HRC session 55 (February – April 2024) – ILGA World’s engagement
55th session of the UN Human Rights Council
How will the 55th session of the 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 address the human rights of 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 worldwide? Watch this video to hear more from the ILGA World team (follow this link to read a transcription of the video)
The page will be updated as the session unfolds
Statements
Item 3 – Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights
During the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, we celebrated her recent report on her visit to Germany, with strong recommendations on LGBTI issues. We particularly value her calls to the German government to amplify efforts to end anti-LGBTI 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, promote positive LGBTI media representation, and highlight the contributions of LGBTI persons, migrants, refugees and other minorities to the German cultural heritage.
We also encouraged the Special Rapporteur to explore the worrying increase of discriminatory policies to restrict transgender and intersexan umbrella term for the spectrum of variations of sex characteristics that naturally occur within the human species. Intersex people are born with variations of sex characteristics (such as genitals, reproductive organs, hormonal and chromosomal patterns) that are more diverse than stereotypical definitions of male or female bodies. Up to 1.7% of the global population are born with such traits; yet, because their bodies are seen as different, intersex children and adults are often stigmatised and subject to harmful practices – including in medical settings - and discriminated against. More people’s participation in sports, and to look into the recent rise of hate speechany kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour that attacks or uses
pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who
they are – including on the grounds of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and
expression, or sex characteristics amongst others. More and censorship against LGBTI people who are ethnic and religious minorities.
Follow this link to read the statement
Item 3 – Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
During the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Torture, we welcomed the recognition of the need for gender-responsive policies in detention but expressed concern about the lack of explicit references to LGBTI people in both of her recent reports, focusing on good practices in prison management and on the armed conflict in Ukraine.
We highlighted how housing policies must affirm the 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 of transadjective/umbrella term to describe a person whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. More prisoners to protect them from violence, and how discriminatory policies supposedly aiming to protect them — such as prolonged solitary confinement — amount to torture and should be prohibited.
We also called on the Special Rapporteur to engage Ukrainian LGBTI organisations and human rights defenders working with LGBTI survivors of rape and sexual violence and other forms of torture.
Annual interactive debate on the rights of persons with disabilities
During the Annual interactive debate on the rights of persons with disabilities, we highlighted the importance of creating and implementing gender-responsive support and care systems to ensure that LGBTI persons with disabilities are not left behind.
We also pointed out how LGBTI persons with disabilities are even more vulnerable to violence and exclusion in specific contexts — like detention, conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies.
Item 4 – Human rights situations that require urgent attention
We took the floor at the Human Rights Council to address some of the human rights situations affecting LGBTI people requiring urgent attention. Among them: the sentencing of over 40 individuals to death, flogging, or prison for same-sex conduct in Yemen, the passage of the Anti-LGBTI bill in Ghana, Russia ruling to recognise the “international public LGBT movement” as “extremist”, and the arrest and indefinite suspension of the trial of a 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 activist in Argentina.
