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A comparative examination of the political, historical, legal, and religious antecedents of penalties and discrimination against sexual minority groups around the world.
Bringing together theoretical perspectives from both comparative politics and public law, this book examines the reasons why certain countries criminalize same-sex activities while others have carved into law the requirement that sexual minority communities be protected. The authors break new ground by using cross-national yearly data over decades-focusing on sodomy laws, death penalty provisions for same-sex sexual relations, and sexual discrimination practices-to develop a Gay Rights Index comparing treatment of such groups in various parts of the world. The book includes legal and large-N analyses, historical examples, and case studies underscoring important changes and key trends during the last several decades. Also highlighted are the significant human rights violations still being committed in various parts of the world against sexual minorities, and the continuing role religion plays.
"While the book is at times somber in light of the subject matter, the authors maintain a clear and respectful tone throughout … this is an extremely well-researched and sobering book." — Reading Religion
"Highly recommended." — CHOICE
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. The History of Sodomy Laws and the Theory of Legal Path Dependence
3. The Religious State and Death Penalty for Sodomy
4. Sodomy Provisions and Their Repeal
5. Equalization of Rights
6. The Gay Rights Index
7. Conclusions
Appendix A: Descriptive Statistics
Appendix B: A Correlation Matrix
Appendix C: Supporting Analyses and Robustness Tests
Appendix D: Supporting Analyses and Robustness Tests
Appendix E: Supporting Analyses and Robustness Tests
Appendix F: Illustrations
Notes
References
Index