Forum: Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee

The question of Preventing violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

Submitted by: Cansu Dilek

Position:President Chair

Introduction

Homophobic and transphobic mentalities, often combined with an absence of sufficientlawfulsecurity against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, expose many lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people of all ages and in all regions of the world to terrible violations of their human rights. They are discriminated against in the labour market, in schools and in hospitals, abused and abandoned by their own families. They are singled out for physical attack – beaten, sexually assaulted, tortured and killed. In many countries, laws against cross-dressing are used to punish transgender people by their gender identity and expression. And in about 77 countries, discriminatory laws criminalize private, consensual same-sex relationships – exposing individuals to the risk of arrest, prosecution, imprisonment — even, in at least five countries, the death penalty.

Definition of Key Terms

LGBT: The acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. Is often also used to refer to other queer people that identify as other things such as Pansexual, Asexual or Intersex.

Gender identity: A person's experience of their gender, one's innermost concept of self as male, female, a combination of both or neither.

Sexual orientation: A person's sexual identity about the gender to which they are attracted, the fact of being heterosexual, homosexual etc.

Intersex people: Those whose biology does not meet society’s traditional definitions of sex and gender and are born with ambiguous gender traits. For some, the condition is clear at birth, while others do not discover that they are intersex until puberty or later.

Homophobia: An irrational fear, dislike of or prejudice against homosexual people, often, hatred towards other sexualities that aren’t heterosexuality or homosexuality is also referred to as homophobia.

Transphobia: An irrational fear, dislike of or prejudice against transsexual or transgender people.

Biphobia: An irrational fear, dislike of or prejudice against bisexual people. It can take the form of denial that bisexuality is a genuine sexual orientation, or of negative stereotypes about people who are bisexual (such as the beliefs that they are promiscuous or dishonest).

General Overview

Homosexuality dates back to ancient Egyptian and Greek societies and the reactions against it has always been controversial. In the First Century, after Christianity was spread out through Europe, the condemnation of homosexuality raised, and this attitude continued the next centuries. By the 18th century, homosexuality was frowned upon, and governments did anything they could do to prevent homosexual acts. Under King Henry VIII, England passed the Statute of 1533 that made homosexuality a capital offence. This enactment stayed until 1828, in spite of the fact that understandings of the UK's Criminal Law Amendment Act facilitated the criminalization of homosexuality until its legitimization in 1967.

It was not until after WWII that organizations were made for the LGBT people community. LGBT developments amid this time occurred primarily in the United States and Europe. Consciousness of homosexuality has raised as a result of post-WWII globalization and uncovered "political requests for reasonable treatment in psychological well-being, public policy, and employment.”. The 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the US denotes a defining moment with its Stonewall Revolution, amid which gay people opposed police attacks in New York City. This period was trailed by the 1970s gay freedom development, amid which bunches sorted out promotion associations and arranged open showings. The development affected all parts of society: media, music, religion, governmental issues, and instruction. At last, the surfacing of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s provoked more noteworthy interest for medicinal and other help for the LGBT people group, drove by a few unmistakable open figures. The 2000s general yielded the best headway for LGBT individuals, yet imbalance between bunches given sexual introduction proceeds.

In spite of most Member States' acknowledgement of homosexuality at the government level, anti-LGBT enactment remains. As of February 2014, five Member States keep up that homosexuality is a crime deserving of law. These countries incorporate Sudan, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and parts of Nigeria and Somalia. An extra 70 countries uphold enactment bringing about the detainment of the LGBT people group. A critical thought is that in numerous countries, for example, Nigeria, essentially being seen as gay warrants capture and different types of segregation. As indicated by Journal of Abnormal Psychology referred to by PBS, "over 90% of gay men and lesbians report being focuses of verbal manhandle or dangers, and more than 33% report being survivors of brutality related to their homosexuality".

Currently, there are 25 countries that have legalized same-sex marriage. These are respectively the Netherlands (2001), Belgium (2003), Canada (2005), Spain (2005), South Africa (2006), Norway (2008), Mexico (2009 - in some jurisdictions), Sweden (2009), Iceland (2010), Portugal (2010), Argentina (2010), Denmark (2011 - Denmark’s autonomous territory Greenland legalized in 2015), Uruguay (2013), New Zealand (2013), France (2013), Brazil (2013), United Kingdom (2013 - Wales and England in 2013,Scotland in 2014), Luxembourg (2014), Finland (2015), Ireland (2015), United States (2015), Colombia (2016), Germany (2017), Malta (2017) and recently in Australia (2017).

Possible Solutions

To reduce homophobia, we should first understand the roots of the problem. Men behaving in a way that could be interpreted as feminine such as dressing or speaking in a certain way may make these individuals targets for violence or discrimination. The same goes for women who behave in what could be considered as a masculine role. Resulting from these non-traditional gender roles is a change in power dynamic from the male-female dichotomy to something completely different. Essentially, those considered to be homophobic tend to feel threatened by homosexuality because they feel uncomfortable with the perceived shift away from a society dominated by “masculine” males.

Major Parties Involved

The Netherlands

The Netherlands was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage, on April 1st, 2001. In 1998, it was one of the first countries to create legislation that allowed homosexual civil unions, which was then followed up by the legalization that allowed same-sex marriage in 2001. As well as this, on September 13th, 2011, legislation was created that allowed transgender people to legally change their gender without necessarily having to get a sex-change surgery, making it easier for them to get married correctly. This makes the Netherlands one of the most liberal countries in the world in this aspect and makes the Dutch government extremely accepting the LGBT community.

Russian Federation

Russia’s treatment of LGBT people recently entered the spotlight in 2014 before its responsibility of hosting the Winter Olympics. 1993 saw the decriminalization of homosexuality followed by transgender people’s newly established ability to legally change their sex in 1997. However in 2013 Russia passed a law that effectively banned: “ ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations’...to promote traditional Russian values over Western liberalism, which the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church see as corrupting Russian youth...”. The consequences of this legislation are that it stigmatizes the LGBT community and makes information about homosexuality inaccessible to children. Following the implementation of this law, Russia saw a rise in homophobic behaviour, including harassment and humiliation of gay people such as pouring urine on them. This legislation had the greatest impact upon LGBT teenagers, who have been committing suicide at alarming rates.

Moreover, Russia’s law enforcement mechanisms have largely ignored this growing issue. Despite being able to provide the enforcement services that the LGBT community so desperately needs, Human Rights Watch claims that “authorities deliberately ignore such crimes”. The nation as a whole approaches greater oppression of LGBT people as the population’s attitudes become more conservative.

Islamic States

In Islamic countries, this is a sensitive and difficult topic to discuss because of the extreme religious Muslim views that claim that cross-dressing and homosexuality are sinful, unnatural and punishable. In five official Muslim countries, same-sex sexual relations carry the death penalty, these countries being Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen. As well as this, a lot of Muslim countries, including Algeria, the Maldives, and Qatar, have punishments against homosexuality, leading to a lot of discrimination by the regular people as well as discrimination by law. On the other hand, there are some Muslim countries such as Egypt, Mali and Turkey in which homosexuality is not punished by the law.

International Lesbian, Gay, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)

The ILGA is a worldwide federation of 1200 member organizations from 125 countries campaigning for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights since 1987. In 1993, ILGA was the first LGBT+ organization to get granted presence in ECOSOC but lost this position the year after due to some issues, but, on the 25th of July 2011, they finally gained this consultative status for good. They are regularly involved in petitioning to the UN, organizing protest actions against anti-LGBT legislation and asserting diplomatic pressure.

Previous Actions Taken Concerning the Issue

While the main organ of the United Nations, the High Commissioner and the Human Rights Council, is the most active UN organ to take actions for the LGBT community, the UN has currently been sponsoring UN Free & Equal (UNFE) which started in 2013. This Campaign “works to inform individuals of their human rights, identify and address human rights challenges, and assist governments...in fulfilling their human rights obligations” and is aimed at challenging attitudes underpinning LGBT discrimination. Many celebrities collaborate with this campaign to spread awareness. The Free & Equal Global Film Series aims to educate people about LGBT topics through “documentaries and narrative films that explore the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in different parts of the world”.

Related Documents and United Nations Resolutions

Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (adopted 30 June 2016 by the Human Rights Council) - A/HRC/RES/32/2:

Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity (adopted 17 June 2011 by the Human Rights Council) - A/HRC/RES/17/19:

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (adopted 18 December 2014 by the General Assembly) - A/RES/69/182:

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (adopted 20 December 2012 by the General Assembly) - A/RES/67/168:

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (adopted 21 December 2010 by the General Assembly) - A/RES/65/208:

Points to Consider

How can we promote equality for the LGBT community while taking into account cultures and religions?
How can we provide the LGBT community with more rights besides same-sex marriage? (LGBT in the army, adoption etc.)