Suriname Stakeholder Report for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review: LGBTIQ+ Rights
Country: Suriname
Partners: Khaleem Ali, Suriname Men United
Issues: LGBTIQ+ Rights
Mechanism: UN Universal Periodic Review
Report Type: Stakeholder Report
Although Suriname is making progress toward implementing some of its previous-cycle recommendations, there is still significant social stigma against LGBTIQ+ people, which contributes to significant discrimination by State and non-State actors. There are increased protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and, to a lesser extent, gender identity, but these protections are neither universal nor consistently applied. There are no legislative protections against discrimination on the basis of gender expression or sex characteristics. LGBTIQ+ youth are at particular risk of systemic exclusion, which creates barriers to the full enjoyment of their human rights. There remains a significant lacuna of legal protections for LGBTIQ+ people. In this report, we use the acronym LGBTIQ+ to refer to individuals who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and other sexual and gender minorities. These terms do not necessarily include everyone who may experience violations of their human rights on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and/or sex characteristics ("SOGIESC"), which is why we also include a "+" with the acronym. Any use of a modified acronym is intentional in that we are speaking only about certain members of the LGBTIQ+ population. This report benefited from the expert guidance of experienced human rights advocates Keneth van Emden, Isaura Morsen, Vergey Miles, and Milton Castelen.
