UN Human Rights Council 50: UK statement during Interactive Dialogue on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
The UK's Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, delivered a statement on behalf of the UK during the Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Protection against Violence and Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity ('SOGI').
The UK would like to sincerely thank the UN Independent Expert for his steadfast commitment and inclusive approach to his mandate. We believe this mandate is an integral element of international efforts to tackle violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people and meaningfully deliver on the 2030 Agenda commitment to ‘Leave No-one Behind’.
We welcome the Independent Expert’s latest report entitled “the realisation of the right to health in relation to Sustainable Development Goal No. 3” which demonstrates the essential role the mandate holder plays in highlighting the specific human rights challenges faced by LGBT+ individuals.
The UK remains deeply concerned at the ongoing incidents of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We are witnessing an increasingly toxic and polarising global debate, particularly on social media, about the concept and process of changing gender.
Unfortunately, discrimination continues in all regions of the world and there is much more work that needs to be done to advance the human rights of LGBT+ individuals. The UK government therefore fully supports the renewal of the mandate of the Independent Expert and calls upon the Council to do so too.