Explaining Human Rights Protections Institutionalist Analysis.pdf

Explaining Human Rights Protections: Institutionalist Analysis in the Lesbian and Gay Rights Case Miriam Smith Department of Political Studies Trent University Peterborough ON K9J 7B8. miriamsmith@trentu.ca Paper prepared for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, June 2-4, 2005. 1 In English-speaking Canada’s political debates over the last five years, lesbian and gay rights and/or “gay marriage” has become increasingly important in defining the difference between Canadians and Americans. Just as medicare has long been used to symbolize Canadian values and the more generous Canadian welfare state, the rapid progress toward the recognition of lesbian and gay rights in Canada in recent years has come to symbolize Canadian tolerance. Even the Department of Canadian Heritage has now become interested in sponsoring events organized by Egale, Canada’s main lesbian and gay advocacy organization and in claiming the tolerance of sexual diversity as an example of Canada’s cultural heritage and as an aspect of human rights education (Heritage Canada, 2005). Canada’s new status as top destination for queer tourists who want to get married at Toronto City Hall has become part of its brand image of northern cool, validated by the Economist. The organizers of this panel have tapped into this branding of Canada as tolerant, multicultural, postmodern and diverse in suggesting that we might have a distinctive scholarly approach to comparative politics. While Canadian political science may have some distinctive theoretical or analytical contributions to make to comparative analysis (as I argue in Smith, forthcomin