The current proliferation of anti-EQL laws in several states that are attempting to roll up various freedoms and legal protections against discrimination has been harshly criticized by a United Nations committee.
A number of anti-LGBT laws at the state level have raised concerns, according to the UN National Human Rights Committee ( UNHRC ), which is tasked with reviewing the human rights records of nations that have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It concluded that these laws” severely restrict the rights of persons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The U.S. review was delayed due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, making this year’s review the first in nine years. The UNHRC is required to evaluate members ‘ human right records every four years, but it did not do so for the United States.
The delay in that assessment also coincides with the rise in anti-LGBT laws, which began to be passed in 2020 and peaked in later years as part of a larger right-wing backlash against both the government for COVID-era limits and the broader traditions for its accept of “wokeness.”
29 various “matters of issue” regarding areas where the United States continues to offend the rights espoused by the ICCPR were highlighted in the agency’s report.
Among them is a rise in “discriminatory therapy” of LGBTQ people, particularly in reference to laws that criminalize gender-affirming care, limit transgender people’s access to specific facilities, and forbid conversations about LGBTQ issues in schools.
The report also expresses concern over the discrimination that LGBTQ people may experience on a daily basis, particularly in terms of getting housing, finding work, receiving treatment while imprisoned in correctional facilities, and yet experiencing physical violence.
As a result, the council also offers suggestions for how the United States should address these issues, most importantly by passing legislation guaranteeing the kinds of legal privileges found in the Equality Act, which the House of Representatives passed when the room was under Democratic control but was unable to pass the Senate.
According to the UNHRC report,” the State group should take all necessary steps to ensure that condition laws that discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity are repealed and that extensive legislative initiatives, like the Equality Act, are adopted at the federal, state, local, and regional levels.”
The document continues,” The United States may even step up its efforts to fight crime against and discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identification, including with regard to access to housing, health, employment, and in custodial facilities.” It should also make sure that any acts of prejudice, harassment, or violence are looked into, that the culprits are held accountable, and that victims receive just compensation.
The report emphasizes different issues, such as the US’s efforts to combat hate crimes and hate speech, despite praising the passing of the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act, which guarantees federal and state acknowledgment of same-gender couples performed in any position without existing restrictions on the process.
For instance, the report urges the United States to “take effective measures to prevent and formally denounce hate speech, especially those by politicians and high-level authorities” and to make an effort to combat online hatred speech by collaborating with Internet service providers and social networking platforms.
The committee report suggests passing laws to help judges and prosecutors to seek hate crime enhancements so that such incidents are properly punished, as well as adopting policies to successfully teach law enforcement on how to react to hate crimes where they do occur.
The statement also urges the US to increase data collection on hate crimes, suggesting that all law enforcement organizations may report bias-motivated crimes to the FBI on a necessary basis rather than deliberate basis.
The University of Miami School of Law, Human Rights Clinic, and other partner agencies submitted a report to the committee outlining the latest attempts to roll back LGBTQ right in Florida, another U.S. state, in advance of the review’s results, which were released on November3.
In a statement highlighting the report’s accusations, Human Rights Watch and its partner agencies noted that these rules” throw in jeopardy dozens of civil and political rights, including rights to nondiscrimination, expression, information, privacy, security of the person, lifestyle, and freedom from cruel, inhumane, or degrading care.”
The Committee’s conclusions ought to serve as a wake-up call for American state and federal politicians. State legislators should stop deliberately violating US human rights obligations and reform discriminatory laws in the face of a fierce backlash, and the federal government may pass comprehensive legislation to protect the rights of LGBT people as well as uphold current civil rights protections.
