The article undertakes an exploration into the rather unexpected progressiveness exhibited by courts across the globe in bestowing protection upon LGBTQ rights. A three-pronged study, which encompasses an examination of the theoretical rationales, empirical investigations, and doctrinal underpinnings of the augmentation of LGBTQ rights in diverse locales, is executed. It is hypothesized that a prima facie paradox emerges, whereby LGBTQ rights have been safeguarded and advanced in an extraordinary fashion, while concurrently, a discernible general trend of deviation from liberal constitutionalism, rights safeguarding mechanisms, and the rule of law is observable in other arenas. This article scrutinizes this contention and discovers that it is substantiated by case law from various regions. Critical theory and Butler’s theory of performativity potentially offer the most cogent explanations for this paradox. They have led to the social embrace of LGBTQ rights, while simultaneously, the enactment or amplification of these rights even in illiberal states furnishes an effortless ‘triumph’ for illiberal political actors, which can be employed as a countermeasure against assaults on their liberal and democratic reputations.

Abeyratne, R. (2023, November 24). From cosmopolitan to self-preservation: Courts and LGBTQ rights in the 21st century. Lecture presented online at the Centre for Comparative and Transnational Law. Retrieved April 10, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJkk39kwZ1s

Albarracín-Caballero, M. (2022, September 6). How targeting LGBTQ+ rights are part of the authoritarian playbook. Advocate. Retrieved April 9, 2024, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/09/06/how-targeting-lgbtq-rights-are-part-authoritarian-playbook

Allain, J. (2001). The jus cogens nature of non-refoulement. International Journal of Refugee Law, 13(4), 533–533.

Amnesty International. (2018). What is going on in illiberal democracy Hungary? Retrieved April 10, 2024, from https://www.amnesty.nl/actueel/what-is-going-on-in-illiberal-democracy-hungary

Andrew R. Flores, Miguel Fuentes Carreño, Ari Shaw. (2023). Democratic backsliding and LGBTI acceptance. Williams Institute. Retrieved November 1, 2024, from https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/GAI-Democracy-Sep-2023.pdf

Ashok, V., & Thomas, V. (2023). The illiberal turn in Indian democracy: Shifting the trajectory of India’s foreign policy. India Review, 22(4), 564–565.

Ayoub, P., & Paternotte, D. (2014). LGBT activism and the making of Europe: A rainbow Europe? (1st ed.). Springer.

Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. (1997). Retrieved from https://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/

Bogatyrev, K., & Bogusz, H. (2024). On the verge of progress? LGBTQ+ politics in Poland after the 2023 elections. European Journal of Politics and Gender, 20(1), 1–2.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.

Brewer, P. R. (2003). The shifting foundations of public opinion about gay rights. Journal of Politics, 65(4), 1208–1209.

Burgess, S. (2006). Queer (theory) eye for the straight (legal) guy: Lawrence v. Texas’ makeover of Bowers v. Hardwick. Political Research Quarterly, 59(3), 404–404.

Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity (1st ed.). Routledge.

Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. No. 88-352, 78 Stat. 741 (1964). Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act

Court of Justice of the European Union. (2018). Coman v. Romania, EU:C:2018:385. Retrieved from https://curia.europa.eu/

Davis, D. W., & Silver, B. D. (2004). Civil liberties vs. security: Public opinion in the context of terrorist attacks on America. American Journal of Political Science, 48(1), 28–31.

Defense of Marriage Act, Pub. L. No. 104-199, 110 Stat. 2419 (1996).

Devlin, P. (1976). Judges and lawmakers. Modern Law Review, 39(1), 1–2.

Emmott, B. (2017). The fate of the West: The battle to save the world’s most successful political idea (1st ed.). Profile Books.

Foucault, M. (1999). Sexuality and power. In J. R. Carrette (Ed.), Religion and culture: Michel Foucault (1st ed., p. 16). Routledge.

Francis L. F. Lee, Samson Yuen, Gary Tang and Edmund W. Cheng. (2019). Hong Kong’s summer of uprising: From anti-extradition to anti-authoritarian protests. The China Review, 19(4), 1–32.

Friedman, T. L. (2013, October 1). Our democracy is at stake. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/

Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503). (1997). Retrieved from https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/

Fukuyama, F. (1989). The end of history? National Interest, 16(Summer), 3–3.

Giannoulopoulos, D. (2021). What has the European Convention on Human Rights ever done for the UK? European Human Rights Law Review, 2021(1), 1–2.

Gordon, D. R. (1993). The ugly mirror: Bowers, Plessy, and the reemergence of the constitutionalism of social stratification and historical reinforcement. Contemporary Law Journal, 19(1), 22–23.

Greenhouse, L., & Siegel, R. B. (2010–2011). Before (and after) Roe v. Wade: New questions about backlash. Yale Law Journal, 120(8), 2028–2030.

Guest, G., Bunce, A. and Johnson, L. (2006) How Many Interviews Are Enough? An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability. Field Methods, 18, 59-82.

Guasti, P., & Bustikova, L. (2020). In Europe’s closet: The rights of sexual minorities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. East European Politics, 36(2), 226–228.

Haraway, D. (1991). Simians, cyborgs, and women: The reinvention of nature (1st ed.). Routledge.

High Court of Odisha. (2021). Chinmayee Jena v. State of Odisha [2021] WP (CRL) No. 57 of 2021.

Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap. 383). (1991). Retrieved from https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/

Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. (2023). Sham Tsz Kit v. Secretary for Justice [2023] HKCFA 28. Retrieved from https://legalref.judiciary.hk/

Huntington, S. P. (1991). The third wave: Democratization in the late twentieth century (1st ed.). University of Oklahoma Press.

Huq, A., & Ginsburg, T. (2018). How to lose a constitutional democracy. UCLA Law Review, 65, 78–81.

Huq, A., Ginsburg, T., Versteeg, M. (2018). The coming demise of liberal constitutionalism? University of Chicago Law Review, 85(1), 239–239.

Huq, A., Ginsburg, T., Versteeg, M. (2018). The coming demise of liberal constitutionalism? University of Chicago Law Review, 85, 239–240.

Ikenberry, G. J. (2018). The end of liberal international order? International Affairs, 94(1), 7–8.

Juhasz, A. (2014). Announcing the illiberal state. Heinrich Böll Stiftung. Retrieved April 10, 2024, from https://www.boell.de/en/2014/08/21/announicing-illiberal-state

Kerrigan, P., & Pramaggiore, M. (2021). Homoheroic or homophobic? Leo Varadkar, LGBTQ politics and contemporary news narratives. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 38(2), 107–108.

Kwok, L. (2023). The independent media movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan: Dissenting voices (1st ed.). Routledge.

Layne, C. (2012). This time it's real: The end of unipolarity and the Pax Americana. International Studies Quarterly, 56(2), 203–203.

Lee, J. (2009, June 18). Western vs authoritarian capitalism. The Diplomat. Retrieved from https://thediplomat.com

Liat Ben-Moshe, Che Gossett, Nick Mitchell & Eric A. Stanley (2005). Critical theory, queer resistance, and the ends of capture. In G. Adelsberg, L. Guenther, & S. Zeman (Eds.), Death and other penalties: Philosophy in a time of mass incarceration (1st ed., p. 266). Fordham University Press.

Moisio, O.-P. (2013). Critical theory. In Anne L. C. Runehov, Lluis Oviedo (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of sciences and religions (1st ed., p. 558). Springer.

Reynolds, A. (2013). Representation and rights: The impact of LGBT legislators in comparative perspective. American Political Science Review, 107(2), 259–259.

Richards, D. A. J. (2009). The sodomy cases: Bowers v. Hardwick and Lawrence v. Texas (1st ed.). University Press of Kansas.

Ruparelia, S. (2013). A progressive juristocracy? The unexpected social activism of India’s Supreme Court (Kellogg Institute Working Paper No. 391). Kellogg Institute for International Studies.

Schimelfenig, T. L. (2003). Recognition of the rights of homosexuals: Implications of Lawrence v. Texas. California Western Law Review, 40(1), 149–149

Scholtes, J. (2023). Constitutionalising the end of history? Pitfalls of a non-regression principle for Article 2 TEU. European Constitutional Law Review, 19(1), 59–61.

Somerville, W. (2016). Brexit: The role of migration in the upcoming EU referendum. Migration Information Source. Retrieved November 1, 2024, from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/brexit-role-migration-upcoming-eu-referendum

Supreme Court of India. (2013). Civil Appeal No. 10972 of 2013. Retrieved from https://main.sci.gov.in/

Supreme Court of India. (2014). National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India [2014] INSC 275. Retrieved from https://main.sci.gov.in/

Tekdal, V. (2018). China’s Belt and Road Initiative: At the crossroads of challenges and ambitions. The Pacific Review, 31(3), 373–375.

The Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Bill. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.legco.gov.hk/

Ther, P. (2022). How the West lost the peace: The great transformation since the Cold War (1st ed.). Routledge.

Treaty on European Union. (2007). Article 2. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/

U.S. Constitution. (1791). Second Amendment. Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights

U.S. Supreme Court. (1896). Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.gov/

U.S. Supreme Court. (1954). Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.gov/

U.S. Supreme Court. (1986). Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (Burger, C.J., concurring). Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.gov/

U.S. Supreme Court. (2003). Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.gov/

U.S. Supreme Court. (2013). United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.gov/

U.S. Supreme Court. (2015). Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.gov/

U.S. Supreme Court. (2018). Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S

U.S. Supreme Court. (2020). Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.gov/

U.S. Supreme Court. (2022). Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 597 U.S. ___. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.gov/

United Nations. (1951). Convention relating to the status of refugees. Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org/

Vanessa A. Boese, Staffan I. Lindberg & Anna Lührmann (2021). Waves of autocratization and democratization: A rejoinder. Democratization, 28(6), 1202–1210

Varshney, A. (2022). India’s democratic longevity and its troubled trajectory. In S. Mainwaring & T. Masoud (Eds.), Democracy in hard places (1st ed., p. 34). Oxford University Press.

Varuhas, J. N. E. (2023). Mapping doctrinal methods. In P. Daly & J. Tomlinson (Eds.), Researching public law in common law systems (1st ed., p. 70). Edward Elgar.

Zagorski, P. W. (2003). Democratic breakdown in Paraguay and Venezuela: The shape of things to come for Latin America? Armed Forces & Society, 29(1), 87–88.

Zakaria, F. (1997). The rise of illiberal democracy. Foreign Affairs, 76(6), 22–22.

Zengerle, J. (2018, August 22). How the Trump administration is remaking the courts. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/

Zweigert, K., & Kötz, H. (1998). Introduction to comparative law (T. Weir, Trans., 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.