A Vietnamese man has told the UN he has found his ‘true voice’ in the gay community, despite the discrimination and harassment that LGBT people face in his country
“Conversion therapy” is built on the false premise that it can alter the sexual orientation of gender diverse people, and many more countries around the world need to recognize its “dehumanizing” and deeply corrosive impact, according to a UN report that’s before the UN Human Rights Council this month.
Laws underpinned by religious conviction that discriminate against women and the LGBT+ community should be repealed, and gender-based violence carried out in the name of religion by non-State groups must be addressed, an independent UN expert said on Monday in a report presented to the Human Rights Council.
In the fast-growing digital age, hate speech can represent “a critical obstacle for LGBTI people” using online platforms, the UN’s top rights official told participants at a high-level segment on the matter on Tuesday.
Hate speech, both online and offline, has “exacerbated societal and racial tensions, inciting attacks with deadly consequences around the world”, according to an open letter released on Monday by nearly two dozen independent United Nations experts.
More than 1.4 million displaced people in over 60 refugee hosting countries will need resettlement next year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Monday, while also supporting a call for far greater protection for vulnerable LGBTI individuals seeking asylum.
Back in 1976 Linda Tyson came out as “a lesbian and a feminist”, she told UN News on the sidelines of the 2019 New York City LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] Pride March on Fifth Avenue, long before the UN-GLOBE joined the World Pride parade.
Friday's main stories include: Honouring UN peacekeepers; landmark conference to combat sexual and gender-based violence in crises; Kenya upholds LGBT ban; UNICEF’s plea for Afghani children; Brazil’s bid to compensate tobacco smokers; Water shortages in Bangladesh
The United Nations human rights chief has warned that an official campaign in and around the capital of Tanzania to identify and detain anyone suspected of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) “could turn into a witch-hunt.”
The risk of “outright violence” against the LGBT community is growing in cities but hopes are high that a newly-adopted agenda for future urban living will create more “safe spaces”.
