BOGOTA, Nov 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Some conservative politicians and churches in Latin America are inciting hate speech against LGBT+ people, fuelling a roll back on legal gains, a United Nations special envoy said on Thursday.

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the U.N's independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, criticised lawmakers who believe it is a "good investment" to speak out against gay and trans people on the campaign trail to win votes and popularity.

"There's currently a conservative vein that seeks to restrict both the rights, but also the conquests, of LGBTI civil society," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"A number of church denominations - and also that's the case for also some evangelical churches operating in the political field as political organisations - are ... embracing hate speech and the promotion of hateful actions against LGBTI persons."

While parts of Catholic-dominated Latin America have made recent gains on LGBT+ rights, including allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt, nine Caribbean countries still criminalise same-sex relations, Madrigal-Borloz said. Read more via Reuters