There are numerous international organisations which have had relative success in tackling

LGBTQ+ inequality around the world. These international organisations include the EU -
Rainbow Europe, The United Nations campaigns, Amnesty International reports and
investigations and Stonewall’s influence in improving legislation. All of these factors aim to
tackle LGBTQ+ inequality around the world and ultimately improve the lives of the LGBTQ+
community by ensuring that their rights are respected. However, there are limitations to the
success of these international organisations. In this essay, I will investigate how these factors
aim to eradicate and tackle LGBTQ+ inequality around the world.

One factor which can be seen as effective in tackling LGBTQ+ inequality is Rainbow Europe.
Rainbow Europe produces a map each year that ranks countries on the basis of policies that
impact LGBTQ+ people’s lives. This means that countries that scored highly, like Malta respect
the rights of LGBTQ+, while those with low scores express violations of human rights and
discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.  By displaying the progression made by other
nations to tackle LGBTQ+ inequality it shows a direct comparison between other nations who
have made little progress which can ultimately shame these nations and potentially make them
more determined to further progress their policies regarding LGBTQ+ people in order to do
better than progressive nations. For example, the UK has fallen from 10th place to 14th after
previously making pledges to improve its policies regarding LGBTQ+. Showing that the UK can
be criticised and held to account by international organisations due to their lack of progression
in tackling LGBTQ+ inequality thus putting pressure on the government to enhance their policies
regarding LGBTQ+ and therefore introduce legislation which tackles LGBTQ+ inequality.
However, Rainbow Europe is only effective to an extent as governments can easily ignore the
criticisms made by Rainbow Europe and can continue to exploit anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment as part
of an agenda to erode freedom and equality. For example, nations such as Romania lost points
due to authorities’ banning and punishing Pride events. Therefore this shows despite being low
on Rainbow Europe’s scale each year, Romania still does not improve their legislation on
tackling LGBTQ+ inequality and in this case is rather promoting it, proving Rainbow Europe to
be ineffective here. Overall it is clear that Rainbow Europe is effective in tackling LGBTQ+
inequality as it can scrutinise and shame nations which drop points and pressure their
governments to improve their policies towards tackling LGBTQ+ inequality, however, they are
only effective to an extent as nations can very easily ignore the scrutiny and continue to promote
discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.

Another factor which can be seen as effective in tackling LGBTQ+ inequality is the United
Nations. In July 2013, the UN launched its Free & Equal campaign in support of LGBTQ equality
and countering prejudice directed at LGBTQ people. They did this in order to reach the
maximum number of people possible, targeting specific countries and demographics around the
world (especially in nations where there are ongoing violations of the rights of the LGBTQ+
community). For example, The campaign has reached an estimated two billion people through
social media and generated a stream of widely shared materials. Therefore this proves this
campaign to be effective as it reached a wide audience, therefore, enabling everyone who
engaged with campaign materials to be better informed about promoting LGBTQ+ equality
showing that the campaign was informative and may have positively changed people’s attitudes
towards the LGBTQ+ community. However, the UN is only effective to an extent, as although
they actively make a lot of progress in regards to tackling LGBTQ+ inequality and also
encourage other nations to do the same but despite this progress, many nations continue to
persist in LGBTQ+ inequality and make no efforts to enhance their policies regarding the
LGBTQ+ community. For example, while many countries were making positive strides in
legalising same-sex marriage in 2014, Nigeria introduced legislation that issued a prison
sentence to anyone who has homosexual. Therefore this shows that despite the UN pressuring
nations to tackle LGBTQ+ inequality, nations such as Nigeria ignore this scrutiny and persist in
oppressing the LGBTQ+ community, thus showing the UN to be ineffective here as many
nations still have not legalised same-sex marriage despite the UN’s commendable efforts.
Overall although the UN cannot force nations to support the LGBTQ+ community they still made
progressive strides in educating large numbers of people about the LGBTQ+ community and
therefore effectively tackling LGBTQ+ inequality, proving the UN to be highly effective but only to
an extent.

Another factor which can be seen as effective in tackling LGBTQ+ inequality is Amnesty
International. Amnesty International conducted research, investigating the human rights
violations against the LGBTQ+ community. They have reported increasing cases of people
being harassed and marginalized because of their sexual orientation. Undergoing these
investigations and producing reports can bring awareness to the human rights violations that are
occurring within these nations and therefore international organisations and even other nations
can pressurize the state to prevent these human rights abuses from happening. For example,
Russia has faced international pressure from the United States and the EU over the treatment
of LGBT people in Chechnya. Therefore this shows that Amnesty is effective in highlighting
cases of LGBTQ+ inequality allowing them to gain the attention of powerful institutions such as
the EU and even nations like the US who therefore can call for change in these nations as they
are powerful and influential. However, Amnesty is only effective to an extent, as although
Amnesty hold many investigative powers they lack actual enforcement and can only criticise
these regions but can’t force them to adopt any LGBTQ+ friendly policies thus enabling these
countries to reject any criticisms made and this enables harassment and violence against
LGBTQ+ people to flourish. For example, despite the numerous efforts of Amnesty International
in African nations, countries such as Somalia retain the death penalty for members of the
LGBTQ+. Therefore shows how Amnesty is limited in its effectiveness as although they are able
to bring awareness of important issues they do not possess any authority to compel these
nations to change their policies. Overall it can be argued that Amnesty International is effective
as they can provide information about what is happening around the world and bring awareness
to these issues whilst attracting the attention of superpowers such as the US, however, they are
only effective to an extent as Amnesty lack enforcement and cannot force a government to alter
their anti-gay policies.

Finally, another factor which can be seen as effective in tackling LGBTQ+ inequality is
Stonewall. Stonewall is an International Organisation which campaigns for positive change in
public attitudes and policy towards the LGBTQ+ community. They do this by campaigning for
issues that are affecting the LGBTQ+ community and then by pressurising the Government to
create legislation which effectively tackles LGBTQ+ inequality. For example, the UK government
worked alongside Stonewall in order to pass its same-sex marriage act in 2014 after Stonewall
campaigned for it. Therefore this proves that Stonewall is highly effective in tackling LGBTQ+
inequality as the government has taken Stonewall’s scrutiny into account and therefore made
changes to their legislation to allow same-sex couples to get married just as heterosexual
couples can, promoting LGBTQ+ equality. However, they are only effective to an extent as
Stonewall recognises that they still have a long way to go in terms of tackling LGBTQ+
inequality around the world. For example, the UK government have recently blocked the Gender
Recognition Bill that was passed by the Scottish Parliament, this bill would make the process of
transitioning much easier and more respectful for trans people. Stonewall was very much in
favour of this bill and is currently working to get it passed in the UK. Therefore this shows that
not all of Stonewall’s efforts are successful in tackling LGBTQ+ inequality as the UK government
decided to block this from becoming law proving Stonewall’s efforts being effective only to an
extent. Overall although the UK government had blocked the gender recognition bill that
Stonewall was in favour of, Stonewall has still made some extremely progressive strides in
tackling LGBTQ+ inequality such as campaigning and fighting for same-sex couples to be able
to get married as well as ensuring LGBTQ+ curriculum is included in schools across the UK,
therefore proving their efforts to be extremely effective in promoting LGBTQ+ equality.

In conclusion, there are many international organisations which have had relative success in
tackling LGBTQ+ inequality around the world and in improving the lives of the LGBTQ+
community by aiming to have their rights respected by governments. As Rainbow Europe can
display positive strides being made nations in terms of their policies regarding the LGBTQ+ and
pressurize other nations to follow although some nations decide to ignore the scrutiny, The UN
can target large populations and educate them on the LGBTQ+ community and promote
positive attitudes thus increasing the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community although they
cannot force governments to alter their anti-gay policies, Amnesty International can bring
awareness to important issues and gain the attention of powerful and influential nations to
demand change although they lack enforcement and can't compel governments to stop human
rights violations against the LGBTQ+ community and Stonewall can put pressure on the
government to create policies that promote LGBTQ+ equality however not all of their efforts are
successful. All of the factors listed evidently show the commendable efforts of these
international organisations in trying to tackle LGBTQ+ inequality around the world and display
the many successes they've had in trying to promote LGBTQ+ equality but also exhibiting that
they are only successful to an extent.