Information

LGBT+ rights

We work to ensure that all people can live without discrimination or the risk of verbal or violent assaults. Everyone should have the opportunity to freely love those they love, have sex with those they desire and be who they are. This is what is understood as sexual rights.

Why do we work with LGBT+ in our international work?

In large parts of the world, being an LGBT+ person unfortunately equals prohibition, persecution and discrimination. In several of the countries we work, sex between people of the same sex can lead to long prison sentences and we hear time and time again about persecution and violent assaults on LGBT+ people. Your life can be at risk, if you publicly show your love for your loved one.

That cannot be right and that is why Sex & Society is fighting to create social, cultural and political changes that can secure the rights of LGBT+ people. Both in Denmark and in our international work.

How do we work with LGBT+ in practice?

DFPA, in collaboration with local organizations and rights defenders, has worked to improve the rights of LGBT+ people internationally since 2014. We engage politically, socially and culturally to break down the structures and norms that maintain oppressive and discriminatory practices towards LGBT+ people.

The main focus is to ensure non-discriminatory legislation and to create access to relevant and non-discriminatory sexual and reproductive health services. In order to ensure this, we work to change social, institutional and professional environments from being homophobic and transphobic to becoming inclusive and supportive of LGBT+ people.

We also focus on LGBT+ people having access to information about their sexual and reproductive health and rights, so that they have better opportunities to make informed choices about their own health.

Finally, we focus on supporting local LGBT+ organizations so that they can hold local authorities accountable to LGBT+ people.

What changes does our work make?

Our international work for the rights of LGBT+ people creates very concrete changes in the lives of LGBT+ people. In our projects, many people gain access to knowledge about human rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights, from which they are otherwise cut off due to the structural discrimination they experience in their local communities.

They also get access to health services, which they greatly need, but which they have otherwise been cut off from because LGBT+ people often fail to seek medical help, out of fear of or because of previous experiences of being discriminated against and downright shamed in health clinics.

Finally, DFPA is helping to push for the political and legal changes that create the framework to be able to improve the everyday life of LGBT+ people.

What does LGBT+ mean?

LGBT+ is a term that covers people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and with the '+' symbol covers the term for people whose identities do not fall within the binary categories of men and women, those who identifies with something other than these in relation to gender or sexuality. This includes, for example, pansexuals or queers, but also those who explore their sexual orientation and/or gender identity or people who do not identify with any existing categories.