Introduction
- This submission highlights the United States (U.S.) government’s compliance with its human rights obligations to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary (LGBT) people, with particular attention to those from racialized and immigrant groups, and their socioeconomic and health rights, since the U.S.’s last Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2020.
- We refer to the UPR recommendations received and supported by the U.S. during the third review cycle (UPR 3) related to protections for LGBT people (4 recommendations), as well as combatting racism and xenophobia (35 recommendations), protecting immigrants and asylum seekers (23 recommendations), and the right to health (11 recommendations), in relation to LGBT people.
- Despite the U.S. government’s support for these recommendations during the previous presidential administration, LGBT people continue to experience more discrimination and violence, and worse economic and health outcomes, compared to their non-LGBT counterparts. Currently, the U.S. government is actively implementing anti-human rights policies and promoting discrimination, especially against transgender people and immigrants, including through inflammatory public rhetoric.
- Recent orders issued by the U.S. president that ban transgender children and adults from participation in various aspects of public life, dismantle anti-discrimination protections, remove federal sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data, and cancel health research for LGBT people and for racial and ethnic minorities, lead us to anticipate increasing risks to the health and safety of LGBT people, especially LGBT people from racial and ethnic minority communities.