Civil society organisations working on the front lines of countries criminalising LGBTIQ+ people have called on French President Emmanuel Macron to halt plans for a new Human Rights Council resolution on the decriminalisation of consensual same-sex relations.
While this may seem counter-intuitive, they warn that the strategy being led by France could expose local activists and communities to increased repression and backlash.
In a letter sent to Macron, 141 civil society organisations are clear that they support and share the goal: they want criminalising laws repealed and decriminalisation achieved worldwide.
Their concern, they stress, is not whether decriminalisation should happen, but how, when and by whom international efforts to achieve it should be pursued.
“Our concern is not with the objective. It is with the strategy”
The letter acknowledges differing views within civil society about the proposed resolution.
Some organisations, particularly those operating in criminalising countries, fear that a high-profile international initiative could have unintended consequences for communities on the ground.
The 141 signatories make their position clear: “Our concern is not with the objective. It is with the strategy.”
The potential risks, they warn, are not theoretical. Governments and non-state actors that already portray LGBTIQ+ rights as a foreign agenda could use a prominent UN resolution to reinforce that narrative.
This could potentially lead to greater surveillance and intimidation of activists, restrictions on civil society, punitive measures against LGBTIQ+ communities and even renewed efforts to strengthen or reintroduce criminalising laws.
The organisations stress that any backlash would ultimately be experienced not by diplomats negotiating in Geneva, but by local activists and communities living under criminalisation.
“First, do no harm”
The letter calls for a “first, do no harm” approach to international advocacy on decriminalisation.
International initiatives, it argues, should be assessed not only according to their intended purpose, but also according to the risks they could create for people living and organising in hostile environments.
In many criminalising countries, change has been built through locally led strategies including strategic litigation, engagement with parliamentarians, coalition-building, public education, dialogue with faith and community leaders, and sustained grassroots advocacy.
These approaches depend on trust, legitimacy and local ownership. An initiative perceived as being imposed from outside could undermine that work rather than strengthen it.
“Nothing about us without us”
A central concern is the extent to which organisations from criminalising countries have been consulted in developing the proposed resolution.
The signatories argue that meaningful consultation must go beyond informing affected communities about decisions already made. They should have a genuine opportunity to shape international initiatives and determine whether and how they proceed.
They invoke the principle of “nothing about us without us”, arguing that it should be fundamental to any international effort concerning decriminalisation.
Activists in criminalising countries, they say, understand the political realities and potential consequences of international advocacy in ways that organisations and governments outside those contexts may not.
France’s colonial responsibility
The letter also places the debate within a broader historical context.
Many criminalising laws still used today were introduced, codified or reinforced during European colonial rule. The organisations argue that this legacy cannot be separated from contemporary efforts to dismantle those laws.
They therefore call on France to acknowledge the historical role of colonial systems in establishing legal frameworks that continue to criminalise people today — and for that recognition to be accompanied by meaningful reparative action.
An alternative pathway
Rather than abandoning the global push for decriminalisation, the organisations propose a different approach.
They call on France to pause efforts to introduce a new Human Rights Council resolution and instead pursue a programme centred on communities living under criminalisation.
Their recommendations include a high-level French commitment to global decriminalisation that acknowledges colonial histories and supports locally led reform; the creation of a Global Decriminalisation Justice Initiative governed in partnership with organisations from criminalising countries; and dedicated, flexible funding for local groups.
They also call for support for strategic litigation, legal assistance, activist security, movement-building, public education, research and community mobilisation, as well as ongoing consultation and stronger protection mechanisms for activists facing reprisals.
Finally, they urge France to support the implementation of existing UN recommendations and mechanisms on decriminalisation, rather than opening a potentially divisive new negotiation process.
Measuring leadership by impact
The signatories stress that they are not asking France to step away from global decriminalisation. They believe France can continue to play an important role in advancing the cause.
But they argue that international leadership should ultimately be judged by its impact on the people it is intended to support.
“Leadership should be measured by whether communities living under criminalisation are safer, stronger, better resourced, and able to achieve sustainable legal reform on their own terms,” the organisations state. “It should not be measured by the adoption of a new resolution.”
For the 141 organisations behind the appeal, the destination remains clear: ending the criminalisation of consensual same-sex relations worldwide.
The debate is about the route — and they argue that route must be shaped by the people who have the most to lose if international advocacy triggers a backlash, and the most to gain from lasting, locally owned legal change.
