Trans, gender diverse and intersex people worldwide face a myriad of issues, including lack of access to trans- and intersex-competent general healthcare, trans- and inter-phobic biases among medical professionals and services leading to stigma, discrimination and exclusion from essential medical services, lack of inclusion in data and ongoing research, and inaccessible or unaffordable gender-affirming healthcare (when sought).
Intersex people face additional challenges, including being subjected to unconsented and medically unnecessary surgeries, hormonal treatments and other procedures in an attempt to change their appearance to be in line with gendered societal expectations of male and female bodies, as well as lack of access to personal medical records, thus denying the right to truth regarding human rights violations executed in medical settings.
During its 12-year trajectory, GATE has achieved a range of impressive achievements, many working alongside our partners and allies across the globe. GATE led the international initiative on depathologization, resulting in the removal of pathologizing diagnoses for trans people in the WHO International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) and paving the way for the introduction of depathologization within the broader human rights framework. GATE also founded and coordinates the International Working Group on Trans Men and HIV, and is one of the global Key Population organizations engaging in the international HIV response.
The Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims to “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. GATE’s works towards making this a reality for trans, gender diverse and intersex people and communities by advancing health rights and access to health services, and supporting effective engagement with technical and political processes concerning health and rights. GATE seeks to ensure that trans, gender diverse, and intersex people of all ages can achieve the highest level of health and wellbeing possible. We do this through advocacy, knowledge generation, movement building, and capacity building and training.
Our efforts include:
- Engaging with WHO, Global Fund, UNAIDS and other global health initiatives to advocate for awareness and inclusion of our communities’ issues at the highest levels
- Partnering with networks, organizations and activists working on HIV and Universal Health Coverage, supporting their participation in global healthcare processes and advocating for the full inclusion of trans-, gender diverse-, and intersex-specific healthcare in the process of Universal Healthcare Coverage
- Conducting advocacy that calls for differentiated service delivery, community-led services, and a holistic approach that integrates HIV and sexual health care with trans- and intersex-related healthcare
- Promoting and hosting collective sharing platforms, cross-movement dialogues and peer learning spaces and processes to facilitate trans, gender diverse, and intersex activists’ engagement in healthcare-related processes
- Supporting partners and allies at the local, national and regional levels to conduct self-led advocacy on health-related issues
Programs / Projects
HIV
Trans and gender diverse and intersex people are still disproportionately affected by HIV worldwide; however, our access to information, to resources and to decision-making continues to be extremely limited. GATE engages in the international HIV response by challenging this historic exclusion and creating new opportunities for meaningful participation.
Find out more about our HIV projects
Depathologization
Trans, gender diverse and intersex people have been historically pathologized by psycho-medical and legal institutions. GATE is working internationally to advance depathologization, while ensuring all people’s full access to legal gender recognition, gender affirming healthcare and its coverage. We are also advocating for many human rights violations to be recognized as rooted in pathologization (e.g., ‘normalizing’ procedures on intersex infants, ‘conversion’ therapies, and other forms of torture and ill treatment in psycho-medical institutions).
