Open letter to UN member states

Ask the UN to defend LGBTQ people’s right to life

In November, UN member states vote on the resolution on unlawful killings. Some want LGBTQ people, who have been included there for decades, taken out of it.

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A joint call from Outright International, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, ILGA World, and the International Service for Human Rights.

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A joint call from

  • Outright International
  • Human Rights Watch
  • International Service for Human Rights
  • Amnesty International
  • ILGA World

What we’re asking

To the Permanent Representatives of the 193 UN member states in New York,

Every person has the right to life. When someone is killed unlawfully, their death should be investigated, and the people responsible held to account, whoever the victim is.

Since 2002, the General Assembly’s resolution on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions has named sexual orientation among the reasons people are targeted for killing, and since 2012, gender identity. I ask your delegation to:

  1. Vote in favor of the resolution as a whole, with its full list of targeted groups and characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
  2. Vote against any amendment that removes or narrows that list, in the Third Committee and in the General Assembly.
  3. Co-sponsor the resolution, if your delegation has not done so already.
Your nameThe country where you live

The language has been challenged at every vote since 2010

Every two years, the UN General Assembly condemns extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, meaning the deliberate killing of a person outside any legal process. The resolution names the groups most at risk and sets out what states must do when anyone is killed unlawfully: investigate, prosecute, and give families justice.

  1. 2002

    Sexual orientation is added to the resolution’s list of grounds.

  2. 2010

    A group of states removes sexual orientation in the Third Committee. The General Assembly restores it in the plenary vote.

  3. 2012

    Gender identity is added. Attempts to remove both have followed at every vote since, and all have ultimately failed.

  4. 2024

    States voting to keep the language warn that removing it would “send a dangerous signal to the perpetrators.”

  5. 2025

    In another resolution (on disabilities) at the General Assembly, “sexual orientation and gender identity” is removed by a close vote.

  6. 2026

    This November, the General Assembly votes on the next resolution.

The resolution creates no new rights and no hierarchy among victims. It also names journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, religious minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and victims of so-called honor killings. Removing one group because a government finds it inconvenient puts every other group at risk on the same terms.

63 of 193

UN member states legally recognize hate crimes based on sexual orientation. For gender identity, the number is 40.

Source: ILGA World, cited in the report.

“Government failure to actively intervene to protect the rights of LGBT, gender-diverse, and intersex persons…leads to their deaths.”

UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions
Read the evidence in Killed for Who They Are: Extrajudicial Executions and Targeted Killings of LGBTIQ People →

Where your name goes

  1. You add your name

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  2. We deliver the count to every mission

    Before the vote, Outright delivers the total, country by country, to the 193 permanent missions in New York, alongside the joint letter from civil society organizations.

  3. You hear how the vote went

    We email every signer the result and what comes next.

Who will see my name?
Outright, the organizations behind this letter, and the 193 UN missions, which receive each signer’s name and country. We never share your email with any government.
Is it safe to sign?
No petition is ever entirely safe to sign, wherever you live. Your name and country go to UN missions with the petition; your email does not. Ultimately, you know your context and must decide whether to sign. If you are concerned about your safety, talk to people you trust before you sign.
What is the resolution on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions?
It is a resolution that the UN General Assembly adopts every two years. It condemns killings carried out outside the law, names the groups most at risk, and sets out what states must do to prevent, investigate, and prosecute unlawful killings.
Who is behind this petition?
Outright International, with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, ILGA World, and the International Service for Human Rights, wrote the joint letter to UN member states.
Can my organization sign?
Yes. Organizations sign the joint letter by November 8, 2026. Add your organization.
Will you email me?
We will send a confirmation now, and one update after the vote. You will hear from Outright about other work only if you tick the box to receive updates.

Anything else? Write to comms@outrightinternational.org.

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