Grounds of Discrimination transgender persons and other persons with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity or expression are likely to fear interaction with government officials. The threat of criminal penalties may deter them from accessing government services, including naturalization procedures or nationality documentation in the case of stateless persons. Lack of equal protection under the law necessarily inhibits the exercise of human rights and freedoms, risking protracted statelessness and adding an additional dimension of marginalization on top of their lack of documents. Lack of recognition of the gender identity of transgender persons can also lead to problems in the use and updating of nationality documentation.50 Intersex persons and persons with diverse sex characteristics, likewise may face challenges in the context of nationality laws, statelessness, and discrimination, though these challenges remain under-examined, as is the case more broadly for the situation of intersex persons. For example, intersex people face barriers in having their births registered, in changing sex or gender markers on official documents, and some also report being forced into unwanted sex or gender categories. In some countries, registration has been made dependent on parental consent for a child to undergo unnecessary and irreversible surgeries that can cause life long suffering and have been condemned by the United Nations as violations of the rights to freedom from torture, harmful practices, physical integrity and health, among others.51 Many States that criminalize persons based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression also have nationality laws that contain requirements that applicants be “of sound mind”, show “good moral character” or have “knowledge of civic values.” These States may interpret such provisions to discriminate against applicants based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression grounds. For example, in the United States, until the amendment of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1990, a provision barring persons “afflicted with a psychopathic personality” was interpreted to exclude lesbians and gay men from obtaining entry visas and naturalizing on the basis of their sexual orientation.52 Analogous situations may continue to impede access to nationality in the UN Member States whose laws sanction persons on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, or who engage in consensual same-sex acts, risking new or prolonged instances of statelessness. In these situations, discrimination on grounds of disability and sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, intersect. Though the most extreme cases of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression occur where persons are persecuted under national law on these grounds, indirect discrimination due to gaps in nationality laws can also result in a risk of statelessness for persons with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and their families. Many States do not legally recognize same-sex relations through marriage or other forms of partnerships and do not allow for WEB.pdf. 50 Thomas McGee, “’Rainbow Statelessness’ – Between Sexual Citizenship and Legal Theory”, 2020, The Statelessness and Citizenship Review 2(1), 86-111. 51 United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), Background Note on Human Rights Violations against Intersex People, 2019, Chapter 6, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Discrimination/LGBT/ BackgroundNoteHumanRightsViolationsagainstIntersexPeople.pdf. 52 Shannon Minter, “Sodomy and Public Morality Offenses under U.S. Immigration Law: Penalizing Lesbian and Gay Identity”, 1993, Cornell International Law Journal 26(3), p. 771. U N H C R > B AC KG R O U N D N OT E O N D I S C R I M I N AT I O N I N N AT I O N A L I T Y L AW S A N D S TAT E L E S S N E S S 13