Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Characteristics A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions In many countries there are few, if any, local words that describe someone’s identity based on their sexual orientation. For example, in Cambodia there are no words in the Khmer language that specifically describe sexual preferences and behaviour, such as heterosexual, homosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual. In Sri Lanka it is difficult to convey the concepts of sexual orientation and heteronormativity (or gender identity or gender expression) in the Sinhala and Tamil languages.45 In some parts of Asia, including Nepal and the Philippines, the terms ‘third gender’ and ‘third sex’ are used by the general public to refer to all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.46 This is despite the fact that these terms predominantly describe transgender women and, to a lesser extent, men who have sex with men. This perpetuates the invisibility of some communities, particularly lesbians and bisexual women, transgender men and intersex people. Photo by Carla LaGata. 16 45 International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (now OutRight Action International), Violence: Through the Lens of Lesbians, Bisexual Women and Trans People in Asia, 2014. 46 UNDP and Williams Institute, Surveying Nepal’s Sexual and Gender Minorities: An Inclusive Approach – Executive Summary, 2014.