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LGBTQI-identified human rights defenders: courage in the face of adversity at the United Nations

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LGBTQI-identified human rights defenders: courage in the face of adversity at the United Nations

This article examines the experiences of human rights defenders who work at the United Nations and identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, two spirit, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI). The article argues that LGBTQI-identified employees at the UN face challenges due to the traditional, religious and cultural based views of their colleagues, as well as the state-sanctioned criminalisation of diverse sexual orientation and gender identities in some countries.

The article highlights the balance that many LGBTQI-identified human rights defenders try to seek, between promoting rights-based equality and more emancipatory ideals that acknowledge difference. The author notes that an emphasis on legal-based equality without challenging the status-quo can further marginalise LGBTQI people if they do not confirm to heterosexual and gender norms. The author argues that work needs to be done on social justice as well as legal justice as legislation by itself won’t disrupt exclusionary social and cultural norms.

The article is based on research which involved semi-structured interviews with 7 LGBTQI-identified human rights defenders who work at the UN. The research examined the extent to which LGBTQI individuals working at the UN were represented and legitimated. The article includes extracts from the interviews which cover the interviewees experiences in their home countries and while working at the UN. The participants expressed that they experienced psychological intimidation from nation-state officials due to their personal identification as LGBTQI.

Same-sex lives between the language of international LGBT rights, international aid, and anti-homosexuality

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Same-sex lives between the language of international LGBT rights, international aid, and anti-homosexuality

This academic article examines how LGBT rights intersect with international aid in Africa. In particular, the article looks at how the protection of LGBT rights as a condition for aid has been used by aid organisations and responded to by political leaders in Africa. The author argues that political leaders have marginalised the voices of people with diverse SOGIESC. The article looks at the difference between the way LGBT rights are discussed by international political actors and African political leaders and the implication of such differences on activists and civil society organisations in Africa.

The article focuses on the importance of language in shaping policy. The author argues that the significance of context and the specific needs of different people who identify as LGBT become lost in abstract conversations between international aid organisations and state representatives who talk about the “LGBT category” as if it were a unified and homogenous identity. The author argues that the discussion of sexuality rights in Africa is governed by language from the global North which diminishes the agency of actors in Africa. Moreover, the author contends that the use of language established in the global North to refer to sexuality rights creates particular responses from African leaders who consider such language to constitute neocolonial interventions.

The article contains three core sections. First, it looks at the language used by international political actors to argue both for and against LGBT rights. Second, it outlines how aid organisations have increasingly used the protection of LGBT rights as a condition for aid. Third, it examines how African civil society groups have responded to the use of LGBT rights as a condition for aid.

Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Characteristics: A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions

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Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Characteristics: A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions

This 244-page manual examines the role of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in the protection of the rights of people with diverse SOGIESC in the Asia Pacific region. The manual highlights that human rights violations on the basis of SOGIESC occur in every country and that NHRIs must protect people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex. The manual includes detailed case studies of the work of NHRIs to enable NHRIs to learn from one another.

Chapter one defines and discusses the terms sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Chapter two, three and four outline some of the experiences and discrimination faced by people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex in the Asia Pacific region. Chapter five examines the developments in international human rights laws in relation to SOGIESC. Chapter six discusses the Yogyakarta Principles, the international human rights statement on the promotion and protection of the rights of people with diverse SOGIESC. Chapter seven then outlines the Asia Pacific Forum’s response to the Yogyakarta Principles. Lastly, chapter eight considers what else NHRIs can do to protect the human rights of people with diverse SOGIESC. This includes a series of 50 recommendations that NHRIs can implement.

Study on Discrimnation Against Transgender Persons Based in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor (Right to Education, Employment, Health Care, Housing and Dignity)

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Study on Discrimnation Against Transgender Persons Based in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor (Right to Education, Employment, Health Care, Housing and Dignity)

This report examines the types of discrimination faced by transgender people in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and how the rights of transgender people have been violated. The research focused on the experiences of transgender people in relation to their right to education, employment, health care, housing and dignity. The research sought to use the findings to develop strategies to protect the human rights of the transgender community.

The research involved interviews with 100 transgender people between 18-70 years of age. The research found that all participants had experienced some form of discrimination directly as a result of their gender identity and expression. Experiences of harassment, abuse and violence were common and were perpetrated by both individuals and state authorities. Respondents faced challenges in having their identity recognised and further had issues accessing public services, including health care and education.

Following the introduction to the study, chapter two looks at both domestic legal frameworks and international human rights frameworks and how they relate to transgender people. Chapter three presents the findings and analysis on the five rights studied, namely: the right to education, employment, health care, housing and dignity. Chapter four then offers six recommendations based on the study’s findings.

Sexual orientation and gender identity in Nepal: Rights promotion through UN development assistance

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Sexual orientation and gender identity in Nepal: Rights promotion through UN development assistance

This academic article looks at how UN development agencies have been working to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights in Nepal in the absence of an international mandate to do so. The article suggests that such agencies have the ability to promote LGBTI rights using means beyond the traditional human rights institutions, such as the Human Rights Council.

The article examines the work of the UN Development Programme, the UN Children’s Fund, UNAIDS, and UN Women across South Asia, with a particular focus on Nepal. The research draws on documentary evidence of UN activities and semi-structured interviews in Kathmandu and New York in 2016.

The article outlines the development of the protection of SOGI related rights within the United Nations and highlights how such rights have been contested. Using Nepal as a case study, the article argues that UN development agencies can act independently within countries to promote SOGI rights. It further asserts that UN development agencies have started to be active in rights implementation, rather than just promotion.The article concludes by examining what the work of UN development agencies means for other international organisations and their ability to act independently of member states to promote their own rights promotion agenda through an ‘open systems’ approach to development.

LGBTI Migrants in Immigration Detention: A Global Perspective

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LGBTI Migrants in Immigration Detention: A Global Perspective

This academic article examines the unique challenges faced by LGBTI migrants in detention centres across the globe. The article looks at international law in relation to LGBTI migrants and shows how their human rights may be compromised while in detention. The article highlights that LGBTI migrants are particularly vulnerable to violence and sexual assault in detention. Further challenges, including the exacerbation of anxiety and depression from persecution in their countries of origin, access to hormone treatment therapies for transgender migrants and HIV treatment for migrants who are HIV positive are outlined as complex challenges faced by some LGBTI migrants in detention.

The article concludes by calling for greater awareness and research on the experiences of LGBTI migrants in detention. The authors also offer recommendations for states to follow to ensure the rights of LGBTI migrants are protected. They argue that alternatives to detention should be offered for migrants who self-identify as sexual minorities. If detention is required, as a last resort, the authors affirm that states must ensure detention facilities and staff are adequately trained to care for and protect the rights of LGBTI migrants.

Managing the Security of Aid Workers with Diverse Profiles

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Managing the Security of Aid Workers with Diverse Profiles

This report examines whether aid organisations are effectively taking the diversity of their employees into account when creating their security risk management systems. The report affirms that aid organisations have a duty of care to protect their staff from foreseeable risks that may develop as a result of their personal characteristics, including sex, gender and sexual orientation. It is argued that a failure to take such characteristics into account when developing an NGO’s security risk management plan can affect the safety of an individual aid worker, as well as the organisation for whom they work.

The research involved a literature review, a survey and key informant interviews. The research found that most NGOs do not sufficiently take the diversity of their employees into account when developing their security risk management plans. Some organisations were found to have adequate security risk management plans, and these positive examples are highlighted in the report. The findings reveal that, with regard to the personal identity and characteristics of NGO employees, a policy of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is common among aid organisations. The research further found that aid workers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex have a greater concern for threats from within their organisation than from outside the organisation, with many reporting that they feel the need to hide their identity at work.

The report highlights that developing security risk management plans based on the personal identities of aid workers may be perceived as an infringement of a worker’s right to privacy. However, the report argues that in high-risk situations, aid organisations may need to ask personal questions (which their staff can refuse to answer) in order to protect the safety of their employees. The report explores aid organisations legal duty of care and anti-discrimination obligations with regard to their employees with diverse personal profiles.

The report concludes by offering a series of case studies and recommendations for aid organisations to follow to better support and protect their employees with diverse SOGIESC, whilst respecting their employees’ rights to privacy, equality, diversity and inclusion.

Do Ask, Do Tell: Where is the protection against sexual orientation discrimination in international human rights law?

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Do Ask, Do Tell: Where is the protection against sexual orientation discrimination in international human rights law?

This academic article examines the lack of protection against sexual orientation discrimination in international human rights law. The author notes that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people face discrimination across the globe and highlights that, at the time of writing, over 78 countries criminalised same-sex sexual relationships and the death penalty was still enforced in seven countries for same-sex practices.

The article looks at the development of the protection of sexual orientation within international human rights law through an examination of resolutions, declarations, and international statements. The author argues that, given current international jurisprudence, a general statement at the international level that affirms that LGBT people can be protected under international human rights law is unnecessary as it already widely accepted. The author argues that a legally binding document that clearly outlines the obligations of member states to protect the human rights of LGBT people could in the future be highly beneficial. However, the author contends that, under the current political climate, the creation of such a legally binding convention could create controversy and potentially do more harm than good for the LGBT community.

The author promotes an alternative  dialogic approach, as an option that poses fewer risks to the LGBT community and may still positively influence states to protect the rights of LGBT people. The article affirms that the human rights of LGBT people may be protected by states, even in the absence of an international convention, through the development of consensus among member states.

The State of LGBTQI People’s Economic Inclusion: Lao PDR

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The State of LGBTQI People’s Economic Inclusion: Lao PDR

This report is one of a series of four released by APCOM in late 2020 looking at the economic inclusion of people with diverse SOGIESC in four counties in South-East Asia, namely: Lao PDR, Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines.

This report provides a detailed summary of the current human rights context in Indonesia and how it relates to LGBTQI people. It highlights that currently the government does not officially recognise LGBTQI people. There is a lack of data on the issues faced by LGBTQI people in Laos. Homosexuality is not illegal, however, there are no laws that directly protect LGBTQI people from discrimination.

The research in Laos was undertaken by the Community Health and Inclusion Association (CHias ) between 23 July and 3 August 2019. The research focused on the human rights situation for the LGBTQI community in Laos, their social inclusion and their experiences in accessing education, health and financial services. The research involved focus groups with 36 research participants who were all members of the LGBTQI community in Laos.

The research participants acknowledged that the overall situation for LGBTQI people has improved marginally in recent years with an increase of civil society organisations advocating for the LGBTQI community. However, violence and discrimination against the LGBTQI community remains a critical issue. The report notes that binary gender norms and heterosexual norms in Laos still prevent the social inclusion of LGBTQI people.

The research participants were unanimous in their answer that they experienced discrimination in finding and maintaining employment due to their LGBTQI identity. None of the participants stated that their gender identity limited them saving money. However, the participants stated that transgender women are the most vulnerable to poverty due to the higher discrimination faced by trans people than gay and lesbian people in Laos.

Participants noted that their limited educational attainment was, in part, due to their experiences of bullying and harassment from teachers and students and a lack of support services for LGBTQI students, in both rural and urban areas of Laos. Bisexual and lesbian participants reported the least discrimination due their ability to hide their identity.

Participants described discrimination and poverty as barriers to accessing health services. Bisexual, gay and lesbian participants all reported feeling uncomfortable disclosing their sexuality to doctors. Transwomen reported facing the greatest barriers in accessing adequate health services. There are no doctors trained specifically on the needs of trans people and so many reported needing to go to Thailand to obtain adequate medical attention.

Based on the findings the repot offers 18 recommendations that the government, private sector and LGBTQI organisations can implement to address the structural barriers that effect the social and economic inclusion of LGBTQI people in Laos.

Food Insecurity Among Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Individuals in the Southeast United States: A Qualitative Study

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Food Insecurity Among Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Individuals in the Southeast United States: A Qualitative Study

This academic journal found that the extreme difficulty experienced by transgender and gender non-conforming people (TGNC) in finding and maintain employment was a primary driver of food insecurity in the Southeast United States. Through semi-structured telephone interviews with 20 TGNC people residing in the Southeast United States, the authors sought to answer the following questions:

  • What experiences do TGNC individuals living in the Southeast U.S. have with food insecurity?
  • How does food insecurity relate to health outcomes for TGNC individuals living in the Southeast United States?

It was found that poverty and food insecurity eroded TGNC people’s physical and mental health, as well as their support systems. It was recommended that employment non-discrimination policies to protect TGNC people in the workplace be implemented and building relationships with LGBT organisations for safer environments for people needing food assistance be a priority.

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