Colonialism and sexual orientation and gender identity: Submission to the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

Acknowledging and recognizing the reverberations that the colonial past has on the present contexts of discrimination and human rights violations experienced by LGBTI people is a step in tackling the legacy of colonialism. However, LGBTI rights are intrinsically intertwined with global systems of power hierarchies and often weaponized by governments to promote their vested foreign policy interests and by business corporations to maximize their profits. A call to looking at the impact of colonialism on LGBTI rights must account for the full spectrum of impacts and ensure that local LGBTI groups from contexts that have experienced colonization, including settler-colonialism, are supported in making their realities, needs and demands prioritized in global spaces such as the UN.

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