Human rights: Protecting sexual minorities or reinforcing the boundaries of ‘the closet’?

A social constructionist approach to resilience for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and/or questioning academics and students in South African universities

“…This, as noted by Jagessar and Msibi (2015), accordingly recalls Atkinson and De Palma's (2009:18) argument that individuals continuously reinforce heterosexism '…through discourse'. Similar findings resulted from two studies on the attitudes of pre-service teachers at South African universities (De Wet et al 2016;Rothmann & 2.It is important to note the use of the plural in this regard. The reference to 'homosexualities' is indicative of the inherent diversity, plurality, localised and contestability associated with an individual's sexual identity, as opposed to the initially rigid categorisation of the proponents of the medical model, which posited same-sex attraction as homogeneous and pathological (cf.…”

“…South African research yielded significant insights into the life-worlds of sexual minority learners in primary and secondary schools relating to experiences of homophobia (Butler et al 2003;Francis 2017aFrancis , 2017bFrancis & Reygan 2016;Kowen & Davis 2006;McArthur 2015;Msibi 2012;Reygan & Francis 2015) and the teaching and learning of themes on gender and sexual diversity (Francis 2017a(Francis , 2017bRichardson 2004Richardson , 2008. Similar studies in higher education contexts have centred on the perceptions of and/or attitudes to homosexual students (De Wet, Rothmann & Simmonds 2016;Johnson 2014;Msibi 2015;Rothmann & Simmonds 2015); prejudice directed at these students on university campuses (Jagessar & Msibi 2015;Matthyse 2017); and the influence of subtle heterosexism or sources of resilience associated with gay male academics and students (Rothmann 2016(Rothmann , 2017. Jagessar and Msibi's (2015) work provides an insider's perspective of LGB 3 students' experiences of homophobia in university residences in KwaZulu-Natal.…”

The role of selfreflexivity on the part of gay male academics on South African university campuses

“…These included: abolishing the crime of sodomy in 1998 and affording samesex couples equal rights pertaining to immigration regulations (1999) These contextual dynamics may also have an impact on the experiences of sexual minority academics and students in South African academic contexts. Although not as extensively researched as its international counterparts, South African inquiries have mainly centred on the impact of physical violence (Msibi 2009), verbal abuse (Butler et al 2003Rothmann and Simmonds 2015) and homophobic academic contexts (Bhana 2014;De Wet, Rothmann and Simmonds 2016;Johnson 2014;Msibi 2012;Richardson 2004;2008) on sexual dissidents. Recent scholarship has, however, also explored the possibilities of agentic and collectivistic attempts at resilience and thriving on the part of sexual dissidents in educational contexts (Francis 2017;Francis and Reygan 2016).…”

Human rights and sexuality - reimagining the language of equality towards transformation in and through education

“…De Vos (2015b) contends that human rights and legal mechanisms associated with human rights could contribute to at least some positive experiences for sexual minorities. Yet, several authors point out that legal reform brought about by the anti-discrimination laws does not necessarily result in a noticeable change in people's discriminatory attitudes, nor does it automatically translate into lived experiences of equity for minority groups (De Vos 2015b;De Wet, Rothmann and Simmonds 2016;Becker, De Wet and Van Vollenhoven 2015).…”

“…Research in the first phase (2012)(2013)(2014) of a project titled 'Human Rights Literacies: A quest for meaning' (Roux and Du Preez 2013) revealed that although student-teachers recognise the right to equality as a legal right, their heterosexist and homophobic attitudes persist (Rothmann and Simmonds 2015;De Wet, Rothmann and Simmonds 2016). These findings are indicative of student-teachers' conflict between what human rights are and could be, and between what human rights are on paper and what they are in reality .…”