Comprehensive Security and LGBTQ Rights

Abstract

Contemporary threats to security are more likely to arise from causes other than armed conflicts, according to OSCE. OSCE considers the list of potential security threats open and able to intersect the military, economic, and “human sphere.” Yet, how open this list is, and how open should it be?

This paper tackles this two-fold question by examining the issue of whether discrimination and intolerance against LGBTQ populations can be considered a security threat that pertains to the human dimension of security. The article first looks at the acquis of OSCE. It then situates the notion of human security in the contemporary moment. The current conflict in Ukraine illustrates the dangers of an expansive approach to framing security that includes the protection of LGBTQ rights. This approach risks offering states in the OSCE area withholding protections for LGBTQ populations argumentative tools to resist the perceived hegemony of the West on human rights law.

Keywords: OSCE, security, LGBTQ rights, Russia, comprehensive security, culture wars, SOGI rights, illiberalism, human rights, discrimination