The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Protection of the Fundamental Rights of the LGBTI Minors

Starting from the observation that, even though the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child does not expressly mention sexual orientation and gender identity, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has increasingly been adopting recommendations for the protection of LGBTI minors, this article tries, first of all, to identify the legal basis for those recommendations. In the second place, the article attempts to provide an overall review of the Committee’s practice, coming to the conclusion that it pursues two objectives. The first objective is to guarantee all LGBTI minors the enjoyment of rights that are considered “fundamental”, regardless of the cultural and religious tradition of certain State parties to the Convention under whose jurisdiction the minors in question fall. The second objective is to promote, in those States where there seems to be an adequate level of protection of the fundamental rights of LGBTI minors, supplementary rights that may contribute to the well-being and happiness of LGBTI children and young people, as well as to the full and harmonious development of their personality, in accordance with the protection envisaged in the 1989 Convention for all children in general.