International Mechanism Submissions

This report addresses compliance by the Republic of India (“India”) with its human rights obligations concerning people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual or gender minorities (“LGBTQ+”). Although India has strengthened its legal framework to combat LGBTQ+ discrimination, LGBTQ+ individuals in India live in an environment where they do not enjoy the same rights and freedoms as non-LGBTQ+ individuals, including, for example, the ability to enter into a same-sex marriage or same-sex civil partnership.

LGBTQ+ individuals in India face discrimination in almost all facets of their lives from both State and non-State actors, including in health, education, and economic support, and there is little redress for LGBTQ+ individuals who experience discrimination. While the Government of India has implemented a healthcare scheme which contains medical health for transgender people and certain economic support, numerous structural and legal barriers prevent transgender individuals from accessing these services. LGBTQ+ people also face physical violence from State and non-State actors, and many LGBTQ+ people who experience violence do not report violations of their human rights to the State for fear of further persecution.

In this report, we use the acronym LGBTQ+ to refer to individuals who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer. These terms necessarily do not include everyone who may experience violations of their human rights on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression (SOGIE) status, which is why we also include a “+” with the acronym. Any use of a modified acronym is intentional in that we are speaking only about certain members of the LGBTQ+ population. India also has several “third genders,” most notably hijras. Although some hijras may also self-identify as transgender women, it is important to note that not all hijras do, nor do all transgender women identify as hijras. Information for this report includes published information and first-hand material collected by local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights defenders in India that work on LGBTQ+ issues.