United States Mission to the United Nations
Office of Press and Public Diplomacy
For Immediate Release
May 17, 2022
Statement by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphopbia, Interphobia, and Transphobia
In honor of the International Day against Homophobia, Biphopbia, Interphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), the United States reiterates its commitment to the human rights and equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons.
This year’s IDHOBIT theme, “Our Bodies, Our Lives, Our Rights,” emphasizes the human right’s necessary for people to live their sexualities and to express their gender freely, without threat of physical violence or emotional abuse. Unfortunately, across the world, members of the LGBTQI+ community do not enjoy these rights. That must change. World leaders have an obligation to address these abuses. And we must all speak out against homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, and interphobia that so often lead to violence.
While many regions have made progress towards advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons, many parts of the world – including the United States – are woefully behind. Today, and every day, we must commit to advancing the full equality and inclusion of LGBTQI+ people across the globe.
As a beacon of democracy, the United States must lead the way and ensure that we champion equal rights, opportunities, and protections for the LGBTQI+ community at home and throughout the world. We are proud to have contributed to a historic cross-regional resolution in the UN General Assembly on sexual orientation and gender identity in the Third Committee.
The United States will continue to emphasize the crucial importance of LGBTQI+ inclusion and diversity in all UN fora most recently at the Commission on the Status of Women and through our active membership in the UNLGBTI Core Group, which hosted an event today. [LINK].
We must always, clearly, and consistently respond to human rights violations and abuses of LGBTQI+ persons, particularly the acute challenges faced by queer women, transgender, and other gender-diverse people, intersex people, and other particularly marginalized LGBTQI+ communities.
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