This report is part of the Building Resistance Series. This specific report is focused on analyzing the nature of anti-trans oppression in the South-West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region.
In the SWANA region, trans and gender diverse people have no State-recognized rights, meaning that they face a system of active, pre-emptive denial of their existence by State authorities. Unlike in other contexts, where anti-gender movements focus on seeking to remove established rights, the anti-trans oppression and hostility in the SWANA region is a continuous, top-down process of active denial.
The hostility described in this report is a top-down strategy of the States in this region. It is a symptom of a broader, State-led, anti-human rights doctrine that targets any group, notably feminists, political dissidents, religious reformers, or ethnic minorities, that deviates from State-sanctioned norms.
GATE’s new report documents how States across the region systematically deny the existence of trans and gender diverse people, not through isolated laws, but through a coordinated architecture of power. For decades, trans people’s survival required accepting a diagnosis – being labeled as “ill” in exchange for limited access to care or recognition. Today, even that path is being closed as recent policies, like mandatory DNA testing, collapse all trans people into a single, criminalized category.
The report also makes a clear case for a strategic funding shift:
- From project-based, donor-driven initiatives to flexible, long-term, core funding for trans-led survival services
- From performative public pressure to discreet, partner-requested diplomatic engagement
What’s included in the report?
The report is divided into 6 chapters:
