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11 Nw. U. J. Int'l Hum. Rts. 186 (2012-2013)
Introduction

handle is hein.journals/jihr11 and id is 193 raw text is: NORTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS Introduction Rohan Sajnani, Guest Editor Gay is synonymous with the lesser It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment The same fight that led people to walkouts and sit-ins It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference! -Macklemore, Same Love, 2012 I want to thank the Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights for inviting me to guest-edit this issue. A frontlines issue on the global fight for the rights of sexual minorities could not be timelier. In the past year, the now infamous Ugandan Anti- Homosexuality Bill, promised as a Christmas gift to the Ugandan people by Speaker of the House Rebecca Kadaga, still has not passed; however, it could come into force any day now. In contrast, the United States' Defence of Marriage Act, which allowed states to refuse to acknowledge the same-sex marriages of other states, was found unconstitutional in United States v. Windsor.' This summer, Russia passed a nebulous antigay propaganda law that could restrict vital rights-building activities such as sexual health education and Pride events.2 In response, several governments, including my home country of Canada, have made commitments to accommodate influxes of sexual minority refugee claimants in their immigration policies.3 Furthermore, calls for boycotting the Sochi Olympics and Russian products proliferate the media.4 The free expression of sexual rights and identities is a contemporary ideological battlefield. It is also a literal battlefield for the scores of sexual and gender variant individuals who continue to lose their lives to ignorance and fear-driven violence. I remember reading about Matthew Shepard's death in 1998, at the time myself an openly gay high- school student. His death was a catalyst on many levels. I started a Gay-Straight Alliance in 2000, one of the first in Canada. These student organizations are now protected by law in my home province.5 Shepard's death was a catalyst for macro-level change as well, culminating in the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act ' No. 12-307, 2013 WL 3196928 (June 26, 2013). 2 Full English text of Russia's anti-gay law, DAILY Kos (Apr. 11, 2012), http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/11/1082469/-Full-English-text-of-Russia-s-anti-gay-law. Daniel Bitonti & Campbell Clark, Canada to favour refugee gay Russians, THE GLOBE AND MAIL (Aug. 12, 2013), http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-to-favour-refugee-claims-by-gay- russians/articlel3724670/#dashboard/follows/. 4 See Laura Smith-Spark & Phil Black, Protests, boycott calls as anger grows over Russia anti-gay propaganda laws, CNN (Aug. 4, 2013), http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/01/world/europe/russia-gay-rights- controversy. Accepting Schools Act, S.0, 2012, C.5 (Can.). [2013

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