In the matter of LGBTQIA+ rights, we started behind – it wasn’t until 1990 that homosexuality was declassified as a mental disorder by the World Health Organization, despite the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaiming, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” 

And while society has made advancements, according to the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, “Consensual same-sex relations are still criminalized in close to 70 countries. Only one out of three countries legally protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation, only one out of ten protect people based on gender identity, and only a handful based on sex characteristics.”

As a marginalized group, LGBTQIA+ people can face challenges and hostilities in accessing health care and legal protections. They are “more likely to experience human rights violations including violence, torture, criminalization, involuntary medical procedures and discrimination. In addition, they face denial of care, discriminatory attitudes and inappropriate pathologizing in healthcare settings,” per the World Health Organization. 

UNFPA believes everyone is entitled to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and is guided by the 1994 International Conference of Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action, adopted by 179 governments, which recognizes that reproductive health includes the right of all people to have a satisfying and safe sex life.  

In its commitment to leaving no one behind, UNFPA works toward a world where LGBTQIA+ people are afforded the same rights as others, for example, access to gender-based violence services in the COVID-19 response. UNFPA is part of the joint UN programme 2gether 4 SRHR, which promotes SRHR for key populations in East and Southern Africa. Other initiatives have helped develop a Transgender Health Strategy and piloted psychosocial counselling for gender non-conforming people in Jamaica; integrated SRHR and HIV prevention and treatment services for gender-diverse people and distributed dignity kits tailored for transgender people in Bangladesh; raised HIV awareness in Haiti; provided sexual health education in Myanmar; improved access to HIV prevention measures in Lesotho and Botswana; empowered key populations in Kyrgyzstan; helped people at risk of HIV start small businesses in the Philippines; and supported universal sexual and reproductive health education in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. 

In addressing the needs of LGBTQIA+ people, we’ve come some distance with further yet to go. We vow continued commitment to not straying from the path, eyes fixed on the horizon, true and lasting equality our destination.