Human Rights Status of SOGIESC-Diverse People In the 70 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, new understandings and applications of human rights have emerged. The principles underlying all human rights are those of equality, dignity, and self-determination. These principles are equally applicable to people with a diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or sex characteristics, who may also be particularly vulnerable to breaches of human rights. These communities do not have or seek new rights or special rights. International human rights law applies to all people, including SOGIESC-diverse people, without exception. While there is no explicit covenant or convention that has as its stated purpose the elimination of discrimination against people with a diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or sex characteristics, the rights of SOGIESC diverse people are firmly anchored in existing and binding human rights treaties. The Yogyakarta Principles, adopted in 2007, apply existing international human rights law to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics. They address a broad range of human rights and emphasise that SOGIESC-diverse people have the rights to universal enjoyment of all human rights, including non-discrimination and recognition before the law.19 While not themselves legally 19 20 21 22 binding, the Principles affirm existing legal standards that States have agreed to be bound by. They are not a wish list of aspirational goals; every statement and recommendation in the document is grounded in existing obligations under international human rights law and binding human rights treaties.20 The Yogyakarta Principles have been well tested as sources of interpretation, having been cited hundreds of times at the United Nations Human Rights Council; in bills, legislation, and executive policy; and court decisions. In 2017, a supplementary paper to the original Principles was published: the Yogyakarta Principles plus 10.21 These additional Principles articulate the following ten years’ progressive understandings of existing human rights relevant to SOGIESC; such as the right to legal recognition, the right to sanitation, and the right to protection from poverty. Where the Yogyakarta Principles are quoted in this paper, they are in bold. Independently of the Yogyakarta Principles, an Independent Expert against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (IE SOGI) was created in 2016 for a period of three years.22 The role of the Independent Expert was created by the United Nations and placed issues relating to The Yogyakarta Principles: Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity (Geneva, 2007). Gwyneth Williams Jurisprudential annotations to the Yogyakarta Principles (University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre, 2007). The Yogyakarta Principles plus ten: Additional principles and state obligations on the the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics to complement the Yogyakarta Principles (Geneva, 2017). Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 30 June 2016: Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity GA Res 32/2 (2016). Focusing on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the mandate excludes sex characteristics from its scope. This decision was the result of mixed views amongst intersex people and communities; some intersex people felt that inclusion in the mandate may be detrimental to intersex human rights movements, contributing to erasure of intersex issues and conflation with LGBT issues. The Independent Experts, Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn and Victor Madrigal-Borloz, have remained faithful to the mandate but have been very open to listening to the views of intersex communities. They have included references to sex characteristics in thematic reports where there was a clear intersection with SOGI. (C. de Preux de Baets, personal communication to T. Polkinghorne, August 28, 2019). 9