UN expert “deeply alarmed” at state of LGBTQ equality in the U.S.

The United Nations’ independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity says he is “deeply alarmed” by the state of LGBTQ equality in the U.S.

At a Tuesday press briefing following a 10-day trip to the U.S., Victor Madrigal-Borloz warned that progress made over the course of previous decades is being undermined at both the state and federal level.

“Despite five decades of progress, equality is not within reach, and often not even within sight,” Madrigal-Borloz said.

During the trip, Madrigal-Borloz visited Washington DC, Miami, San Diego, and Birmingham, Alabama, and met with representatives from federal, state, and local governments, representatives from civil society organizations, LGBTQ people, and authorities at a detention center holding asylum seekers, according to a United Nations release.

“I am deeply alarmed by a widespread, profoundly negative riptide created by deliberate actions to roll back the human rights of LGBT people at state level,” he said. “The evidence shows that, without exception, these actions rely on prejudiced and stigmatizing views of LGBT persons, in particular transgender children and youth, and seek to leverage their lives as props for political profit.”

The U.S. has seen a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation at the state level in recent months, much of it targeting LGBTQ youth. In his report, Madrigal-Borloz noted that in 2021, 268 anti-equality bills were introduced…

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