Kymlicka's Cultural Theory of Group-Differentiated Rights: Ramifications for the Rights Claims of Gays and Lesbians

The issue of group rights has proved to be contentious among liberal theorists, with a number of scholars having tested the bounds of liberal principles and their ability to accommodate claims for group-differentiated rights. This is particularly true of the work of Will Kymlicka. Kymlicka endorses a model of equal citizenship that incorporates differentiated rights for minority social groups, and endeavours to articulate a normative basis on which to ground their claims. Rejecting appeals to universal citizenship that are predicated on formal equality, Kymlicka contends that group-specific measures realize, rather than contradict, liberal equality. In constructing his liberal defence of group-specific rights, Kymlicka begins by exploring the relationship between cultural group membership and personal autonomy. He argues that our cultural community provides us with a range of options about how to lead our lives, as well as the means to evaluate the relative worth of those options. In this respect, our cultural community 2 is indispensable to individual autonomy. For Kymlicka, it is on this account that liberals must concern themselves with the well-being of cultural communities. In addition to providing a normative justification for the provision of group rights