World Health Organization: Sexual health, human rights and the law

This report demonstrates the relationship between sexual health, human rights and the law. Drawing from a review of public health evidence and extensive research into human rights law at international, regional and national levels, the report shows how states in different parts of the world can and do support sexual health through legal and other mechanisms that are consistent with human rights standards and their own human rights obligations.

The report notes there has been a rapid increase in the documentation and understanding of the nature of discrimination and inequality related to sexuality and sexual health. This includes information about the marginalization, stigmatization and abuse of those perceived as having socially unacceptable sexual practices or characteristics and the toll that discrimination takes on people’s health. Read More

UN: 'Brutal, grotesque' violence overshadows progress on LGBT equality

Progress towards giving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people legal equality has been overshadowed by "brutal" and "grotesque" homophobic and transphobic violence which often goes unreported and unpunished, according to the United Nations. 

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured in recent years, in violence that included knife attacks, anal rape and genital mutilation, as well as stoning and dismemberment, U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in the report. Yet the lack of effective systems for recording and reporting hate crimes against LGBT people masks the true extent of such violence.

"While some progress has been made since the first study in 2011, the overall picture remains one of continuing, pervasive, violent abuse, harassment and discrimination affecting LGBT and intersex persons in all regions," Hussein said. The report called for the implementation of anti-LGBT hate crimes laws, decriminalisation of consensual same-sex activity, legal protection for same-sex couples and their children and a ban on so-called "conversion therapies," which are intended to "cure" homosexual attraction. Read More

Access the full report here

A Message from UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé

We are living in a time of rapid social change. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are now reaching new frontiers and celebrating remarkable achievements. Despite this transformation, acts of discrimination and violence continue against the LGBTI community.

We cannot tolerate picking and choosing rights in a modern society—a society where diversity is celebrated; a society where everyone, no matter where they live or whom they love, is able to live in peace and security; a society where everyone can contribute to the health and well-being of their community. We can make this society a reality, but we will need global solidarity. We did this when we fought against apartheid—and we won!

As we observe the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, I call on everyone to join the movement for social justice, equality and equity so that all people can live with respect and dignity. This is the future I commit to—this is the future I embrace. Watch his remarks here

Wanted: Allies in the fight against homophobia & transphobia

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged more businesses to become allies in equality for LGBT people: "I believe in leading by example. At the UN, I have implemented a policy change to extend to same-sex spouses of UN staff the same benefits as heterosexual spouses, including health insurance coverage. The new policy means that the UN now honours the marriage of any same-sex couple wed in a country where same-sex marriages are legal."

"To mark the Day, the UN human rights office has released a short video called “Faces” as part of its UN Free & Equal campaign. The video, in which I was proud to take part, celebrates the contributions that LGBTI people make to families and local communities everywhere." Read his full statement

South Africa: Champions come together to announce strengthened efforts for an AIDS-free generation in Africa

The Champions for an AIDS-Free Generation, a distinguished group of former presidents and influential African leaders, gathered together to announce new efforts to ensure that all children in Africa are born free from HIV and that children living with HIV have access to lifesaving treatment. Since young people continue to be deeply affected by the epidemic, the Champions also announced that they will add adolescents and HIV to their portfolio of work. 

As the Champions reaffirmed their commitment to an AIDS-free generation, they were joined by partners that include UNAIDS, PEPFAR, and private sector representatives.

“The Champions have been steadfast in calling for improved HIV prevention and treatment options, and there has been progress,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé. “Now, with their ranks strengthened, the Champions will be even stronger advocates to fast-track the AIDS response in Africa to ensure that every baby is born free from HIV and that their mothers stay healthy.”  Read More

At UN, tennis legend says human rights and sports ‘a perfect fit’

Tennis legend and equality activist Billie Jean King has had a stellar career in sports, identifying the boundaries that divide people and tearing them down. She was the first woman athlete to win over $100k in prize money & the first professional athlete to be “outed” as gay. She remains a steadfast supporter of issues at the heart of the UN – fair play, tolerance and building “a world where we are all united; no borders.”

Despite the hurdles that she encountered on and off the court, the idea of social inclusion has always formed the core of Ms. King’s personal and professional philosophy – a philosophy that brings sports and human rights issues together in an effort to harmonize understanding. The more we get to know each other, she says, the better chance the world has for peace.

In an interview ahead of the commemoration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Ms. King, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights icon, told the UN News Centre that human rights and sports are, in fact, “a perfect fit” for each other.  Read More

Leave No-one Behind in the Post-2015 Health Agenda

In just a few months' time, the world will agree on a new set of global development goals which are expected to be more ambitious, more rights-based, and more sustainable than the preceding Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Proposed targets like "end the AIDS epidemic", "ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health services" and "achieve universal health coverage", as well as a goal on reducing inequalities, give us a lot of reason for hope. Hope that this time we will get it right and not leave behind people who are marginalised, excluded, stigmatised or even criminalised. These include LGBTI people and other groups most at risk of HIV who can be denied access to life-saving health care for no other reason than their sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV status or trait that marks them as "different" from the majority.

Securing universal health coverage (UHC) is a key priority for the WHO. It's depressing to see that, despite the momentum that UHC has been gaining for a solid decade now, it's clear that it has not been reaching the most marginalised. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance has launched Write Us In, a new global campaign to ensure equitable access to healthcare for LGBTI people. Read More

Bangkok: UNAIDS holds civil society meeting on fast-tracking the end of AIDS

UNAIDS convened over 50 civil society leaders from around the globe to develop a plan detailing how the HIV community can best work together to advocate for accelerated, strategic, and equitable international and domestic responses to HIV. 

“Fast-tracking the AIDS response is about political mobilization,” said meeting moderator Chris Collins, chief of the UNAIDS Community Mobilization Division and amfAR’s former director of public policy. “A revitalized AIDS response won’t happen without civil society, and the reach to people who have been left behind has to come from the community.”

The Fast Track strategy calls for an increased focus on funding HIV interventions proven to have greatest impact and delivering them to most-affected key populations—men who sex with men (MSM), transgender individuals, sex workers, and people who inject drugs. Read More

Discriminated and made vulnerable: Young LGBT and intersex people need recognition and protection of their rights

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a group of UN human rights experts, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe urge Governments worldwide to protect LGBTI young people and children from violence and discrimination.

Laws that criminalize people on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity exacerbate violence and discrimination. This includes ‘anti gay propaganda’ laws that arbitrarily restrict rights to freedom of expression and assembly and threaten the work of LGBT organizations and human rights defenders.  Although it is claimed that these laws protect children, the result is, typically, the exact opposite: they result in violence against children and young activists who speak up against abuses. These and other discriminatory laws go against international human rights standards and should be repealed. Read More

UNHRC recs may form new judicial practice for LGBT hate crimes in Russia

The UN Human Rights Committee issued its concluding observations based on the seventh periodic report of the Russian Federation. A special place in the document was given to the list of issues and recommendations related to the rights of LGBT individuals.

For the first time in the practice of international law, the Human Rights Committee has pointed out to the authorities of Russia the need to take into account the hate motive in the investigation of homophobic and transphobic crimes.

This means the provisions of the Russian Criminal Code that recognize the hate motive against any "social group" as an aggravating circumstance can now be used protect the rights of LGBT people. Law enforcement agencies and the courts will have to specifically investigate the motive of attacks on people on the grounds of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Read More

A new battle at the UN could decide what 'LGBT' means

Each year a group of UN experts meet to decide, on behalf of the countries of the world, what it means to be healthy, sick, rich, poor, violent, peaceful, and a myriad of other states of well-being. Although this group is not very well-known in the human rights community, it may have more influence on global human rights than most other parts of the UN. The UN Statistical Commission is the department that decides how to define many of the terms used by governments. At its annual meeting this year, for the first time, issues of sexual orientation and gender identity were raised.

This discussion is vitally important to LGBT communities as the UN establishes the new development agenda and guides trillions of dollars of international aid and humanitarian relief programs over the next decades. The goals are the result of a long series of negotiations amongst governments, and one of the big questions has been whether these goals will explicitly include LGBT people, either now or in the future as the goals come under review.

For goals about equal access to healthcare, the Commission would need to figure out how to know to track who is and is not receiving healthcare. Similarly, if the UN wants to include LGBT people in its development agenda, then it will have to gather data about LGBT populations. Read More

Bhutan: UNDP study on stigma, discrimination, & Universal Access in the gay and trans community

The new report looks at barriers Bhutanese gay men and other men who have sex with men and transgender people have in accessing health services. In addition to the strengths, limitations and needs of the health services dealing with marginalized peoples' sexual health, the study puts forth a set of concrete recommendations. Find the report here