New publication: Andreas R. Ziegler, Sexual Orientation, in: Christina Binder, Manfred Nowak, Jane A. Hofbauer and Philipp Janig (eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022) online and print.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people of all ages and in all regions of the world suffer from violations of their human rights. They are physically attacked, kidnapped, raped and murdered. In more than a third of the world’s countries, people may be arrested and jailed (and in certain countries even executed) for engaging in private, consensual, same-sex relationships. While transgender people and intersex people are usually discussed under the heading of → gender identity and expression, men who are attracted to men (gay) and women who are attracted to women (lesbian) are often referred to as homosexuals. Together with persons who are attracted to both sexes (bisexual) they shall be treated in this section as LGB persons. Many states do not only discriminate them (→ Discrimination, Prohibition of) but even criminalize sexual relations between them and exclude them from many services and opportunities under the law. In addition, states often fail to adequately protect LGB persons from discriminatory treatment in the private sphere, including in the workplace, housing, education and healthcare. In particular, LGB children and adolescents often face bullying and discrimination in school and by their families (→ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); → Violence against Women and Domestic Violence). This is also due to the lack of education regarding sexual orientation. LGB adolescents may be thrown out of their homes by their parents, forced into psychiatric institutions (to undergo so-called conversion therapies) or forced to marry based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation. This problem is exacerbated when LGB people belong to groups that are discriminated against because of their race or religion etc. (→ Intersectionality). In many societies they are totally excluded or stigmatized and face a high risk of → poverty, violence (→ Security of Person, Right to) and murder, especially in the form of → hate speech and hate crimes. This is for example the case of → Afro-descendants in the United States and of → women or → persons with disabilities more generally.