment, cred, hog, public acmodatns, and other areas of life. (Although the term gay is monly ed reference to homosexual mal, is also ed more generally to refer to homosexual mal together wh some or all other orientatns wh the LGBTQ muny. ) Gay rights prr to the 20th century Relig admonns agast sexual relatns between dividuals of the same sex (particularly men) long stigmatized such behavur, but most legal s Europe were silent on the subject of homosexualy and bisexualy.

The begng of the gay rights movement Before the end of the 19th century there were srcely any “movements” for gay rights. Ined, his poem “Two Lov” (1894), Lord Aled (“Bosie”) Douglas, Osr Wil’s lover, clared “I [homosexualy] am the love that dare not speak s name. ” Homosexual and bisexual men and women were given voice 1897 wh the foundg of the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee (Wissenschaftlich-humanär Komee; WhK) Berl.

GAY J. MCDOUGALL

Dpe Paragraph 175 and the failure of the WhK to w s repeal, homosexual and bisexual men and women experienced a certa amount of eedom Germany, particularly durg the Weimar perd, between the end of World War I and the Nazi seizure of power. Ined, acrdg to some historians, the number of gay bars and perdils Berl the 1920s exceed that New York Cy six s later.

Dpe the formatn of such groups, polil activy by homosexuals and bisexuals was generally not very visible. In the Uned Stat this greater visibily brought some backlash, particularly om the ernment and the police: the ernment often fired gay civil servants, the ary attempted to purge s ranks of gay soldiers (a policy enacted durg World War II), and police vice squads equently raid gay bars and arrted their patrons. However, there was also greater polil activy among gays, aimed large measure at crimalizg sodomy.

The gay rights movement sce the mid-20th century Begng the mid-20th century, an creasg number of gay anizatns were formed. In the Uned Stat the first major male anizatn, found 1950–51 by Harry Hay Los Angel, was the Mattache Society (s name reputedly rived om a medieval French society of masked players, the Société Mattache, to reprent the public “maskg” of homosexualy), while the Dghters of Bilis (named after the Sapphic love poems of Pierre Louÿs, Chansons Bilis), found 1955 by Phyllis Lyon and Del Mart San Francis, was a leadg group for women. In Bra 1957 a missn chaired by Sir John Wolfenn issued a groundbreakg report (see Wolfenn Report) remendg that private homosexual liaisons between nsentg adults be removed om the doma of crimal law; a later the remendatn was implemented by Parliament the Sexual Offenc Act.

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

The gay rights movement was begng to w victori for legal reform, particularly wtern Europe, but perhaps the sgle fg event of gay activism occurred the Uned Stat. In the early morng hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar New York Cy’s Greenwich Village, was raid by the police.

In the 1970s and ’80s, gay polil anizatns proliferated, particularly the Uned Stat and Europe, and spread to other parts of the globe, though their relative size, strength, and succs—and toleratn by thori—varied signifintly. Groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, the Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force, and ACT UP (AIDS Coaln to Unleash Power) the Uned Stat and Stonewall and Outrage! In addn, the transnatnal Internatnal Lbian and Gay Associatn was found Coventry, England, 1978.

GAY RIGHTS

Now headquartered Geneva and renamed the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA World), plays a signifint role ordatg ternatnal efforts to promote human rights and fight discrimatn agast LGBTQ and tersex persons. In the Uned Stat, gay activists won support om the Democratic Party 1980, when the party add to s platform nondiscrimatn clse a plank cludg sexual orientatn.

This support, along wh mpaigns by gay activists urgg gay men and women to “e out of the closet” (ed, the late 1980s, Natnal Comg Out Day was tablished, and is now celebrated on October 11 most untri), enuraged gay men and women to enter the polil arena as ndidat.

PROF. GAY MCDOUGALL’S CAREER-LONG FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

The first openly gay ernment officials the Uned Stat were Jerry DeGrieck and Nancy Wechsler Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1974 Wechsler was replaced on the uncil by Kathy Kozachenko, who, havg n openly as a lbian, th beme the first openly gay person to w office after g out. In 1977 gay rights activist Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francis Board of Supervisors; he was assassated the followg year.

THE ROLE OF GAY MEN AND LBIANS THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

In addn, 2019 Lori Lightfoot beme the first openly gay person to be elected mayor of Chigo, and two years later Pete Buttigieg beme the first openly gay bet member Amerin history. In Canada 1998 Glen Murray beme the mayor of Wnipeg, Manoba, which ma him the first openly gay polician to lead a large cy that untry.

Large ci Europe also were fertile grounds for succs for openly gay policians; for example, Bertrand Delanoë Paris and Kls Wowere Berl were both elected mayor 2001. At the lol and natnal levels, the number of openly gay policians creased dramatilly durg the 1990s and 2000s, and 2009 Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir beme prime mister of Iceland, which ma her the world’s first openly gay head of ernment.

In Ai, Asia, and Lat Ameri, openly gay policians have had only limed succs wng office; notable electns to natnal legislatur clud Patria Jiménez Flor Mexi (1997), Mike Waters South Ai (1999), and Clodovil Hernans Brazil (2006). The issu emphasized by gay rights groups have varied sce the 1970s by time and place; different natnal anizatns have promoted polici specifilly tailored to their untry’s i. Other issu of primary importance for the gay rights movement sce the 1970s clud batg the HIV/AIDS epimic and promotg disease preventn and fundg for rearch; lobbyg ernment for nondiscrimatory polici employment, hog, and other aspects of civil society; endg the ban on ary service for gay and lbian dividuals; expandg hate crim legislatn to clu protectns for gays, cludg transgenr dividuals; and securg marriage rights for same-sex upl (see same-sex marriage).