OutRight Action International

OutRight Action International is a 27-year old international human rights organization, which seeks to advance the rights and opportunities for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTI) people worldwide. Our mission is to develop partnerships with LGBTI people at global, regional, and national levels with the aim of building capacity, documenting human rights violations, advocating for inclusion and equality, and holding leaders accountable for protecting the human rights of LGBTI people.

There has been limited work on the implications of conflict and insecurity on LGBTI persons. However, existing studies focusing on emergencies indicate that LGBTI persons are subject to "social sidelining" during and after emergencies for numerous reasons, including legal regimes and social cultural and religious stigma. OutRight is of the view that the harm LGBTI people face is often due to gendered experiences of conflict and insecurity. In efforts to highlight the particular experiences of LGBTI individuals in areas of conflict OutRight in collaboration with other women's rights organizations published reports documenting violence against LGBT Iraqis, including violence emanating from ISIS, militia groups and Iraqi State Security Forces. In August 2015, OutRight provided expert testimony for the first Arria-formula meeting to address human rights violations against LGBTI individuals, focusing on violence conducted by ISIS.