MYTHS vs. REALITY
How to respond to myths about LGBTI people
Public opinions and comments made about LGBTI people often denigrate them, even if inadvertently, and undermine their rights. Many such comments are based on common myths. You can respond to these comments and shatter the myths from a human rights standpoint.
Think about how many of the statements you read and hear about LGBTI people deny reality – in fact, much of what is written and said is nothing but myth. You can frame appropriate, humanrights-based responses to such statements. Pay attention to how your colleagues in parliament talk about LGBTI people and how LGBTI people are portrayed in the media, and respond accordingly. Where there are local LGBTI CSOs, consult them for guidance.
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Myth
Homosexuality is a “Western phenomenon.”
Reality: This is false.
LGBTI people exist everywhere – in all countries, among all ethnic groups, at all socioeconomic levels and in all communities across the world, and have done for a very long time.
What is true is that many of the laws that continue to criminalize and punish LGBTI people in many countries are Western in origin and a legacy of colonialism. This remains the case, even though most of those same former colonial powers no longer have these same discriminatory laws in place in their own countries, having replaced them with legislation that promotes equality -
Myth
Being LGBTI is incompatible with religion and faith (or a specific religion); it goes against God.
Reality: This is false.
See section 8.3, “Conversations about LGBTI issues and faith”, which elaborates on the many arguments that can be used to counter this myth.
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Myth
Reality: Depriving LGBTI people of their human rights can be justified on grounds of religion, culture or tradition.
Reality: Discrimination on the basis of SOGIESC can never be justified on any basis.
Human rights are universal: every human being is entitled to the same rights, no matter who they are or where they live. History, culture and religion are all very important, but all States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, have a legal duty to promote and protect the human rights of all. This includes LGBTI people.
Religious freedom gives us the right to hold our own beliefs (or not to), but it does not give us the right to impose our views on others, including by discriminating against or otherwise harming them. -
Myth
LGBTI people are “not normal”; they are a creation of the modern age; being LGBTI is a “trend”
Reality: SOGIESC are not “current trends”.
Almost every country has a recorded history of people whose identities, diverse bodily manifestations and behaviours bear close resemblance to what we call today heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, intersex and transgender identities. Equally, people with variations of sex characteristics display natural and diverse bodily manifestations that have always existed within the human species.
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Myth
LGBTI people are requesting “special rights” (some say, at the expense of everyone else’s rights).
Reality: This is not true.
There are no special rights being claimed by or for LGBTI people. They are entitled to enjoy the same human rights and fundamental freedoms to which every human being is entitled. Regretfully, these rights and freedoms are denied to millions of people around the world just because of their SOGIESC. This is why there is a need for a specific focus on ending discrimination on the basis of SOGIESC and ensuring the inclusion of all LGBTI people.
LGBTI inclusion is about ensuring equal access to human rights for everyone, not favouring one group over another. -
Myth
Being LGBTI is a private matter. There would be no need to enact laws for LGBTI people if they kept their identity and practices to themselves.
Reality: Every human being has sex characteristics, a gender identity and a sexual orientation.
Only LGBTI people are discriminated against and persecuted for theirs, blamed for the violence they suffer and asked to hide. Cisgender, endosex (non-intersex) and heterosexual people can socialize freely without needing to hide who they are. LGBTI people have the right to do the same.
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Myth
Criminalizing homosexuality is a good idea.
Reality:
Criminalizing private sexual relationships between consenting adults, whether the relationships are homosexual or heterosexual, is a violation of the right to privacy, dignity and bodily autonomy, is discriminatory in nature and violates international human rights law. When enforced, these laws violate rights to freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. Criminalization serves to legitimize hostile attitudes towards LGBTI people, feeding violence, discrimination, extortion and blackmail. Enforcing these laws costs a lot of money and brings no social value.
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Myth
By repealing laws that crimnalize consensual same-sex activity we are “promoting homosexuality.
Reality: Promoting the equal rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people is not “promoting homosexuality”
– it is highlighting that the same fundamental human rights apply to everyone. These are core values that all UN Member States are obligated to uphold.
Furthermore, removing a criminal sanction does not signal official approval; it merely ensures that people are not put at legal risk for loving who they choose to. -
Myth
If we decriminalize same-sex activity, it will inevitably lead to public displays of affection that are culturally unacceptable, and require same-sex marriage.
Reality: Decriminalization generally only protects the right to consensual sexual activity in private.
Cultural mores evolve, even if gradually and even within a traditional framework. Some countries that have decriminalized have found that this has helped move public opinion sufficiently that what is culturally acceptable changes over time. Eventually other legislation – such as for marriage equality – may become less controversial over time. However, that progression is a separate and deliberate legislative choice requiring specific further action by parliament.
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Myth
MPs should follow public opinion when there is overwhelming public support for punitive laws against LGBTI people.
Reality: MPs’ primary responsibility is to advance the human rights and inclusion of all people, no matter how unpopular that might be in relation to LGBTI people.
Negative public attitudes can never justify human rights violations, including punitive laws, police harassment and brutality against LGBTI people, any more than they can justify sexist, racist, ableist, xenophobic, sectarian and other discriminatory acts or policies.
When there are discriminatory attitudes against certain groups, it is the responsibility of MPs and others to work to overcome such attitudes through public education, awareness-raising and other measures. -
Myth
There is nothing in international human rights instruments about LGBTI people, so they do not apply.
Reality: This is false. Quite the contrary, international human rights law applies to every person.
International human rights law establishes legal obligations on States to make sure that everyone, without distinction, can enjoy their human rights. A person’s SOGIESC are a status, like race, sex, skin colour and religion.
Many human rights treaty bodies, human rights mechanisms, special procedures, recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council, UN resolutions and reports have repeatedly confirmed that LGBTI people are entitled to all the same human rights as heterosexual, cisgender and endosex people and that discrimination on the basis of SOGIESC violates human rights law. -
Myth
When our national legislation does not conform with human rights norms and standards, there is not much we can do about it.
Reality:
Sometimes provisions of national laws and policies may conflict with fundamental rights enshrined in international law – whether it is in relation to the human rights of LGBTI persons or other groups or to specific human rights standards.
All States have a duty to review and reform national legislation and policies in line with international human rights standards, including in relation to human rights treaty obliations. Parliament is responsible for lawmaking; therefore, it must ensure that national legislation conforms and harmonizes with international human rights obligations. -
Myth
There are more serious problems for MPs to focus on than LGBTI human rights – like education, health and security.
Reality:
This is a common tactic used to deflect attention away from and minimize or ignore State responsibilities to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of LGBTI people.
The human rights of LGBTI people, like all people, require serious and dedicated attention. LGBTI people are often more likely than others to be denied equal access to education, health, employment and security. Protecting, respecting and fulfilling the rights of LGBTI people in no way prevents, obstructs or delays the resolution of any other matters. -
Myth
Homosexuality and being transgender are mental illnesses or disorders that can be cured.
Reality: Neither homosexuality nor being transgender is a disorder or a disease (as affirmed by WHO).
Everyone has a gender identity, including transgender people; the only difference is that theirs differs from the one assigned to them at birth. Homosexuality is a natural and non-pathological variation of human sexuality.
WHO has also made clear that sexual orientation and gender identity cannot be changed. Attempts to forcibly change the sexual orientation of lesbian, gay and bisexual persons, or the gender identity of transgender people, such as “conversion therapies”, are ineffective and harmful, and constitute torture and inhumane treatment.
In fact, LGBTI people are at an increased risk of mental ill health related to discrimination and violence. LGBTIphobia and discrimination are major barriers to access to health care and can result in increased risk of health concerns unrelated to sex, gender or sexuality. -
Myth
Intersex is a medical condition that can be cured.
Reality:
The WHO International Classification of Diseases 11 (ICD-11) includes disorders in sex development, a controversial term that implies that intersex people are unnatural bodies that need to be fixed.
However, being intersex is a not a health issue in itself. There are only a few cases where a surgical intervention must be carried out for vital reasons. Yet many intersex infants and children are subjected to unnecessary, unconsented, non-vital surgical and medical procedures that solely intend to make their body’s appearance conform to a binary vision of sex.
In fact, “these often-irreversible procedures can cause permanent infertility, pain, incontinence, loss of sexual sensation, and lifelong mental suffering, including depression. Regularly performed with out the full, free and informed consent of the person concerned, who is frequently too young to be part of the decision-making, these procedures may violate their rights to physical integrity, to be free from torture and ill-treatment, and to live free from harmful practices”. -
Myth
Intersex people are rare and therefore policy or legislative interventions are not needed.
Reality:
There are no commonly agreed statistics on the intersex population, but experts estimate that up to 1.7 percent of the population is born with intersex traits.
The presumed small number of intersex people cannot justify States’ inaction on the violence and discrimination they face. Everyone should live safely, free from harm, ill-treatment, torture and discrimination – intersex people too. -
Myth
If we allow legal gender recognition based on self-determination (without treatment or surgery requirements), anyone will want to change their identity papers.
Reality:
When transgender people transition (to live in the gender they identify with), they go through multiple steps. These may include coming out to family, friends, coworkers and employers, and dressing and expressing themselves according to their gender, which exposes them to violence and discrimination.
Legal gender recognition based on self-identification protects transgender people against violations of their dignity and supports them in this process.
Legal gender recognition based on self-identification also protects those intersex people who do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth, and who may already struggle with the trauma of unconsented surgical and other medical interventions, from further violation of their dignity and enables self-determination. -
Myth
If we add gender identity as a protected ground against discrimination, sex will no longer be equally protected.
Reality:
It is important to firmly include gender identity as a ground for protection in legislation. A person can be discriminated against because of their registered sex; they might also be discriminated against because of their gender identity, especially when this is not aligned with their registered sex (as is frequently the case). Thus, transgender people are discriminated against because they are transgender. Adding the ground of gender identity to non-discrimination legislation provides specific protection to transgender people, who are still today one of the groups most discriminated against in our societies in all aspects of everyday life.
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Myth
All LGBTI people have HIV/AIDS.
Reality: This is untrue.
HIV can affect all people, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, including heterosexual men and women. Anyone who has unprotected sex, shares injecting equipment or has a transfusion with contaminated blood is at risk. Infants can be infected with HIV from their mothers during pregnancy, during labour or after delivery through breastfeeding.
What is true, is that barriers to the enjoyment of human rights, specifically the stigma, discrimination, violence and social exclusion that LGBTI people often experience, can impact the extent to which they can access services and information for HIV prevention and treatment, which leaves them more vulnerable and at higher risk of exposure to HIV. This experience of vulnerability and marginalization must be addressed as key barriers to human rights that prevent LGBTI peoples’ access to services. -
Myth
Being around LGBTI people or having access to information on homosexuality endangers the well-being of children.
Reality: This is a myth.
Learning about or spending time with people who are LGBTI does not influence the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors, nor does it harm their well-being.
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Myth
Giving visibility to SOGIESC issues in education and/or sex education is encouraging children and adolescents to become LGBTI.
Reality:
Inclusive education does not push children to be LGBTI, but, rather, gives them the tools to understand how diverse gender, sexuality and human bodies are, realize who they are and who they are not, and reduces the exposure to school bullying and violence at large by fostering a safe and supportive environment without shame.
UNESCO has advocated for comprehensive sexual education (CSE) for more than 10 years. “A significant body of evidence shows that CSE enables children and young people to develop accurate and age-appropriate knowledge, attitudes and skills; positive values, including respect for human rights, gender equality and diversity, and attitudes and skills that contribute to safe, healthy, positive relationships.” -
Myth
A family is made of a husband, a wife and children. Other forms of families are unnatural and put children at risk.
Reality:
There is a wealth of sociological and psychological research that shows that children raised in Rainbow families are not worse off than other children.
Diverse families (e.g. beyond the heteronormative model of husband, wife and children) have always existed and continue to exist in many societies: children are raised by family members other than their parents – by broader communities, single parents, their siblings, etc. – these are everything but “unnatural”. Policies and laws should centre around the principle of the best interest of the child (Convention on the Rights of the Child) and the capacity of carers to raise healthy and happy children. -
Myth
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex people are paedophiles or “dangerous to children”.
Reality:
There is no link whatsoever between being LGBTI and child abuse. Evidence shows that LGBTI people all over the world, just like heterosexual, cisgender and endosex people, are good parents, teachers and role models for young people.
Portraying LGBTI people as paedophiles or dangerous to children is wrong and offensive. It is a distraction from the need for serious and appropriate measures to protect all children, including those coming to terms with their sexual orientation and gender identity. All forms of sexual abuse, including against children, should be prevented and punished wherever they occur and whoever is involved. -
Myth
“Gender ideology” is what makes people transgender.
Reality: Gender ideology is a concept used by conservative movements to halt progress that has and is being made towards equality.
“Speaking about sex as the only ‘objective reality’ is a way of saying that biology is what makes someone a woman or a man – otherwise known as ‘biological determinism’. Biological determinism has been historically used to suppress women. For example, it has been used to assert that ‘women's place is in the home’ because of the biological fact that they are bearing children, or that violence towards women is inherent to a biological difference between men and women, and not a result of gendered power relations and the social construction of gender.”