ILGA World has published its flagship Laws On Us report ahead of Pride month
BY NANCY KELLEY, IMAGE BY PEXELS
Published ahead of Pride month, ILGA World’s new report, Laws On Us paints a picture of a world in flux, where lesbian, gay, bi, trans and intersex people find themselves at the centre of explosive policy debates in countries around the globe.
The report documents legal change in all 193 United Nations states, finding that over the last two years, as some countries have moved forwards in decriminalising “homosexuality”, others have moved sharply backwards. This includes Uganda, which in 2023 introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Act, imposing a wide range of criminal penalties on LGBTQIA people, including the death penalty. The net result remains sobering: same sex relationships are still criminalised in a third of countries around the world.
In areas like marriage equality, gender recognition and protections for intersex children, Laws On Us shows signs of steady progress hard won by activists and campaigners on the ground. Over the last two years four countries – Andorra, Estonia, Greece and Slovenia – have legislated for marriage equality, while Bolivia and Latvia have introduced civil unions. Five countries have passed new gender recognition laws based on the principle of self identification – Ecuador, Finland, Germany, New Zealand and Spain – bringing the total number of states where legal gender recognition is based on self identification to 17. Nine countries now provide protection for intersex children against unnecessary and non consensual medical interventions.
At the same time, Laws On Us documents a worrying slide into repression of freedom of association and freedom of speech. At time of publication, 59 states have laws and regulations limiting freedom of expression on topics related to sexual and gender diversity particularly targeting the media and education systems. The same number of states have legal barriers that prevent human rights organisations advocating openly for LGBTQIA communities. Recently, countries including Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Uganda have introduced laws prohibiting the “promotion of homosexuality”, while in Russia the LGBTQIA movement has been classified as “extremist”.
“In 2024, half of the global population will head to the election polls, and States are trying to restrict the civic space for non-governmental organisations – in particular those addressing sexual and gender diversity,” said Julia Ehrt, Executive Director at ILGA World. “Even talking about our lives in public is becoming increasingly difficult in a growing number of States. This trend is extremely concerning: history has shown us multiple times that the advances our movements have made worldwide are often just an election or a downturn away from being reversed.”
This global picture of tension and change is all too relevant here in the UK – once a world leader on LGBTQIA human rights, now dropping down the Rainbow Europe Index for our failure to progress the rights of trans people, ban conversion practices or provide protections for intersex minors. As we head into our own general election, the government could not have been clearer that restricting trans people’s rights will be a prominent theme of their re-election campaign. There are several live policy consultations, on the NHS Constitution, relationships and sex education, and trans inclusion in schools that, if implemented, would significantly restrict the rights of trans children and adults.
After decades of progress on LGBTQIA human rights in the UK, we find ourselves at a tipping point. Laws On Us has much to tell us about the path that lies ahead.
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