LGBTQ+ Human Rights in the U.S. and Internationally: A Talk with Victor Madrigal-Borloz

The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to its resolution 27/32, in which the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to update the report of the Office of the High Commission on violence
and discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity
(A/HRC/19/41).

The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to its resolution 17/19, in which the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to commission a study documenting discriminatory laws and practices
and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, and how international human rights law can be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Reports received concerning ill-treatment inflicted on men because of their real or alleged homosexuality, apparently encouraged by the perceived lack of clarity in penal legislation.

The theme of the report is “diversity in humanity, humanity in diversity”. The phenomenon of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is both local and global, requiring strong national and international countermeasures to promote respect for sexual and gender diversity under the umbrella of international human rights law. In recognizing that everyone has some form of sexual orientation and gender identity, there is the regrettable reality that some groups and persons are affected by violence and discrimination, precisely because they are viewed as having a sexual orientation and gender identity that is different from a particular societal norm.

Forcibly displaced lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons constituted another group at heightened risk in many parts of the world, facing discrimination, persecution and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNHCR developed a comprehensive training programme to support staff to better respond to the specific protection needs of
LGBTI persons.

This report is a comprehensive annual compilation and analysis of all the sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics references made by seven UN bodies: The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The Human Rights Committee, The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, The Committee on the Rights of the Child, The Committee Against Torture, The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.