LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations have filed a petition to the United Nations asking it to pursue an inquiry into Texas over the alleged “deteriorating human rights situation for LGBTQIA+ persons” in the state and violations of international human-rights obligations.
“The State of Texas blatantly disregards its responsibilities and obligations to uphold the standard of human rights as described in the [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] by targeting the LGBTQIA+ community with laws that seek to invalidate their lived experiences, prevent them from participating in society and ultimately, seeking to erase them from the public sphere,” reads the petition, dated Monday.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Equality Texas, GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, and the University of Texas at Austin School of Law Human Rights Clinic co-signed the petition.
The petition argues that seven pieces of legislation individually will “disrupt the lives of LGBTQIA+ people.” Taken as a whole, the bills amount to “a systemic attack on the fundamental rights, dignities, and identities of LGBTQIA+ persons that opens the gates for discrimination by both public and private actors.”
One bill mentioned in the petition is Senate Bill 14, passed in June 2023, which prohibits puberty blockers, hormonal treatments, and gender-related surgeries for minors.
Another bill mentioned in the petition is Senate Bill 15, passed in June 2023, which requires students at public higher-education institutions to compete in intercollegiate sports in accordance with their sex, not preferred gender identity.
The petition alleges that Senate Bill 12, which prevents “certain sexually oriented performances” from occurring on commercial premises in the presence of a minor or on public property where they could be “reasonably expected to be viewed” by a minor, and House Bill 900, which prohibits “sexually explicit material” in public school libraries, amount to “indirect discrimination” and “have a disproportionate impact on LGBTQIA+ persons.”
“Considering the danger this represents, we humbly ask for you [the United Nations] to make inquiries into this backsliding of human rights of LGBTQIA+ persons in the state of Texas, United States of America,” reads the petition.
The petition asks that the United Nations request information from the U.S. federal government about how it is “currently securing the equal rights of LGBTQIA+ persons in Texas,” request information from Texas about how the relevant bills “promote and protect the rights of LGBTQIA+ persons,” issue a public statement about Texas’s “anti-LGBTQIA+ laws and policies,” and make policy recommendations to Texas.
“[T]he United States federal government has failed to adopt necessary and adequate measures to prevent these abuses,” the petition continues. “While some federal courts have placed injunctions on some of the Bills, the federal government has not adopted a proper response to the systemic attack on LGBTQIA+ persons living in the state of Texas.”