ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex) issues at the international level from a human rights-based frame. It begins with an overview of international discrimination, including some of the countries with laws against homosexuality and the consequences. The chapter summarizes the history of LGBTI rights within the United Nations system and how international laws have been applied to the rights of LGBTI individuals. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, LGBTI communities are targets for brutal violence, often with no state protection. The chapter moves into issues affecting LGBTI immigrants and refugees and provides information for social workers who work with international LGBTI clients or who plan to work on LGBTI rights abroad. Social workers advocating for the rights of LGBTI immigrants and refugees need to recognize that people who identify as LGBTI are diverse in culture, ethnicity, class, and gender identity and expression.
