A final complexity associated with backlash is the identification of their possible consequences. The most extreme consequence of the backlash is that the contractual arbitration mechanism is replaced by something completely different. Given that there is obviously a flood of investment disputes, the question arises as to where they would go without contract arbitration. What are the alternatives? The paper examines and theorizes different forms and patterns of resistance to international tribunals (ICs) and develops an analytical framework to explain their variability. In order to make understandable the resistance that many CIs are currently facing, the article first unpacks the concept of resistance. It then introduces a key difference between the mere opposition of individual Member States or other actors trying to influence the future direction of a court`s jurisdiction and the actual backlash – a criticism that triggers important institutional reforms or even the dissolution of courts. Based on the proposed theoretical framework, the paper provides a roadmap for empirical studies on COI resistance, taking into account key contextual factors to be considered in such studies. Because gay and lesbian lawyers have had limited success in court, state legislators and local government agencies have sought to gain these rights by changing society`s perception of homosexuality in general. However, the U.S. remains fractured in the debate, as many conservative groups strongly oppose the recognition of homosexuality as a civil right.

The nation is likely to continue to hear both sides of this debate, and the U.S. legal system is likely to face many other legal challenges regarding gay and lesbian rights. As the issue of same-sex marriage shows, the efforts of gays and lesbians to achieve social and legal equality have provoked a backlash from those who oppose their agenda. Voters in a number of cities and towns, including Irvine and Concord, California, opposed national twinning laws and gay rights ordinances. At the state level, Oregon voters approved a 1988 referendum that overturned an executive order by former Governor Neil Goldschmidt prohibiting state authorities from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. Measure 8, as the referendum was called, never went into effect because the Oregon Court of Appeals declared it unconstitutional (Merrick v. Board of Higher Education, 116 Or. App. 258, 841 P.2d 646 [1992]). Backlash against investment arbitrage can come from a variety of sources. The source of the backlash is important because it can affect the form in which such backlash is expressed, as well as the motivations and focal points of that backlash. It is important to identify sources of backlash, as this influences appropriate responses to negative reactions and dictates to whom (or what) those responses are offered.

Identification of sources and forms of reaction could also indicate changes in their orientation over time. Of course, each source or form of “backlash” interacts with and informs the other sources and forms by which the “backlash” is expressed. Take, for example, the European Commission`s public consultation on investment protection under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (“TTIP”) in 2014. The consultation process received close to 150,000 responses. Although not all responses have been critical of TTIP, the sources of these responses are nonetheless revealing when considering where the dissenting reactions might come from. While 148,830 of the responses came from “citizens,” “about 145,000 of them were submitted through NGOs that had given respondents `predefined` answers.” In this case, there is therefore a mixed source of “backlash” and many currents of criticism where expert opinion and public opinion reinforce and shape each other. In 1998, John Lawrence and Tyron Garner were charged with sodomy under section 21.06 of the Texas Code (Vernon 2003). Officers responding to a false report that the two men were in possession of illegal weapons entered an apartment and found the men having sex.