When it comes to the human rights of LGBT persons, the accountability of governments in developing countries is generally very poor. Few governments show willingness to make commitments to protect the human rights of LGBT persons. However, there are positive examples, such as South Africa that has one of the most protective constitutions for LGBT people in the world; Nepal which has a third legal gender; and Uruguay, which recently introduced legislation to allow change of legal gender. Argentina, as the first country in Latin America, has legalized samesex marriage.

A state’s silence on the existence, as well as the rights, of LGBT persons in many countries, contradicts the principles of transparency and good governance. There are enormous challenges on accessing data related to LGBT groups, for example, public health statistics, related to sexual identity or practice. Information on LGBT issues is generally nonexistent.