What can you be gay lesbian

Living as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex LGBTI person can be life-threatening in a number of countries across the globe. Discrimination and violence against LGBTI people can come in many forms, from name-calling, bullying, harassment, and gender-based violence, to being denied a job or appropriate healthcare.

Amnesty International campaigns to protect and uphold the rights of LGBTI people globally, including their right to life, freedom and safety.

Homosexuality: The countries where it is illegal to be gay

The term LGBTI refers to a broad category of people, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex, although we recognize that there are many terms around the world that are used by people to define their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The terminology used can vary widely depending on historical, cultural and societal contexts. It is well established in international human rights law that states must take steps to safeguard the rights of LGBTI people. People experience sexual and romantic attraction differently.

You can be attracted to people of a different gender, or the same gender as you. Some people are asexual, meaning they experience little to no sexual attraction. Transgender or trans people have a gender identity that is different from typical expectations of the gender they were assigned at birth.

Some trans people might decide to get legal gender recognition or undergo gender affirmative interventions to help them feel more confident or comfortable living as their true gender. You can be a trans man and be gay — or be a trans woman and be lesbian. Not all transgender people identify as male or female.

Some identify as more than one gender or no gender at all and might use terms like non-binary, agender, genderqueer or gender fluid to describe their gender identity. Some trans people decide to affirm their gender identity, which is the process of living your life as the gender you identify with.

There is no single gender-affirming process. Gender recognition, in theory, allows trans people to align their legally recognized gender with that of their own gender identity. For some trans people, having their gender legally recognized is an essential step towards being able to live freely, authentically and openly.

In some countries, trans people need medical proof before they can get their gender identity legally recognized. This can be an invasive process and also reinforces the misinformed view that being trans is an illness. Requiring transgender people to undergo unnecessary medical treatments to obtain legal gender recognition violates their right to the highest attainable standard of health, which is protected under international human rights law, including by the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

For transgender people, official identity documents reflecting their gender identity are vitally important for the enjoyment of their human rights. They are not only crucial when travelling but also for everyday life. Non-binary people have a gender identity that exists outside the categories of male and female.

It is an umbrella term for various gender identities that lie outside of the gender binary. While some non-binary people may identify as trans, others may not. But what can you be gay lesbian is not always the case, an estimated 1. These variations are diverse; for instance, some children have genitalia outside the standard norms of male and female bodies, others have female reproductive organs but have XY male chromosomes, or male reproductive organs and XX female chromosomes.

Many people Amnesty International has spoken to that have gone through such surgeries reported lasting negative impacts on their physical and mental health, sexual lives, psychological well-being and gender identity. Transgender people — who were already subject to deep-rooted and persistent structural inequalities and discrimination — found their pre-existing marginalization exacerbated by the Covid pandemic and related public health measures and suffered disproportionately.

The report examined the ever-present barriers to access to healthcare, employment, education, housing, essential goods and services, and social support that were experienced against a backdrop of lack of legal gender recognition, stigma, discrimination, violence and criminalization.

However, in practice, authorities in many countries that have signed international treaties, committing them what can you be gay lesbian protect human rights, continue to implement and introduce legislations that singles out and discriminates against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

There are 64 countries around the world which have laws that criminalize homosexualitymany of which can be traced back to European colonization. In some countries, such as Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Uganda and in the northern states in Nigeria, people can be sentenced to the death penalty if they engage in consensual same-sex sexual acts.

Discrimination goes beyond being criminally prosecuted for being an LGBTI person and can include limited access to healthcare, difficulty in securing employment, bullying or harassment in the workplace and much more.