In this unprecedented global pandemic, everyone is affected. Yet, history has shown us that people who are already marginalized within societies tend to be harder hit by crises than others. This is certainly the case for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) people, due to prevailing stigma, discrimination, and exclusion, especially where same-sex relations or transgender identities are criminalized.
Early in the pandemic, OutRight Action International sought to characterize how the global COVID-19 pandemic - and its containment measures - were affecting LGBTIQ lives in real time. The human right organisation documents and defends human rights for LGBTIQ persons around the world. Our report “Vulnerability Amplified: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBTIQ People,” released on May 7, 2020, describes our findings based on a literature review and in-depth interviews with 59 LGBTIQ people from 38 countries.
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Vulnerability Amplified: a glimpse into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTIQ people around the world
By Amie Bishop / Outright Action International
VIDC online magazine Spotlight
This article was published in the VIDC online magazine Spotlight 52/June 2020. If you what to receive the quarterly online magazine, invitations and documentations please subscribe here.
Further readings and links
The full report by OutRight Action International (6 May 2020): Vulnerability Amplified: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBTIQ People.
OutRight Action International (6 May 2016): Violence Through the Lens of Lesbian and Bisexual Women and Trans People in Asia
OutRight’s COVID-19 Global LGBTIQ Emergency Fund
Gaillard, JC, Andrew Gorman-Murray, and Maureen Fordham (2017) “Sexual and gender minorities in disaster.” Gender, Place, & Culture, 24(1): 18-26, 2017.
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and SEROvie (2011) The impact of the earthquake, and relief and recovery programs on Haitian LGBT people. Published March 28, 2011.
UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights. States Must Include LGBT Community in COVID-19 Response (17 May, 2020)
About the author
Amie Bishop is a global health and human rights consultant and currently works as OutRight Action International’s Senior Research Advisor. She is the author of OutRight’s publication, Vulnerability Amplified: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBTIQ People.
© Naya Rajab, Syrian refugee in Lebanon