Over the last 30 years, more than 85 countries have prohibited sexual orientation discrimination in employment. Enacting such legal prohibitions has thereby become the most common form of legal... Show moreOver the last 30 years, more than 85 countries have prohibited sexual orientation discrimination in employment. Enacting such legal prohibitions has thereby become the most common form of legal recognition of homosexual orientation (more so than the decriminalisation of homosexual sex or the opening up of family law to same-sex partners). The trend is global (ten countries in Africa, more in Asia/Oceania, many in Europe and the Americas). The trend is reflected in supranational rules of the European Union and the Organisation of American States and also in decisions of international human rights bodies. On the basis of these numbers and developments, and in light of the various factors that help explain the strength of this global trend, the author argues that it is to be expected that the trend will continue to reach more and more countries. Explicit legal prohibitions of sexual orientation discrimination in employment can play a useful – perhaps central – role amongst other legal, educational, and social strategies aimed at increasing LGB inclusion.This article in the Dutch Journal for Gender Studies (Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, https://www.aup-online.com/content/journals/13883186) is based on a presentation the author gave at the international conference on LGBTIQ+ Workplace Inclusion (Leiden University, 20-21 May 2021). See also the video recording of this presentation at: https://video.leidenuniv.nl/media/t/1_jiu0iuyw (part 1, 15 minutes) and https://video.leidenuniv.nl/media/t/1_qytk06b6 (part 2, 37 minutes). Show less
The Global Index on Legal Recognition of Homosexual Orientation (GILRHO), is being developed by Kees Waaldijk at Leiden University, with the help of many others. It is work in progress, covering... Show moreThe Global Index on Legal Recognition of Homosexual Orientation (GILRHO), is being developed by Kees Waaldijk at Leiden University, with the help of many others. It is work in progress, covering all 200 currently-independent countries of the world for every year since 1961.In GILRHO, for each year, countries can be given index points for eight categories of laws: decriminalization (one point for legalization of sex between same-sex adults, and one for equalization of the age of consent), anti-discrimination legislation (one point for an explicit prohibition in the field of employment, and one for this in the field of goods and services), and couple recognition (one point for recognition of same-sex cohabitation, one for introduction of registered partnership, one for allowing adoption by same-sex partner(s), and one for opening up marriage to them). So a maximum of eight points, with a half point given if the relevant law is or was only applicable in part(s) of a country.A full description of the methodology of GILRHO, and an analysis of its interaction with GDP per capita, can be found in the open access article: MVL Badgett, K Waaldijk & Y van der Meulen Rodgers, ‘The relationship between LGBT inclusion and economic development: Macro-level evidence’ (120 World Development, August 2019, p. 1-14, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X19300695). More information about the sources and construction of GILRHO is provided in the report: MVL Badgett, S Nezhad, K Waaldijk & Y van der Meulen Rodgers, The relationship between LGBT inclusion and economic development: An analysis of emerging economies (2014, Washington DC and Los Angeles, CA: USAID and The Williams Institute; https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbt-inclusion-economic-dev). A short explanation of GILRHO in Dutch, in relation to public opinion, can be found in the paper: K Waaldijk, ‘Van strafbaar tot huwbaar – homorecht wereldwijd’ (2015, https://hdl.handle.net/1887/37242).GILRHO has been developed on the basis of constantly improving versions of a footnoted legal dataset originally presented in the paper: K Waaldijk, ‘Legal recognition of homosexual orientation in the countries of the world’ (2009 conference The Global Arc of Justice at UCLA; Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute, http://hdl.handle.net/1887/14543). Since then the legal dataset has been expanded and corrected on the basis of many sources (including the annual reports on State-Sponsored Homophobia published since 2006 by ILGA (the International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association, https://ilga.org/state-sponsored-homophobia-report). The legal dataset has not yet been published.Parts of the numerical index data of GILRHO (as they were by 2014) have now been published. First the provisional index data for 39 countries over the years 1980-2014 were published in the 2014 report by Badgett et al. (mentioned above, p. 60-61). And later the provisional index data for 132 countries for the years 1966-2011 have been published in the data file accompanying the 2019 article by Badgett et al. (mentioned above, spreadsheet in Appendix A, which also contains other data from other sources); this data file is also attached here. The published numerical index data of GILRHO and its underlying legal dataset are subject to further corrections and updates. Over the coming years, more comprehensive versions of GILRHO and of its legal dataset will be published. Show less
