Why LGBTQ+ rights are key to human rights and ending AIDS

Written by Richard Pyle, Director of Policy and Advocacy

Human rights belong to everyone. They are not negotiable, selective, or conditional. Yet around the world, we are witnessing a worrying rise in governments restricting the very freedoms that keep people safe, including the right to health and dignity.

Time and again, LGBTQ+ people are among the first to see their rights rolled back and their safety threatened. Where the rights of one group are weakened, the rights of all become vulnerable.

This Human Rights Day, we are reminded that defending LGBTQ+ rights is not a niche issue which only impacts those who are a part of the community. It is a test of whether we are willing to defend human rights altogether.

The LGBTQ+ community is more than an identity or label. It is rooted in shared history, struggle, and resilience. LGBTQ+ people have long built networks of mutual support, and in today’s hyper-connected world, this network has become a global force spanning continents and cultures.

At the Elton John AIDS Foundation, we see this solidarity every day. Our work is fuelled by many LGBTQ+ donors and allies who may never meet the people they support, yet choose to act out of compassion, justice, and a belief in equality.

At a recent World AIDS Day reception in the Houses of Parliament, the UK government launched its new HIV Action Plan, a science-driven and ambitious roadmap led by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who is a gay man himself. It was a welcome moment of optimism in an otherwise dark year for the global HIV response.

Speakers throughout the night talked not just about the government’s plan for the UK, but also the need to keep tackling HIV globally.

The UK plan is important, but it cannot stand alone. Severe cuts in global HIV funding mean millions of people around the world, disproportionately LGBTQ+, are losing access to medication that keeps them alive, and to HIV prevention services, including dramatic drops in those accessing PrEP.

This is more than a setback in the HIV response; it is a human rights crisis.

When people are denied access to healthcare, their right to life, dignity, and safety are also denied.

Some policymakers still treat LGBTQ+ rights as a separate debate, but the reality is that protecting LGBTQ+ people is protecting human rights. There is no one without the other.

It is also essential for public health.

Where LGBTQ+ people face criminalisation, violence, or discrimination, HIV rates are higher, as people avoid clinics, testing, and treatment out of fear. But when rights are upheld, when people feel safe, seen, and protected, HIV transmissions fall, benefiting the health system and the economy.

LGBTQ+ rights are not an “add-on” to HIV strategy. They are central to ending AIDS.

With the largest caucus of openly LGBTQ+ MPs in the world, the UK Parliament represents a milestone on the road to equality. But representation is only the starting point, not the finish line.

The UK has power to influence global human rights:

Yet the government is considering cutting the funding that supports LGBTQ+ people across the Global South. For a nation that aspires to lead on equality, this is not just a moral decision, it is a political one.

If the UK wants to maintain credibility as a global human rights champion, it must stand with LGBTQ+ people everywhere, not just within its own borders.

I urge our LGBTQ+ parliamentarians to speak out against this move. A parliament this diverse has a responsibility and mandate to turn visibility into action, pride into policy, and historic representation into a historic defence of LGBTQ+ rights and health worldwide.

The fight for human rights and the fight to end AIDS are inseparable. We will not achieve one without the other.

This Human Rights Day, let us reaffirm our collective responsibility to champion equality, protect the vulnerable, speak out against injustice, and ensure every person can live freely, in good health, and with love.

Human rights are universal. So must be our defence of them.