The Declaration of Montreal on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Human Rights is a document adopted in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada, on July 29, 2006, by the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights which formed part of the first World Outgames. The Declaration outlines a number of rights and freedoms pertaining to LGBT and intersex people that it is proposed be universally guaranteed. It encompasses all aspects of human rights, from the guarantee of fundamental freedoms to the prevention of discrimination against LGBT people in healthcare,

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and immigration. The Declaration also addresses various issues that impinge on the global promotion of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

and

intersex human rights Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals, that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies." Intersex pe ...

. Intended as a starting point in listing the demands of the international LGBT movement, it will ultimately be submitted to the United Nations.

Background

The Conference aimed to raise the

international community The international community is a term used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world. Usage Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is typically used to imply the ...

's awareness of

issues. It was held immediately prior to the Outgames themselves and attended by almost 2000 delegates and 600 conference speakers from across the world, making it the largest LGBT rights conference ever held. A number of international experts took part including distinguished

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

s, academics, church leaders and human rights activists. Among them was Joke Swiebel a former member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, who served as one of the primary drafters of the Declaration. The delegates unanimously approved the Declaration. Among the keynote speakers to the Conference were: *

Louise Arbour Louise Arbour, (born February 10, 1947) is a Canadian lawyer, prosecutor and jurist. Arbour was the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario and a former Chief Pr ...

–

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

Gene Robinson Vicky Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is a retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson was elected Coadjutor bishop, bishop coadjutor in 2003 and succeeded as bishop diocesan in March 2004. Before becoming bishop, he se ...

– Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the

Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...

Claire L'Heureux-Dubé Claire L'Heureux-Dubé (born September 7, 1927) is a retired Canadian judge who served as a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1987 to 2002. She was the first woman from Quebec and the second woman appointed to this position, aft ...

– Former

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

on the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

* Mark Tewksbury – Canadian swimmer and Olympic

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

ist * Irshad Manji – Canadian author, journalist, and activist * Georgina Beyer – New Zealand politician, the world's first openly

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

Member of Parliament * Waheed Alli – Asian businessman and United Kingdom

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...

– Former world No. 1 tennis player *

Gérald Tremblay Gérald Tremblay (born September 20, 1942) is a former Canadian politician and businessman who served as mayor of Montreal from 2002 until his resignation in 2012. He also served as president of the Montreal Metropolitan Community. Before ...

– Mayor of Montreal The Declaration aims to address UN failings in consistently applying its

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

. A number of fundamental freedoms, including the

right to life The right to life is the belief that a human (or other animal) has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including: capital punishment, with some ...

, are violated in a number of member countries where homosexuality is criminalised. Homosexual acts are punishable by death in nine jurisdictions:Declaration of Montreal, 1. (a) Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. They remain illegal in 72 countries,Declaration of Montreal, 1. (c) and are in many cases punishable by imprisonment or

corporal punishment A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...

Essential rights

The Convention identifies several areas in which action needs to be taken to uphold the essential rights of

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

people: "A world where LGBT rights are systematically violated, is a world where nobody can feel safe and free" referring to the principle of

World Conference on Human Rights The World Conference on Human Rights was held by the United Nations in Vienna, Austria, on 14 to 25 June 1993. It was the first human rights conference held since the end of the Cold War. The main result of the conference was the Vienna Declaratio ...

held in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

affirming that "All human rights are universal, indivisible, and interdependent and interrelated."Declaration of Montreal, 2.

Protection against state and private violence

The declaration calls for an end to the death penalty and all

violence against LGBT people LGBTQ people frequently experience violence directed toward their human sexuality, sexuality, gender identity, or gender expression. This violence may be enacted by the state, as in laws LGBTQ rights by country or territory, prescribing punishm ...

whether state condoned or by private parties. States are required to take steps to protect LGBT people from all

hate crimes Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their Physical appearance#Physiological ...

. Forced marriages to persons of the opposite sex are identified as particular human rights violations to be combated. Finally, violence against

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

people, in particular unnecessary surgery to force conformity to rigid models of sexual characteristics, is condemned as well as genital surgery to them unless they are old enough to understand it and consent to it. This gave influence to Principle 18 (protection from medical abuse) of

The Yogyakarta Principles The Yogyakarta Principles is a document about human rights in the areas of sexual orientation and gender identity that was published as the outcome of an international meeting of human rights groups in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in November 2006. T ...

Freedom of expression, assembly and association

Laws which discriminate against LGBT people, such as bans of pride marches, LGBT journalism and registration of non-governmental organisations, are identified as a major stumbling blocks in campaigning for LGBT rights issues. The world community is therefore called upon to guarantee such rights and prevent their being denied by hostile public authorities. In addition, the international community is asked to take positive steps in promoting such rights. To this end, the Declaration calls for international

development aid Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political International development, development of developing countries. It is distinguishe ...

packages to be conditional on improvements in respecting human rights, including those of LGBT people. Financial aid is sought for groups campaigning for LGBT rights in areas where such people still fear for their lives or personal safety.

Freedom to engage in consensual same-sex sexual activity

The repeal of all laws preventing consensual same-sex activity is called for.

Freedom from discrimination

LGBT people face discrimination in many aspects of their lives. Governments are called upon to take positive actions to promote LGBT rights to freedom from discrimination in the following areas:

Asylum and immigration rights

The

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

recognises a right to asylum for those fleeing persecution based on

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

. All countries are called upon to do the same. In addition, rights of residence for foreign partners are demanded to be free from discrimination against LGBT people.

Family rights

Families are stated to be the most important part of many people's lives. The Declaration requires marriages to be opened up to

same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

, all unmarried couples to have similar partnership rights and ensuring equal access for all to every option for parenthood, including adoptions by LGBT people.Declaration of Montreal, 4. (b)

Education healthcare, media and employment

In education, classes on LGBT human rights are sought and schools are required to take action against

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

bullying. The media are called upon to assist in breaking down

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

and to portray LGBT people in a realistic manner. The necessity of access to health care in general and for the specific needs of LGBT people is stressed. In particular funding for

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associat ...

is expected to be provided to the same extent that it is for other medically necessary treatments. Finally, religious groups are encouraged to be tolerant towards LGBT people.

Employment

The Declaration calls for the development of programmes to promote fair chances in employment and business for LGBT people for their economic independence and

self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Macki ...

to be insured. Governments are asked to lead by example in eliminating such

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

and in promoting the equality and safety of LGBT people in

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

workplaces and trade unions.

Global issues in promoting LGBT rights

To promote LGBT rights globally, the Declaration requires the international community to engage in a worldwide information campaign and calls upon like-minded NGOs and governments to assist in preparing and running such a campaign. Part of this campaign would be to provide education about the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS among LGBT people and governments are generally encouraged to include LGBT people in their fight against HIV and AIDS. The failure of the United Nations to recognise LGBT rights as human rights is condemned, despite the case law '' Toonen v. Australia'' by the

United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per yea ...

. It is requested that the new

UN Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The ...

adopt LGBT rights as part of its agenda and that the International Gay and Lesbian Association and other LGBT rights organisations be amongst the NGOs that are able to consult with the Council. And at last, the Declaration calls on all nations in the world and United Nations to recognize and promote the 17 May of each year as the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Implementation

The

Montreal borough The city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada is divided into 19 boroughs (in French, ''arrondissements''), each with a mayor and council. Powers The borough council is responsible for: *Fire prevention *Removal of household waste and residual materia ...

of Ville-Marie was the first elected body in the world to officially adopt the Declaration in on August 1, 2006, whilst the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

became the first political party to do so, by a unanimous vote of its federal convention on September 10, 2006. Accordingly, the NDP's critic for LGBT rights, Bill Siksay, presented a motion in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

calling on the Canadian government to abide by the Declaration on September 20, 2006. The Declaration has also been adopted by the

City council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

s of: *

Montreal, Canada Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest in Canada, and the ninth-largest in North America. It was founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", and is now named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...

* San Francisco, United States * Denver, United States *

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

References

External links

Website on the Declaration of MontrealEnglish version of the Declaration of Montreal
(

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

) {{International human rights instruments 2006 in Quebec 2006 documents LGBTQ rights LGBTQ history in Montreal World Outgames 2006 in LGBTQ history Human rights instruments Intersex rights July 2006 in Canada Manifestos