U.S. withdraws from U.N. LGBTQ+ and intersex group

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Flags at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland

The move is among numerous anti-LGBTQ+ actions by the Trump administration.

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The U.S. has pulled out of the United Nations’ LGBT! Core Group, which supports the rights of LGBTQ+ and intersex people around the world.

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“In line with the president’s recent executive orders, we have withdrawn from the U.N. LGBTI Core Group,” a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Blade.The withdrawal came February 14.

In his first few weeks in office, Donald Trump has issued numerous anti-LGBTQ+ and particularly anti-transgender executive orders. These included, on his first day, one called “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which denies the existence of trans, nonbinary, and intersex people. He has also cut foreign aid programs that help many LGBTQ+ and intersex people, along with those that assist people living with HIV or AIDS, and sought to ban gender-affirming care for minors and trans participation in school sports under their gender identity.

“The overarching goal of the UN LGBTI Core Group in New York is to work within the United Nations framework on ensuring universal respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, specifically lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons, with a particular focus on protection from violence and discrimination,” the group’s website states. It was formed in 2008.

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Chile and the Netherlands are the cochairs of the group, and other member states are Albania, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, Peru, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Timor Leste, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. The European Union has observer status. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, and Outright International are involved as well.

President Joe Biden’s administration strongly supported the U.N. group. First Lady Jill Biden addressed a Core Group event last September, and in 2016, when Joe Biden was vice president, he spoke at one of the group’s events.

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