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Photo: Danielle Villasana
Stigma, violence and discrimination against LGBTI people contribute significantly to their exclusion from society, limit their access to health and social services and hinder social and economic development.
Although many important gains have been made, homophobic and transphobic attitudes, often combined with punitive laws and/or lack of effective legal protection against discrimination, continue to expose many LGBTI people around the world to serious violations of their human rights.
Currently, 70 States still criminalize same-sex acts between consenting adults and in 12 States it is allowed to punish such acts with a death sentence. Very few countries legally recognize the gender identity of transgender people, and only two countries (Malta and Chile) provide legislation aimed at protecting the rights of intersex people. Even in countries where punitive laws have been repealed and social attitudes are changing, LGBTI people continue to be excluded from many spheres of life and continue to experience stigma, discrimination, violence and even death.
A thorough understanding of the gravely negative impacts on human rights and sustainable human development that are caused by discrimination against LGBTI people are instrumental for your effective parliamentary action on LGBTI issues.