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• Human Rights Watch played a central part in ending a massive crackdown on men having sex with men in Egypt. After years of research, Human Rights Watch in 2004 released a report on the government campaign in which hundreds, possibly even thousands, were arrested and tortured. The day after its release and the accompanying high-level advocacy, the crackdown stopped.
• Human Rights Watch's HIV/AIDS and LGBT Rights Programs brought human rights groups in Jamaica into a coalition to condemn widespread violence against gay men. Its report on the issue, called "explosive" by the Jamaican media, sparked an unprecedented debate within Jamaica about the rights of LGBT people and the struggle against HIV/AIDS. The report also gave strength to a growing movement to repeal Jamaica's colonial-era sodomy laws.
• Human Rights Watch played a key role in realizing the "Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity," developed by a group of international law experts meeting last year in Indonesia. The principles set out standards for how states should ensure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. They also affirm that human rights do not admit exceptions.
• Human Rights Watch has documented abuses against LGBT Iranians, supported over a hundred asylum claimants in dozens of countries, and helped change refugee policies to safeguard LGBT people in exile.