UN Independent Expert Graeme Reid has warned of a global “perfect storm” caused by the rise of authoritarian populism and the decline of democracy worldwide. Speaking in Geneva, the South African researcher and former director of Human Rights Watch's LGBT rights program presented a report prepared jointly with the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT). The 80-page document reveals the extent of the discrimination, abuse, and specific risks faced by queer people in places of detention.
Table of Contents
How do stigma and discrimination put LGBTQ+ people behind bars?
There is a direct link between social discrimination outside detention and a high likelihood of arrest. Because of harassment and bullying at school, many members of the community receive poor grades or drop out altogether. Combined with stigma, this shuts them out of formal employment and pushes them to the social margins—into the “gray” area of informal or quasi-legal work, sharply increasing their vulnerability to arrest.
Once in custody—whether in prisons, immigration detention centers, or psychiatric institutions—they find that the discrimination they faced outside only intensifies: violence comes from both other detainees and prison authorities. The expert identified transgender women as a particularly vulnerable group, subjected to degrading practices and staff's complete lack of understanding of gender identity.
Why do authoritarian populists use anti-LGBT rhetoric?
Attacking vulnerable minorities has become a universal political campaign tool for winning votes. According to the UN expert, populist leaders deliberately choose migrants or LGBT people as scapegoats. Amid the erosion of democratic institutions, they are blamed for economic problems or used to perpetuate the myth of a “lost, idealized past.”
As an example, Reid cites the Russian Federation, where the law on “homosexual propaganda” was adopted at a particular political moment—amid growing opposition sentiment in major cities. This allowed the Kremlin to rally the domestic conservative electorate while simultaneously assuming the role of an international defender of “traditional values.” In the United States, meanwhile, transgender people are being specifically targeted for short-term political gain.
How have repressive laws changed in recent years?
Legislative bans have evolved from restrictions on specific acts to a complete taboo on identity. While traditional laws prohibited same-sex relations (and remained “dormant” statutes in some countries for a long time), so-called “propaganda laws” prohibit any public expression of identity. This undermines the work of human rights organizations by depriving them of funding and the ability to operate legally. The rights of LGBT people have become a symbolic marker of geopolitical conflicts, in which they are publicly declared a “threat to the family, children, and the nation.”
What is happening in international forums?
Conservative states are attempting to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity entirely from the human rights framework. During addresses by the UN Special Rapporteur, representatives of several countries stage demonstrative protests (walkouts). Their goal is to shift these issues from the realm of universal human rights into the sphere of “tradition, culture, and morality.” Despite this, Reid continues to seek informal channels for dialogue and highlight positive practices (for example, in Latin America), emphasizing that conversations behind closed doors are often far more rational and compassionate than aggressive public rhetoric from the podium.
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