How Human Rights Became Gay Rights: A History of Toonen v Australia

Abstract

ABSTRACT: When the Legislative Council of the Australian island state of Tasmania rejected gay law reform in July 1991, a group of enterprising activists took their case to the United Nations. In April 1994, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled in their favor. The case, Toonen v Australia , is a landmark human rights judgement that has proved highly influential in the years that have followed. Using interviews with the principal participants, this article provides a historical narrative of their activist journey.