LGBTQAI+ Rights: Our legacy of advocacy

The experiences of people who identify as LGBTQAI+ are central to our work of protecting and extending human rights around the world.

Whether we are working to protect members of the LGBT community in their efforts to earn asylum or pushing for international sanctions regimes to provide accountability for victims of abuses, Human Rights First will always include issues that impact the LGBTQIA+ community in our work.

Our long history and recent work on these issues illustrate that commitment.

Our work

LGBTQ Asylum Seekers Still Facing Grave Dangers Due To Title 42

U.S. policies and practices subjecting LGBTQ asylum seekers to human rights violations, arbitrary detention in often life-threatening conditions, and denials of and delays in refugee protection

Multilateral Magnitsky Sanctions at Five Years: written with Open Society Foundations, Raoul Wallenberg and Redress

2022: Advocating for US action on trans people blocked from leaving Ukraine

2022: Refugee Voices: CJ from Peru

2017: LGBT Rights Under Attack in Egypt

2017: Persecution of Azerbaijan LGBTQ Community

2017: Linking Pride Celebration to Advocacy

2015: Calling on the Kazakh President to veto anti-gay legislation

2015: Pride and Prejudice, a Year in Review

2014: Being LGBT in Russia

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Russia

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: El Salvador

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Russia

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Lithuania

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Ukraine

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Maria Fontenelle

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Simone Hill

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Dr. John Waters

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Ruslan Kim

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Kaspars Zalitis

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Clare Byarugaba

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Olena Shevchenko, Ukraine

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Angeline Jackson, Jamaica

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: David, Rwanda

LGBTQ Voices for Equality: Elvina Yuvakaeva, Russia

Ensuring the International Olympic Committee Respects Equality – Human Rights First

IOC Adopts Proposal to Include Sexual Orientation in Olympic Charter’s Non-discrimination Principle – Human Rights First

Russia’s LGBT Community One Year Later: Q&A with Taria Polyakova – Human Rights First

Congress Urges the International Olympic Committee to Amend Principle 6 – Human Rights First

This is Russia: The True Story of Russia’s Oppression of the LGBT Community – Human Rights First

2021: “After earning asylum, Saul helps our community counter Covid”

2015: LGBTQ backlash review

Honor our legacy of supporting LGBTQI refugees and advocates with us at our 2023 Spring Social!

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Refugee Protection

Human Rights First Warns Against Implementation of Honduras Asylum Agreement During Pandemic

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Department of Homeland Security published the United States’ “asylum cooperative agreement,” agreement with Honduras – a move that may signal plans to move ahead with the highly flawed…

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LGBTQI+

Transgender Ban Undermines Military Culture of Honor and Respect

Washington, D.C.—In response to today’s Supreme Court decision lifting injunctions that will allow the Trump Administration’s policy banning certain transgender people from the military to go into effect, Scott Cooper,…

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Human Rights Defenders

Human Rights First Applauds Creation of Fact Finding Mission into Abuses of LGBTQ Persons, Human Rights Workers in Chechnya

Human Rights First welcomes the actions of 16 countries, including the United States, to implement the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) so-called “Moscow Mechanism” to investigate human rights abuses in Chechnya. The rare…

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LGBTQI+

Human Rights First Welcomes Passage of House Resolution Condemning Attacks on Gay and Bisexual Men in Chechnya

Washington, D.C.—Human Rights First today applauded the bipartisan passage of House Resolution 351, which is a strong condemnation of the detention, torture, and murders of gay and bisexual men in…

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LGBTQI+

Pride in the Capital

By Charlotte Gliserman On June 10th, Human Rights First celebrated Pride Month by participating in Washington, D.C.’s Capital Pride Parade. Surrounded by tens of thousands of “unapologetically proud” LGBT people and…

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LGBTQI+

Administration Urged to Press El Salvador on Protection of Transgender Citizens

Washington, D.C.—Following an alarming string of murders of transgender women in El Salvador, Human Rights First today called on the State Department to urge the Salvadoran government to investigate and combat bias-motivated violence in the country.…

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Islamophobia

LGBT Refugees and President Trump’s Refugee and Muslim Ban Executive Order

LGBT REFUGEES AND PRESIDENT TRUMP’S REFUGEE AND MUSLIM BAN EXECUTIVE ORDER President Trump’s Executive Order President Trump’s January 27th executive order sought to: Halt the refugee admissions program for a minimum…

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LGBTQI+

LGBT Refugees, Experts Explore Impact of President Trump’s Travel Ban

Washington, D.C.—Human Rights First today will co-host a congressional briefing examining the administration’s recent executive order targeting refugees and its impact on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. Organized…

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LGBTQI+

Voices for Equality: Rwanda

By Shawn M. Gaylord Silence can be its own type of persecution. It can marginalize an entire social group, driving its members underground, making them afraid to stand up and proudly…

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LGBTQI+

Members of Congress Urge Saudi Ambassador to Protect Rights of LGBT Community

Washington, D.C. –– Human Rights First today applauded members of Congress for their bipartisan effort to express concern for human rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Saudi Arabia. This concern was expressed in…

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LGBTQI+

Ugandan Parliament Closes Without Considering Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Washington, D.C. — Human Rights First welcomes the news that the current convocation of the Ugandan Parliament today adjourned without adopting the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Ugandan human rights activists deserve praise…

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LGBTQI+

Human Rights First Condemns Decision to Ban Moscow Gay Pride

New York, NY—Human Rights First condemns the decision by the Moscow authorities—issued on the International Day Against Homophobia—to deny permission for a Moscow gay pride event. This is the sixth…

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