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Outright International’s Advocacy Week: Bridging the Gap for LGBTIQ Activists at the UN
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May 11, 2025
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LGBTIQ activists worldwide face relentless challenges advancing human rights in all corners of the world, with surging discriminatory laws and regressive politics. Gaining direct access to global decision-makers can often seem impossible—this is exactly where Outright International’s annual Advocacy Week becomes a crucial lifeline.
Taking place from May 11–16, 2025, in New York City, Advocacy Week gives grassroots activists unparalleled opportunities to engage with diplomats, UN agencies, and international decision-makers who can help forge pathways toward equality. For activist delegates this isn't merely valuable—it’s transformative.
What is Advocacy Week?
Advocacy Week is Outright International’s premier annual gathering for global LGBTIQ activists. Each year, Outright brings these leaders – representing people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, expressions, and sex characteristics from many countries – to the United Nations in New York. Delegates meet directly with diplomats from UN member states and UN officials to highlight the challenges faced by their communities and demand concrete commitments on safety, health, and equality. Leveraging Outright’s consultative (ECOSOC) status at the UN, Advocacy Week transforms local struggles into global accountability, ensuring marginalized voices shape international decisions.
Why Advocacy Week Matters
Outright International’s ECOSOC status enables frontline activists to directly enter high-level UN conversations. Throughout the year, Outright persistently advocates for LGBTIQ rights at UN headquarters, ensuring marginalized voices influence global policymaking. Advocacy Week is a big part of this annual work.
During Advocacy Week, delegates:
- Receive intensive training sessions to effectively engage UN officials.
- Attend strategic meetings to advocate for their community priorities.
- Network with fellow global activists to exchange insights and strategies.
A Critical Moment for Global LGBTIQ Human Rights
The urgency for global advocacy is clearer than ever. Currently, 62 jurisdictions criminalize consensual same-sex relationships, with several nations in Africa now passing even harsher anti-LGBTQ laws. Worldwide, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in political campaigns is escalating, scapegoating queer communities for political gains. Transgender people increasingly face attacks on the most fundamental of human rights through healthcare bans and restrictions on legal recognition.
Simultaneously, critical funding for global LGBTIQ human rights has been drastically reduced, with abrupt cuts from governments like the U.S. and the Netherlands wiping out nearly a quarter of international funding overnight. This financial crisis jeopardizes essential services and advocacy efforts.
At the same time, we also see some positive changes happening. Some countries in Asia have passed, or are moving towards, marriage equality. Trans people in several nations are finally gaining access to the legal identification documents they need. And support for intersex persons’ rights is gaining traction in many regions.
In this context, Advocacy Week serves as a pivotal response, enabling activists to influence human rights dialogues at the highest level.
Meet Our 2025 Delegates
Outright’s 2025 Advocacy Week brings together outstanding LGBTIQ activists from all regions—Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe & North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East/North Africa. These are brave human rights defenders working in complex environments and we prefer not to name them here because of safety and security threats they may face as a result.
They hail from Algeria, Brazil, Ghana, Japan, Mauritius, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, United States of America and Zambia. They include intersex activists who have founded the first intersex organisations in their countries, a Trans woman fighting bathroom laws in the courts, a marriage equality campaigner in Asia, a lawyer advocating in the courts for marginalized people, civil society leaders working in their region to build alliances across borders, and LBQ feminist activists working within the feminist movement for greater inclusion.
Four of these activists – those from Mauritius, the Philippines, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States of America – are generously supported by the Anita May Rosenstein Foundation as the inaugural “D. Cummings Scholars.”
Elevating LGBTIQ Voices at the UN
During Advocacy Week, delegates gain direct access to the halls of global power, holding meetings with Ambassadors to the UN, in regional blocs, and at UN agencies. Their personal narratives amplify community demands, pressing for tangible global action. Historically, Outright has significantly contributed to establishing the UN’s Independent Expert on SOGI and securing landmark General Assembly resolutions. This year, delegates aim to transform personal stories into a new influential global policy.
Why This Work Must Continue
As oppressive laws and hateful rhetoric proliferate, coordinated global advocacy becomes increasingly crucial. Advocacy Week amplifies marginalized voices, empowering activists with essential tools to demand lasting change.
For those new to Advocacy Week, it serves as a powerful reminder of the strength of international solidarity. For frontline activists, it proves they are not alone in their fight.
How You Can Help
Now is the time to take action:
- Stay Informed: Sign up for Outright’s newsletter for Advocacy Week and global campaign updates.
- Follow Live Coverage: Stay connected through social media using #AdvocacyWeek2025 and #StrongerTogether.
- Support the Movement: Donate to sustain our global advocacy and emergency response.
Together, we will transform setbacks into strength. Stand with Outright International—our global community depends on unified action.
P.S.: If you are in New York City and would like to meet the activists and Outright staff, consider attending two events next week. You can RSVP here.
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