Tuesday, December 12, 2023

LGBTQ Persons and the Promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 


Opinion
Dec 12, 2023 
By Jessica Stern and Suzanne Goldberg
U.S. special envoy to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons; senior advisor to the special envoy

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights' 75th anniversary comes amid many profound challenges to human rights worldwide. Yet the Declaration's commitment to all persons' dignity and human rights still deserves recognition as a north star for our shared future, including the future of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons.

As the United States' special envoy to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons and senior advisor to the special envoy, we see every day how being LGBTQI+ can determine a person's ability to enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms, depending on where they live and the overlapping forms of discrimination and hostility they face. We see, too, how U.S. diplomacy presses, visibly and behind the scenes, for protection against negative targeting based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status.

As President Joe Biden told the U.N. General Assembly earlier this year, we must continue working to ensure that "LGBTQI+ people are not prosecuted or targeted with violence because of who they are." These rights are part of our shared humanity, he added, and "when they are absent anywhere, their loss is felt everywhere."

Earlier this year, we met with activists from Uganda, where the Anti-Homosexuality Act requires individuals to report anyone suspected of "homosexual behavior," imposes a 20-year prison sentence for "promotion" of homosexuality, and even imposes the death penalty in certain cases. As a recent U.S. business advisory noted, because of the law, landlords are reportedly evicting private and commercial tenants on suspicion of being LGBTQI+.

In September, we met with a lesbian activist from the Kyrgyz Republic, where LGBTQI+ organizations are facing increased restrictions under the state's anti-propaganda law. We also met a transgender woman from Indonesia who detailed severe risks to safety and livelihood faced by the transgender community there. Their experiences reflect the heartbreaking repression that LGBTQI+ persons often face from both governments and local communities when law enforcement refuses to provide protection.

Yet there is also hope, including a growing number of nations overturning laws criminalizing LGBTQI+ relationships. In the past two years, courts in five countries have struck down their sodomy laws—Mauritius just two months ago, and Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Singapore in 2022, while Vietnam officially rejected designation of LGBTQI+ identities and relationships as medically or psychologically abnormal.



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