“Freedom of Religion or Belief” is Dead

Pasquale Annicchino is a senior assistant professor of law at the University of Foggia (Italy). He is a member of the OSCE/ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

 How many times have we used the phrase “freedom of religion or belief”? Could it be that we have been mistaken in employing that phrase all along? The rapid pace of technological change might necessitate a reevaluation, bringing us back to the original phrasing in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”

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Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Rights of LGBT+ Persons in Accordance with the Gospel of the UN Independent Expert on SOGI Rights

Thiago Alves Pinto is Director of Studies in Theology and Religion and a department lecturer in Legal Studies in the Department for Continuing Studies, University of Oxford.

On 7 June 2023, the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (hereinafter Independent Expert) published his highly anticipated/feared report on freedom of religion or belief, and freedom from violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It is safe to say that, given the subject, the report will not please everyone, but like most international decisions on the topic (including Eweida and Others v. The United Kingdom, Bayev and Other v. Russia, and Pavez Pavez v. Chile), the report is legally sound and in line with international human rights law standards. Unfortunately, the topic itself is considered by many as inherently “controversial,” an attitude that naturally impoverishes rational discussion on the subject. Still, while the legal arguments presented by the Independent Expert are not controversial, entrenched ideologies try to keep this debate at a stalemate.

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Is Homocolonialism a Sound Argument to Advance Human Rights for LGBTQ+ People?

Dmytro Vovk is a visiting professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

The concept of “traditional values” is often used to justify limiting women’s and LGBTQ+ rights around the globe. Supporters of traditional values argue that certain types of marriage, family, and sexual intimacy are not acceptable because they violate the dominant values, moral foundations, and patterns of behavior that have been entrenched in their societies for many years or even centuries. Therefore, they argue, the state should ban or restrict these “other” relations as harmful and should support traditional sexual and family relations as desirable and important for social well-being. People engaging in sexual and family practices that deviate from these norms are often labeled as marginals, perverts, or even aliens of the society and the state.

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