An NHRI Guide on responding to COVID-19 impacts on LGBTI people Section one: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTI people in the Asia Pacific region Data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that is disaggregated on the basis of SOGIESC, is scarcely available at global, regional, or national levels. Nonetheless, UN human rights mechanisms, NHRIs, and civil society organisations have been documenting the pandemic’s impact on LGBTI communities since its onset, clearly establishing its detrimental and disproportionate impact on LGBTI communities.15 The following section presents this evidence, with a focus on examples from the Asia Pacific region.16 1. Health risks Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, stigma, discrimination, and violence has resulted in LGBTI people faring worse in terms of their physical and mental health state than the rest of the population.17 LGBTI people are also disproportionately affected by poverty18, which increases their risk of developing health problems. Trans individuals and men who have sex with men, as well as sex workers, are key populations in the context of HIV/AIDS and may have compromised immune systems.19 Additionally, many LGBTI people have had pre-existing conditions prior to the pandemic, which increased their vulnerability to health risks related to COVID-19.20 LGBTI people are also disproportionately affected by housing insecurity. Many undocumented LGBTI migrants, sex workers, or LGBTI asylum seekers have lived in overcrowded apartments, centres, or housing facilities.21 22 This means that many LGBTI people have lived in conditions where preventive measures, such as distancing, access to masks, water and sanitation facilities, or sanitisers, may not have been available. 7 15 See for instance, A/75/258; Philippines Commission on Human Rights, Statement of CHR Spokesperson, Atty Jacqueline Ann de Guia, calling for the inclusion of persons deprived of liberty in the priority list for Covid-19 vaccination, April 14, 2021, Statement of CHR Spokesperson, Atty Jacqueline Ann de Guia, calling for the inclusion of persons deprived of liberty in the priority list for Covid-19 vaccination; Uluwai Kirisitiana, COVID-19 amplifies LGBTIQ person’s vulnerability, FBC News, May 17, 2021, COVID-19 amplifies LGBTIQ person’s vulnerability; OHCHR, COVID-19 and the Human Rights of LGBTI people, April 17, 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/LGBT/ LGBTIpeople.pdf; OutRight Action International, Vulnerability Amplified: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBTIQ People. 16 The headings in this section are based on several resources, including OHCHR’s 2020 note on COVID-19 and the Human Rights of LGBTI people and OutRight Action’s report Vulnerability Amplified: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBTIQ People, and others. 17 A/75/258, para. 28. 18 A/75/258, para. 25. 19 A/75/258, para. 28 (b) and Equal Rights Coalition, Report 1: Global Impact of COVID-19 on LGBTI Communities, April 20, 2020, p. 4, https://equalrightscoalition.org/documents/global-impact-of-covid-19-on-lgbti-communities/. 20 A/75/258, para. 28 (b). and Equal Rights Coalition, Report 1: Global Impact of COVID-19 on LGBTI Communities, p. 4. 21 Ibid., p. 5. 22 A/75/258, para. 36-37.