7 key takeaways from the UN’s first report on lesbian, bisexual and queer women
- During the 62nd UN Human Rights Councilan inter-governmental body within the United Nations which has the responsibility to promote and protect human rights. It is comprised of 47 member States, each elected to 3-year terms by the 193 member States of the United Nations. More, the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identityabbreviated form to refer to the IESOGI – a UN Special Procedures mandate specifically dedicated to addressing violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. More will present a historic report on the violence and discriminationunequal or unfair treatment which can be based on a range of grounds - such as age, ethnic background, disability, and diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions or sex characteristics, amongst others. More affecting lesbianadjective/noun to describe a woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves. More, bisexualadjective used to describe a person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or to those of other genders. More, and queerpreviously used as a derogatory term to refer to LGBT individuals in the English language – and still perceived as offensive by some - queer has been reclaimed by people who identify beyond traditional gender categories and heteronormative social norms. Although not universally accepted, it is often used as a catch-all to include many people within the larger community of people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics. More women
- The human right expert highlights how lesbian, bisexual, and queer women remain structurally invisible in data, policy, and in the very systems designed to protect everyone
- The report also offers practical recommendations on how States can protect women’s autonomy and ensure access to justice and the exercise of rights.
Lesbian, bisexual, and queer women in all their diversity took centre stage at the United Nationsan international organisation comprising 193 member States. It has the mission of maintaining peace and security, protecting human rights, providing humanitarian aid and ensuring economic and social development across the globe. It is a network of many different bodies and agencies, each of which has a particular role and responsibility. More. In June 2026, during the 62nd Human Rights Council, the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientationrefers to a person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to - and intimate and sexual relations with - individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender. More and Gender Identityrefers to a person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. More presented the first-ever UN report to focus on the distinct and intersecting forms of violence and discrimination they experience.
Based on the unprecedented number of contributions of over 200 human rights defenders, civil society groups, national human rights institutions, and States across every region of the world, the report clearly names an issue with severe consequences: lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women are structurally invisible in data, policy, law, and in the very systems that should protect everyone. The report, however, also offers practical recommendations on how States can protect women’s autonomy and ensure they can exercise their rights and access justice.
Here are seven key takeaways from the report.
What is not recorded remains unaddressed: the invisible violence against lesbian, bisexual, and queer women
No matter the colour of our skin, the faith that drives us, or the food we enjoy on our tables, most of us wish to live our lives on our own terms. This is also true for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women — for whom, however, living authentically means defying the norms that patriarchal societies impose on women.
The violence lesbian, bisexual, and queer women face across public spaces, workplaces, homes, healthcare settings and schools is a particularly vicious attempt to regulate their autonomy, aimed at forcing them back into a mould that is not theirs.
So-called “corrective” conversion practices, forced marriage, harassment by security forces, and abuse by medical providers are all part of the same pattern. And yet, critically, almost none of this appears in official data.
National crime reporting systems rarely collect information on sexual orientation or genderrefers to a social construct which places cultural and social expectations on individuals based on their assigned sex. More identity. Killings on these grounds go undetected. And, since decision-makers can only prioritise what gets counted, the lack of data spirals down into an absence of policies. The invisibility becomes the norm. Policymakers overlook violence and stop seeking solutions.
Lesbian, bisexual, and queer women fall through the cracks of two frameworks that were meant to protect everyone
Women’s rights frameworks have long assumed the experiences of heterosexual and cisgendera person whose gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. The term is commonly used to refer to a person who does not identify as trans. More women to be the norm. LGBTIacronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. Although this is not the acronym available to describe people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics, it is the most commonly used in United Nations spaces and advocacy. More people’s rights frameworks have long centred men’s sexuality, health, and recognition.
The result? LBQ women keep ending up in a normative gap between both — underrepresented in data, overlooked in policy, underfunded in research and advocacy, and poorly served by the very systems designed to ensure that everyone can exercise their human rights. This shapes everything: from healthcare and asylum procedures, to labour protections and gender-based violence services. The report makes it clear: closing this gap requires both frameworks to do better.
“Lesbian, bisexual, and queer women” means ALL lesbian, bisexual, and queer women — including those who are trans
The report explicitly recognises that LBQ identities include transadjective/umbrella term to describe a person whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. More women who identify as lesbian, bisexual and/or queer, and documents the specific ways they experience discrimination and violence.
More often than not, gender identity thickens the layer of discrimination that women of diverse sexual orientations experience. Trans LBQ women often cannot access the gender-affirming care they need and are disproportionately targeted in public spaces and workplaces. Law enforcement routinely detains them according to their sexrefers to the classification of a person as male, female, or other - usually made at birth, written on a birth certificate, and usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy. A person’s sex, however, is actually a combination of bodily characteristics, including chromosomes, hormones, internal and external reproductive organs, and secondary sex characteristics. More assigned at birth, exposing them to heightened risks of violence in custody, and shelters that operate on sex-based exclusionary criteria that turn them away in times of need.
The report’s inclusive framing is a considered position: it recognises that gender identity and sexual orientation intersect in ways that shape distinct patterns of exclusion, and that any account of LBQ women’s lives that erases trans women is an incomplete one.
For all women, access to rights is still conditional — often, to the presence of a man
In many parts of the world, women’s ability to own property, access healthcare, secure housing, or even travel freely depends on their relationship to a man — a husband, a father, a male guardian. This locks lesbian, bisexual, and queer women, who often live outside these structures by choice or necessity, further out of systems that treat the presence of a man as the ticket to full legal recognition and access to rights.
The report documents what this means in practice. Landlords denied women housing rentals without a male name on the lease. In the absence of a husband, people managing cooperatives and microfinance schemes excluded women from such plans, severely impacting their livelihoods. Doctors refused women fertility treatment, since a male partner was not there to guarantee his consent.
The same logic applies to family life. The report documents how governments and institutions block lesbian, bisexual, and queer women from being recognised as parents — even of children they are already raising — or from exercising inheritance rights after the death of a partner, leaving them economically exposed at moments of enormous personal loss. These discriminatory policies make the difference between a woman being able to keep her home, maintain her relationship with her children, and build any kind of financial security — or not.
More than just edge cases, these are recurring, discriminatory features of systems that were never built with lesbian, bisexual and queer women in mind.
International law already says lesbian, bisexual, and queer women’s families deserve recognition. Many States just aren’t listening
Most of us care deeply about being there for our loved ones in times of need. Or about continuing to live in a home where our relationship blossomed. Or to be recognised as the parents of our children. Political and legislative deliberate choices, however, make all of this impossible for many lesbian, bisexual, and queer women.
Existing international human rights lawa legal system laying down obligations which States are bound to respect. By becoming parties to international treaties, States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, protect and fulfil human rights – including by putting into place domestic measures and legislation. Where domestic legal proceedings fail to address human rights abuses, mechanisms and procedures for individual complaints or communications are available at the regional and international levels to help ensure that international human rights standards are respected. More already provides States with the tools to address this.
In his report, the Independent Expert on SOGIabbreviation standing for sexual orientation and gender identity More calls on governments to put the law into practice. This means extending legal recognition to diverse family forms, ensuring that parental rights do not depend on a particular family structure, and removing the rules around housing and inheritance that leave LBQ women economically exposed when their relationships are not recognised. None of this requires new treaties. It simply requires political will, and for decision-makers to live up to human rights commitments.
The international legal framework can pave the way for better lives for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women
Several international human rights conventions give States a clear mandate to eliminate discrimination against women. Today, many States still choose to disregard the obligations that international human rights law establishes for them.
This is why the Flamer-Caldera v. Sri Lanka case, in which CEDAW spoke up against the criminalisation of same-sex conduct, was such a landmark development: it recognised that laws and practices regulating women’s sexuality form a relevant part of broader systems of gender inequality.
Lesbian, bisexual, and queer women are leading the solutions. They need support to keep going
Relying on over 200 submissions from activists and civil society organisations, the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity identified concrete, practical steps that can improve lives right now — even in contexts where broad social change is slow.
These include removing marital status requirements from access to healthcare and housing, recognising diverse family forms in civil registration, ensuring shelters serve lesbian, bisexual, and queer survivors in all their diversity, and guaranteeing that LBQ human rights defenders — who are often the first and sometimes the only line of support for women in their communities — can document abuses and report threats without facing retaliation themselves.
The report asks States to follow their lead. It also asks donors to fund organisations that are led by lesbian, bisexual, and queer women in ways that are direct, flexible, and sustainable: only with adequate resources and support can human rights defenders continue to build a better world for everyone.
