Intervento della Vice Ministra degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale, Marina Sereni, all’Evento su “Building Back Better: how to create a virtuous cycle for the inclusion for all LGBTI Persons” —
Dear Colleagues, Esteemed friends,
It is a pleasure for me to take the floor today. Italy is a proud member of the LGBTI UN Core Group and I wish to thank Member States for convening this discussion despite the difficult moments we are all facing.
Fighting against all forms of discrimination, including those based on sexual orientation or gender identity, is a key commitment of Italy’s international action. It also represents a priority of our current mandate in the Human Rights Council (2019-2021).
As the panelists, with their inspiring interventions, reminded us before, LGBTI people indeed are very often victims of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, abuses, and violence, which push them into a vicious circle of exclusion.
The crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the inequalities faced by vulnerable groups.
LGBTI people, already victims of stigmatization and marginalization in many contexts, are now exposed to an even greater risk of becoming victims of discrimination (including in the access to health care services), hate speech and violence, inside and outside their homes, as well as online.
The current crisis offers us all a unique opportunity to rethink our policies in a more inclusive way, to break the circle of exclusion and to look at protection of LGBTI persons’ rights with a multifaceted approach.
We should not waste this chance, as it represents an important step forward to end social and economic exclusion and to ensure that the rights of all are fully respected, leaving no one behind.
We do not want to come back to normal, we want a new normal after COVID 19.
Thank you very much.