A/HRC/58/54 individual has the right and the capacity to self-identify.32 Relational identity is the identity displayed and perceived by individuals in social interactions;33 it naturally plays an important role in the interactions between persons belonging to a minority group and other persons living in the same State. These three types of identities and their interactions are relevant for the present thematic report. 48. Individual identity has been a major topic of research for psychology and psychiatry. Identity is understood by these disciplines as a constituent element, but not as an invariant component, of a subject’s personality. Identity is to be understood as a permanently negotiated process between subjective elements built on inner processes of emotional identification and attachment on the one side (self-identification), and interactions with the social environment on the other (relational identity). Individual identity is entangled with the social environment of the individual and built through processes of identification and differentiation. 34 This double dynamic may lead to exclusive identities, characterized by strong identification with the group and strong differentiation with those outside the group, or open identities, where identification and differentiation remain present and active, but do not place the dominant group and the minority group in antagonistic situations, allowing for fluidity and flexibility in the acceptance of a variable intensity of affiliation. This aspect of identity-building is important for the theme of the present report, as this interaction between the individual and the social environment is a two-way process; as a result, collective identities are the outcome of interactions between individuals, inside or between social groups.35 49. Collective identities have been the subject of study of social psychology, sociology, and political philosophy. The relationship between minority and dominant groups has an important place in these fields of study,36 with prominent authors focusing, since the turn of the twenty-first century, on ways to articulate constructively minority and national identity, either through inclusive citizenship policies 37 or through the promotion of diversity in societies. 38 The main issue is whether a minority group identity is distinct from (and potentially antagonistic towards) the collective national identity, or whether minority identities contribute to an inclusive collective identity at the State level. In other words, we either have exclusive identities on both sides (national and minority identities) or open identities on both sides. The Special Rapporteur explored this issue in his thematic report to the Human Rights Council in 202439 and clearly underlined how and why minority issues need to be apprehended through the second paradigm, to avoid potential tensions between and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity expressed in his report to the General Assembly in 2018: 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 GE.25-00509 Self-determined gender is a fundamental part of a person’s free and autonomous choice in relation to roles, feelings, forms of expression and behaviours, and a cornerstone of the person’s identity. The resulting obligation of States is to provide access to gender recognition in a manner consistent with the rights to freedom from discrimination, equal protection of the law, privacy, identity and freedom of expression. (A/73/152, para. 21). As the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity notes, “nothing in the body of international law suggests that only trans or gender-diverse persons have a gender identity” (A/HRC/47/27, para. 15). See Isabelle Taboada-Leonetti, “Stratégies identitaires et minorités: le point de vue du sociologue”, in Stratégies Identitaires (Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1998), pp. 43–83. Ibid. The seminal work and the link between individual and collective identities was laid out in the late nineteenth century by Georg Simmel in his book Über Sociale Differenzierung: Sociologische und Psychologische Untersuchungen (Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, 1890). See, beyond the work of Simmel already mentioned, the research of George Herbert Mead, Leon Festinger, Erving Goffman or Erik Erikson. Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996). Charles Taylor, “The politics of recognition”, in Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition, Amy Gutmann, ed. (Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1994). See also Christian Reus-Smit, On Cultural Diversity: International Theory in a World of Difference (Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2018). A/HRC/55/51. 9