Not Leading the World but Following It

On the issue of gay and lesbian rights, the US is behind the times, says legal scholar Laurence Helfer. While laws banning homosexual sex and preventing same-sex marriages are still upheld across the US, the recognition of gay and lesbian rights as human rights is increasingly part of a common global culture. Countries around the world – developed and developing, from Canada to Namibia – are permitting gay marriages, recognizing gay families, and providing a variety of legal protections for gays in every walk of life. "Recent events have created rifts between the United States and the rest of the world over important questions of law and policy," Helfer says. "But respect for human rights should not be among them. When it comes to protecting the basic civil liberties of all people, including lesbians and gay men, the United States should lead the world, not lag behind it." – YaleGlobal