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Biden Administration Confronts US Anti-Trans Violence

State and Federal Lawmakers Should Address Structural Discrimination

To commemorate the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, the Biden administration issued a report on violence and discrimination against transgender people in the United States. The report outlines positive steps the administration is taking…
A person wearing a shirt that says "Black Trans Lives Matter (Las vidas negras trans importan)" at a rally
News

LGBT Qataris Call Foul Ahead of 2022 World Cup

LGBT Qataris at Risk Despite Gestures Toward Inclusion

As Qatar prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the government has assured prospective visitors it will welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) tourists and that fans will be free to fly the rainbow flag at the games. But for LGBT…
A general view of the Al Thumama Stadium is seen in Doha, Qatar, October 22, 2021. The stadium will be one of the venues for the 2022 World Cup.
News

South Africa: Broken Promises to Aid Gender-Based Violence Survivors

Improve Shelter Funding; Increase Access for Sex Workers, LGBT, Undocumented Survivors

(Johannesburg) – The South African government has taken important steps but did not provide adequate funding for shelters and other services for gender-based violence survivors during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many survivors have been made more…
General view during the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) protest march organized by the Office of The Premier in collaboration with Phepha Foundation on April 26, 2021 in Durban, South Africa.
News

Intersex Person Victim of Horrific Attack in Cameroon

Perpetrators Should Be Held Accountable

A violent mob sexually assaulted, beat, threatened, and humiliated a 27-year-old intersex person on November 15, in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital. The perpetrators filmed the attack, which lasted for several hours, in two horrific videos which circulated on…
A blurry screenshot from a video showing a mob of men
News

To Stop Anti-Transgender Violence, Lawmakers Must Address Its Roots

As of early November, this year is the deadliest on record for transgender people in the United States, with at least 45 people killed. But their deaths are only the tip of the iceberg. Many other transgender people are subjected to violence…
Participants in the National Trans Visibility March in downtown Orlando, Florida on October 9, 2021. © 2021 Sipa USA via AP
Report

“I Just Try to Make It Home Safe”

Summary Since 1999, advocates have gathered to commemorate transgender victims of violence on November 20, the Transgender Day of Remembrance. As of November, 2021 was the deadliest year yet of anti-transgender violence in the United States,…
News

United States: Transgender People at Risk of Violence

State Laws Stoke Bias; Black Trans Women at Greatest Risk

(New York) – Transgender people are at significant risk of violence and harassment in the United States, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 65-page report, “‘I Just Try to Make It Home Safe’: Violence and the Human Rights of…
Framed photos placed on the ground around chalk writing that says "Black trans lives matter #allthetime"
News

New Olympic Framework Backs Inclusion

New Guidelines Push Back on Discriminatory ‘Sex Testing’ Practices

(New York) – A new framework published by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) promotes inclusion in sport, Human Rights Watch said today. The new policy contrasts with the “sex testing” policies imposed on some athletes in international track…
Person holding image of athletes in a race.
News

Papua New Guinea: Address Abuses Raised at UN Review

Countries Criticize Failures on Women’s and LGBT Rights and the Death Penalty

(Geneva) – The Papua New Guinea government should seriously address the criticisms of its human rights record and scores of recommendations raised by United Nations member countries, Human Rights Watch said today. Papua New Guinea appeared…
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News

A Discriminatory System Killed a Transgender Man in Egypt

By reforming its own system, Egypt can influence positive changes in other countries in the region and lead the way for clear and accessible legal gender recognition mechanisms.

August 26 should have been a day of celebration for Ezz Eldin, a 26-year-old transgender man, but it ended in tragedy. He bled to death after he was prematurely discharged following a gender-affirmation surgery in an underground clinic…
The transgender pride flag.
News

Tunisia: Attack on Director of LGBT Group

Police Officers Suspected; Investigation Needed

Two police officers apparently brutally attacked the director of a Tunis-based LGBT rights group on October 21, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack on Badr Baabou took place against a backdrop of mounting abuses targeting LGBT activists by…
Badr Baabou, director of Damj Association for Justice and Equality, following his assault by suspected police officers in Tunisia. © 2021 Badr Baabou
News

Germany: Include Trans People in Coalition Agreement

Existing Gender Recognition Procedure Violates Human Rights

Germany’s political parties negotiating coalition agreements to create a new government should make a commitment to change the law on legal gender recognition, so that it is based on self-determination, not so-called expert reports, Human Rights Watch…
A demonstrator on a march in Oldenburg, Germany, on Christopher Street Day 2021, holds a sign with the inscription “I am ‘Trans’ and that's good!” September 21, 2021. © 2021 Mohssen Assanimoghaddam/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
News

Australia Moves Closer to Ending Harmful Intersex Surgeries

Rights Body Urges End to Early ‘Normalizing’ Interventions on Children

The Australian Human Rights Commission issued a report today analyzing the persistent practice of medically unnecessary non-consensual surgeries on children born with variations in their sex characteristics. The commission urged authorities to protect…
The Intersex flag
News

India’s Medical Curriculum Gets LGBTI Update

Removing Discriminatory Portrayals a Step Toward Rights-Respecting Care

India’s National Medical Commission has ordered publishers and medical schools to edit their textbooks and curricula to exclude discriminatory and unscientific portrayals of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people. The…
A participant waves a flag during Queer Azadi Pride, an event promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, in Mumbai, India on February 1, 2020.
News

Kuwait: Quash Conviction Against Transgender Woman

Free Expression, Privacy Rights Violated

A Kuwaiti court has sentenced a transgender woman to prison for “imitating the opposite sex” online, Human Rights Watch said today. Such laws violate the rights to free expression, privacy, and nondiscrimination under Kuwait’s constitution and…
Maha al-Mutairi, a 40-year-old Kuwaiti transgender woman. © 2021 Maha al-Mutairi.
News

Trans Man Fights Japan’s Sterilization Requirement

Revise Regressive Law Compelling Irreversible Surgery

A Japanese transgender man, Gen Suzuki, 46, has filed a court request to have his legal gender recognized as male without undergoing sterilization surgery as prescribed by national law. His case highlights the urgent need for Japan to revise its…
People take part in a rally to support the LGBT legislation in Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan on June 6, 2021.
News

Hungary’s Path Puts Everyone’s Rights in Danger

The ostensible assault on LGBT+ rights in Hungary, Poland and Russia has a very big target—anyone who signs up to universal norms.

Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, used the visit by the pope to Budapest last month to advance his populist agenda. He said he had been encouraged by his meeting with Frances to advance ‘family values’. Indeed, Orbán claimed to have…
An activist holding the EU flag during a protest in Warsaw against “LGBT ideology free zones”. ©2021 Attila Husejnow / SOPA Images/Sipa USA
News

Rwanda: Round Ups-Linked to Commonwealth Meeting

Detention, Ill-Treatment of Poor, Gay, and Transgender People

(Nairobi) – Rwandan authorities rounded up and arbitrarily detained over a dozen gay and transgender people, sex workers, street children, and others in the months before a planned June 2021 high-profile international conference, Human Rights…
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left), then Foreign Secretary, and Paul Kagame (right), President of Rwanda, meet during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, April 17, 2018.
News

Kenya Censors Another Gay-Themed Film

Struggle for LGBT People’s Rights Will Not Be Silenced

I have never met Samuel, the gay Kenyan protagonist of the acclaimed documentary “I Am Samuel.” But I feel as if I know him. Not only does filmmaker Peter Murimi’s quiet, steady, honest portrayal of Samuel’s daily life create a sense of intimacy and…
“I Am Samuel” documentary, 2020