Out of the closet and into the SDGs: No LGBTI person will be left behind

Abstract

Since its adoption, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have had, and continue to have, an overwhelming endorsement from diverse stakeholders that are committed to achieving 17 Goals and 169 targets by 2030. This pledge aims to realize sustainable development in a balanced and integrated manner in its three dimensions — economic, social, and environmental— eradicating poverty in all its forms. The 2030 agenda is presented as a call for action “of the people, by the people and for the people” and pledges that “no one will be left behind.” This is the premise that is the basis for the approach of the present thesis, that may be conceived as both an opportunity and a risk: the SDGs document fails to do an explicit mention to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) persons or to sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). This work aims to establish that there is a link between the SDGs and LGBTI persons exist, beyond the text of the 2030 agenda. Bonds among other related fields will be determined (some of them are clear, others are doubted) to establish such a relationship and provide a solid basis for the assertion mentioned above. Thus, those relationships give structure and methodology to this thesis.