General Assembly

In a powerful victory for the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on 18 December 2008, 66 nations at the UN General Assembly supported a groundbreaking statement confirming that international human rights protections include sexual orientation and gender identity. It was the first time that a statement condemning rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people was presented in the General Assembly. Two additional States (the USA and Costa Rica) have subsequently joined the statement, bringing the total number of endorsers to 68.

Read the Joint Statement in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian or Chinese.

ARC International worked with other NGOs to send out an Action Alert (in English, French and Spanish), and an Action Update during the preparation stages of the Joint Statement, as part of a lobbying strategy to get more States (and civil society activists) involved. We also prepared a Fact Sheet, available here in English, French and Spanish.

Press release on the GA Joint Statement on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.