Land of the free? Not for LGBTQIA people, apparently…
The United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) condemned discriminatory legislations in various states in the USA that restrict the human rights of LGBTQIA people.
In 1992, the US ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). And so every four years, the HRC reviews laws and policies in the US, as it does with other countries that have ratified the treaty to evaluate their compliance with the treaty and where they fall short. This is the first HRC review of the US in nine years, no thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Included among the US laws that HRC condemned were:
- those restricting access to gender-affirming care;
- prohibiting transgender children from participating in school sports or using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity;
- laws banning books as well as prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity, LGBT people, and their families in schools;
- derogatory speech aimed at LGBTQIA people, including from public officials; and
- violence against LGBTQIA people.
For the HRC, these laws underscore the prevalence of discrimination against LGBTQIA people in the US, that also includes those experienced in other spheres, such as in housing, employment, correctional facilities, et cetera.
