Geneva, 22 December 2025 – LGBTI organisations across the world condemn the decision to remove recognition of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression from a key resolution at the United Nations General Assembly on the rights of persons with disabilities.
The resolution contains important provisions for persons with disabilities worldwide, including about accessibility, inclusive education, and the rights of persons with disabilities in situations of risk.
However, an amendment led by Egypt on behalf of many members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation successfully removed language that recognised how persons with disabilities experience amplified barriers when their disability interacts with discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
While cherishing the approval of the resolution as a great step for people with disabilities worldwide, LGBTI organisations expressed disappointment at the vote on an amendment that directly attacks the dignity, safety and existence of persons with disabilities who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer. By removing language on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression from the resolution, countries lost an opportunity to truly leave no one behind.
This vote forces millions of people to choose between different parts of their identity and who they are. They are told to deny their disability to claim their sexuality or hide their identity to access disability rights. It is a violent act of erasure.
As a queer woman with disability, I am not half a person. My disability and my sexuality are inseparable. Today, the UN told me and my community that our intersectional reality is politically inconvenient. This decision contradicts the very human rights principles the UN claims to uphold. We reject this forced division.Jasmine Kaur, Disability sub-committee chair of ILGA Oceania
Removing language on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression also contradicts well-established standards of international human rights law — including the UN Convention on the Rights pf People with Disabilities (CRPD), which mandates non-discrimination and recognises the diversity of persons with disabilities, and the Yogyakarta Principles, which affirm that “human rights are universal and apply to every person without limitation.”
By removing SOGIE language, States chose to adopt a discriminatory and exclusionary framework even within a largely positive resolution, leaving millions vulnerable by design.
The precedence this sets is deeply alarming. It signals to governments worldwide that the rights of marginalised groups within marginalised groups are expendable. It emboldens efforts to roll back inclusive language across international systems, threatening decades of hard-won progress.
I have lived as a proud lesbian with disability for the past 65 years. To omit LGBTIQA people with disabilities from the resolution is discriminatory. It also denies our fundamental human right to be heard and to be included in all decision-making that affects our lives.Margherita Coppolino, ILGA Oceania Co-chair and ILGA World Board member
We call upon all UN member States to
- publicity reaffirm a strong commitment to the intersectional application of all human rights;
- support initiatives that seek to strengthen inclusive language relating to SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics) in any UN document; and
- adopt and enforce domestic laws and policies that explicitly protect persons with disabilities from discrimination on all grounds, including SOGIESC, ensuring a comprehensive and people-centred approach.
Human rights are indivisible. States cannot protect a person while denying the fullness of who they are. The recent UN General Assembly resolution has been a great step for people for disabilities, but not for those among them who are also part of the LGBTI community. By choosing to exclude LGBTI people, many UN member States failed a fundamental moral test. Our coalition will intensify advocacy to ensure that in every place of power, the message is clear: we will not be erased.
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