Sexuality and Transsexuality Under the European Convention on Human Rights: A Queer Reading of Human Rights Law

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Description

This book undertakes a critical analysis of international human rights law through the lens of queer theory. It pursues two main aims: first, to make use of queer theory to illustrate that the field of human rights law is underpinned by several assumptions that determine a conception of the subject that is gendered and sexual in specific ways. This gives rise to multiple legal and social consequences, some of which challenge the very idea of universality of human rights. Second, the book proposes that human rights law can actually benefit from a better understanding of queer critiques, since queer insights can help it to overcome heteronormative beliefs currently held. In order to achieve these main aims, the book focuses on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the leading legal authority in the field of international human rights law. The use of queer theory as the theoretical approach for these tasks serves to deconstruct several aspects of the Courts jurisprudence dealing with gender, sexuality, and kinship, to later suggest potential paths to reconstruct such features in a queer(er) and more universal manner.

Reviews

A valuable contribution to the literature on the Courts heteronormativity. Furthermore, the book is a functional introduction for readers interested in familiarising themselves with queer theoretical critiques and becoming familiar with the ECtHRs ever-growing body of case law concerning sexualities. -- Juho Aalto, University of Turku * Nordic Journal of Human Rights *

Author Bio

Damian A Gonzalez-Salzberg is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Sheffield.