After much lobbying and negotiation efforts from LGTBI and feminist organizations, the resolution on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, E/CN.4/2005/L.47, was tabled on April 13. It included references to both sexual orientation and gender identity. Though many countries will oppose this paragraph in next week's vote, it is still a significant step forward in the fight for human rights.

Paragraph 5: "Reaffirms the obligation of States to protect the inherent right to life of all persons under their jurisdiction and calls upon States concerned to investigate promptly and thoroughly all cases of killings including those committed in the name of passion or in the name of honour, all killings committed for any discriminatory reason, including sexual orientation and gender identity; racially motivated violence leading to the death of the victim; killings of members of national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, of refugees, of internally displaced persons, of street children or of members of indigenous communities; migrants, killings of persons for reasons related to their activities as human rights defenders, lawyers, doctors, journalists or as demonstrators, in particular as a consequence of their exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; as well as other cases where a person's right to life has been violated, all of which are being committed in various parts of the world, and to bring those responsible to justice before a competent, independent and impartial national tribunal or, where appropriate, international tribunal and to ensure that such killings, including those committed by security forces, police and law enforcement agents, paramilitary groups or private forces, are neither condoned nor sanctioned by government officials or personnel".

Mauro Cabral, an Argentinean intersex transgendered man and current program consultant on transgender and intersex issues for IGLHRC, has been advocating for understanding and recognizing gender identity in human rights and its importance within human rights systems for many years in different fora.

Mauro explained that that when he was born, he was assigned a female gender. He was named and raised as a girl, who was expected to become a woman. At the age of 13, he was diagnosed with an intersex condition, and thus began the problematizing of his gender status. From the physician’s and his family point of view, his body did not correspond with that of a woman. He was forced into several genital surgeries aimed at altering his body to better resemble that of a 'normal' female. Those surgical procedures were also supposed to change the way he perceived himself, and his gender identity as a 'woman'.

According to Mauro, "a certain number of individuals assigned a female sex at birth identify themselves as males at different points in their life: in their childhoods, in their adolescences or in their adulthoods. Some choose surgery or technology to construct themselves differently as male. Most seek legal recognition as men, and will live their lives as men.

Many trans-men use a rights perspective to justify, in part, their choices: the human right to a true identity (in this case, gender identity, the right to be the person you are in gender terms), the right to health and welfare and the right to sexual pleasure and happiness."

The legal recognition of one's gendered identity continues to be a challenge. As Mauro comments: "with the sole exception of the UK and South Africa, most Western countries, including Latin-American countries, demand specific requirements for name changes and legal sex changes." In Mauro’s case or that of other trans-men, the lack of recognition of his male gender identity by the law impacts his ability to work, use his credit card or marry a woman. In order for his gender-identification to be recognized, he would have to submit himself to sterilization, genital surgery and the proof of irreversibility of these changes.

The way in which the medical system deals with intersexuality has taught Mauro that surgery alone cannot create identity. "You are who you are, including the sense of your gendered self. I’m happy with my body, I don’t need to change it. Some people want to, some of us don’t, and we deserve the equal and respectful treatment of our gender expression, of the way we communicate with the world in gender codes."

He adds that "no person should be prohibited access to body changes that could improve his/her life, including her/his full access to human rights. But also, no one should be forced to undergo undesired body modifications in order to be recognized as a human being who is entitled to human rights."

Transgender people are primarily discriminated against based on their gender identity. Discrimination may also be based on their sexual orientation. Mauro explains that often, people think a trans-man must necessarily be attracted to women. Attraction to men in this context seems difficult to understand, even for the members of the LGB community.

Even within human rights organizations, Mauro has experienced similar discrimination from those still attached to dichotomized definitions of man/woman or a rigid concept of a 'normal body'.

From Mauro’s perspective "the way we express ourselves in gendered terms is key to understanding why so many trans people around the world are suffering persecutions, violations and executions on a daily basis. We need to learn how to deal with the diversity of human bodies, including sexual and reproductive bodies, without trying to reduce them to normative stereotypes. We need to guarantee the freedom of all human beings, their freedom to be who they are and express themselves accordingly, including the freedom of altering or not altering their sexual and reproductive bodies."