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much of the focus of activism of sexual minority groups to date has been
on campaigning for legal reforms to decriminalize safe sex relations and
sex work, and to extend social and employment rights to lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and sex workers.
The association of 'sexual rights' with the label LGBT and the rights
of sexual minorities is, however, problematic. The categories 'gay', 'les-
bian', 'bisexual', 'transgender' are terms that emerged in specific cul-
tural contexts (predominantly in the global North) and they do not
adequately convey the diversity of sexual identities and practices that
occur globally (Brown et al., 2010). People practising same-sex relations
in the global South may not identify as 'gay' or 'lesbian' or adopt these
labels to claim their rights. These categories can be exclusionary when
they are used to construct as 'deviant' people whose sexual practices do
not fit with dominant Western understandings of LGBT identities.
Jackson (2007) observes that Western gay and lesbian identities privi-
lege sexuality over gender, viewing these as separate, in contrast to
non-Western cultures.
Research in non-Western societies, however, has revealed the cen-
trality of gender to understanding eroticisms and sexual desire. The
hijras (eunuch-transvestites) of India, for example, dress as women and
perform at births and weddings, representing an institutionalized third
gender role. Despite the religious, ascetic ideal of renouncing sexual
desire, younger hijras often engage in sexual relations with men and in
sex work (Nanda, 2007). Nanda (2007) suggests that although this
results in conflicting values and tensions in the community, the contra-
dictions of their cross-gender role and sexual practices are accommo-
dated within Indian society. This example highlights the complex ways
that gender and sexuality may be entwined in particular cultural con-
texts. Studies have also explored the influence of globalization on
diverse gendered and sexual identities. Jackson (2007) identified a pro-
liferation in the labelling of distinctive types of gendered/sexed being,
termed phet or 'eroticized gender' identities, in public discourses in
Thailand over recent decades. This multiplicity of gendered/sexed iden-
tity labels challenges the often one-dimensional representations and
categorizations of homosexuality in the global North.
The association of sexual rights with the rights of LGBT people repro-
duces the assumed 'naturalness' of heterosexuality and prevents a
focus on heteronormative restrictions. It also means that discussion of
the sexual rights of heterosexual men is problematic, due to dominant
negative stereotypes of men as sexually promiscuous, patriarchal
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