It is a page destined to be regularly updated. Please send your comments or suggestions to contact@dayagainsthomophobia.org

Arguments for Action

For 2014, activists and civil society allies around the world have called for a principal focus on Freedom of Expression in mobilisations around the IDAHOT. Whilst the Day in general is meant to be a vehicle for allies such as women’s and feminist groups, this focus also dovetails considerably with the core demands of many women’s and feminist groups!

Resisting twin assaults on women’s rights and LGBT rights

The right of LGBT communities to Freely Express themselves is an inseparable value of feminism, and is therefore an inevitable agenda among women’s movements. Meanwhile, LGBT groups have a great deal to gain by challenging conservative ideals of ‘natural’ and ‘normal’ (which is also to say, hierarchical) visions of what it ‘takes’ to be a man or a woman.

Heteronormativity – as a prism through which people pass judgement on appropriate behaviour for men and women – plays a defining role in the legitimisation of gender/sexual discrimination and inequality in numerous fields, both at home and in the public sphere. It is one of the most powerful tools for the full control of women’s and LGBT people’s sexualities, bodies, dignity, pleasure and ways of expressing themselves.

For example, international outcry has greeted Russia’s recent assault on LGBT communities’ freedoms of expression and assembly – cloaked in the language of ‘protecting’ children’s rights and ‘traditional values’. Yet LGBT rights activists have often failed to note twin crackdowns on women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Such a shame, since this is adds fuel to the arguments of LGBT activists!

Specifically, despite obvious parallels to the ‘propaganda’ agenda, the passing of legislation restricting the advertising of abortions, in November 2013, went largely unremarked in international media. Even in very well known cases restricting feminist groups’ Freedoms of Expression and Assembly, such as feminist punk/art collective, Pussy Riot, the connections with LGBT questions are frequently missed.

More recently the Ugandan government passed not just the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (which drastically toughens already draconian restrictions on LGBT expression) but – in the same 24 hours – the Anti-Pornography Bill which imposes a dress code for women; outlawing miniskirts and any clothing which exposes parts of the body deemed sexually explicit.

Meanwhile in Armenia, the current gender equality bill is under attack from right-wing interests, attempting to smear it as an entry-door for homosexuality, perversion and family breakdown, etc., often with explicit reference to ‘propaganda’. Attacks on freedoms of sexual and gender expression, here, are clearly – and coercively – intertwined.

And, although the contexts are very different, these projects are being championed by similar sets of actors – representatives of conservative and authoritarian regimes, who frame their assaults on basic human rights as a ‘defensive’ measure designed to guard against ‘Western’ incursions on ‘public morality’.

As the Armenian case demonstrates also, one of the effects here, at times, can be to effectively split LGBT and women’s/feminist energies, marginalize feminist voices and, therefore, to constrict space for the expression of alliances.

Challenging compound inequalities

At the same time compound inequalities, such as the multiple effects of transphobia and sexism in fueling violence against trans women and men – especially trans people of colour, and from the global South – are often missed in international initiatives focused on ‘gender’ or ‘sexuality’ as lenses for interpreting what violence and discrimination are.

Largely tailored to an academic audience, the recent publication of the international ‘Trans-inclusive Feminist Statement’ in September 2013 – signed by over 800 activists, artists, writers, educators, academics and organisations in 41 countries – revealed the depth (and breadth!) of feeling which currently exists to advance a more inclusive vision of what feminism is about, and to openly challenge transphobia within women’s and feminist movement spaces in particular.

New publics are waking up to the insights of intersectional feminist activism!

Celebrating trans inclusion and gender diversity

What is also particularly interesting to see, within emerging transfeminist movements in Europe, North America, Latin America and South Asia, for example, is a clear embrace and extension of many key feminist values: the right to self-determine one’s own identity and expression; the right to bodily autonomy; a commitment to unpacking, challenging and transcending gender norms and hierarchies; an ethics which recognises different dimensions of inequality and human rights as multiple, material and interlocking.

With its long-established focus on mobilising civil society constituencies more broadly, the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia can offer a specific entry point for women’s and feminist groups to celebrate trans inclusion and gender diversity within the feminist movement, and/or to create space for dialogue around possibilities for new alliances more broadly.

Promoting lesbian & bisexual women’s rights

In many cultural contexts, lesbian and bisexual women’s groups are also frequently faced with a pincer movement; attempting to raise the profile of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia within mainstream women’s and feminist movements, whilst also trying to promote recognition of gender inequalities and (women’s sexual rights and freedoms) within mainstream LGBT movements.

Consciously or not, many LGBT movements around the world are structured in a heteronormative (and cisnormative) manner. ‘Higher-level’, ‘productive’ and ‘political’ positions and – on the other hand – ‘grass roots’, ‘reproductive’ and ‘social’ tasks remain routinely gendered at the group, movement and international level.

Understanding how sexuality plays a role in violence against women

When organized religions and laws failed in fully locking up women’s sexualities, it is was no coincidence that medicine took over the role. Women who were engaged in relations outside marriages, or dared to get pregnant while doing so, were sent to mental institutions only a few decades ago. They had to be ‘crazy’ to take such actions!

And, efforts to lock up, limit and to ‘correct’ women’s (and everyone’s) Free Expressions of themselves and their sexualities are still in action today; often interlocking with horrific forms of sexual violence practiced everyday, all around the world.

Defining the right to sexual pleasure and love as a human right

When the world looks like a battle field, it seems almost impossible to imagine women enjoying themselves.

The agenda of the global women’s movement is occupied with advocating for lives that are being lost every day in hate fueled murders, protesting against rape and sexual assaults that impact brutally on the social and mental health of numerous women, and challenging lack of access to justice, employment, economic and political equality.

But in all that, it is important to remember that pleasure and desire are also a part of how we get beyond victimhood and painful stories. By challenging the forms of sexuality that promote violent masculinities, it may be possible to imagine sexual rights that are based on sexual equality.

We have to remember that our bodies are not only to be protected but also cherished and flourished and they come with joy and desires!

All around the world, people everyday rise to show this and to challenge the inequalities that bind us all – women, men and gender non-conforming people, LGBTI, queer, questioning or straight, people of all different nationalities, cultures, ethnicities and class backgrounds – and women’s and feminist groups are so often at the heart of driving forward this agenda!

With it’s clear focus on sexuality and sexual rights, and – this year – on Freedom of Expression (which obviously includes Freedom of Gender and Sexual Expression!), the IDAHOT can offer a useful opportunity for extending cross-cutting actions which open a platform for a wealth of debates among concerned groups.

Take Action!

• The IDAHO Committee, in connection with leading organisations in the field of freedom of expression and human rights, will be launching a Global Call, on April 17, to Leaders of the World to respect freedom of expression for all! We are already accepting endorsements of this statement – email us for more details at contact@dayagainsthomophobia.org
• Specific ideas for actions around May 17 – for all those wishing to take action around the day – are now being constantly updated here.
• Various ideas are tailored specifically with women’s & feminist groups in mind, and also with the idea of encouraging LGBT groups to address conduct gender equality friendly and gender challenging (!) activities!
• In an overlapping initiative, many activists around the world are already heading to create ‘Free Expression Zones’ which push back the boundaries of hate and repression against LGBT people worldwide, and provoke debate about wider democratic freedoms for all! You can find out more here.

Further resources:

For more background information (and ideas) on the Freedom of Expression call see also this link.

For more information about this, or for suggestions on ideas and resources to include please email us at contact@dayagainsthomophobia.org. We would love to hear from you !

Around the world, LGBT people are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic. Specifically, infection rates in men who have sex with men (MSM) and trans people are up to 20 times higher than in the general population. One of the main causes of this is, noticeably, the restriction of accurate and objective information on the specific drivers of HIV for these groups, as homophobic laws, regulations and practices leave them out of necessary HIV prevention, care, treatment and support.

In places where homosexuality is legally criminalized and/or culturally discriminated, health services are often forced to silence all aspects of prevention for MSM and trans people who, in addition, do not dare to seek medical care and treatment, as this may lead to persecution, denial of services, detention, blackmail or violence.

Homophobic laws furthermore have strong indirect effects on the spread of HIV: they increase stigma and discrimination, and they damage the self esteem of sexual and gender minorities, resulting in more exposure to risk, including unprotected sex.

The fight against homophobia and transphobia, accordingly, plays a significant role to combat the epidemic. Even with an advance of biomedical factors relating to HIV medicine, homophobia and transphobia, if not addressed, will always act the major drivers behind HIV within MSM and trans people.

IDEAS FOR ACTION

• Documentary and Movie Screening. Many argue that HIV activism serves as entry point for LGBT movement, especially in the era/place when/where LGBT rights is still too foreign for the public. Documentary movie showcasing LGBT activists  taking the streets to demand equal health care and rights for HIV-impacted populations, which many of them are gay, bisexual and transgender people – and/or – personal stories of early epidemic years’ LGBT witnesses – may do justice to shed light on the intersection between HIV and Homophobia.  Our top documentary movie choices are How to Survive a Plague and We Were Here.
• Join the IDAHOT Creative Protest working group on Facebook, where over 350 human rights activists from around the world are already discussing their protest plans for May 17 2014. It’s an informal space for networking, ideas sharing, planning and IDAHOT events posting in the lead up to the Day, and beyond.
• Get inspired by our “Ideas for Action 2014” to conduct a creative protest around the Day.

FURTHER RESOURCES

• MSMGF‘s (The Global Forum on MSM & HIV) Publications
• THE LANCET’s publications on MSM & HIV
• World Bank‘s “The Global HIV Epidemics among Men who Have Sex with Men”

NEW – Download the full info & campaigning toolkit on Freedom of Expression !

Arguments for Action

The right to freedom of expression of members of sexual and gender minorities should be universally respected as part of the most fundamental human rights, as is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Yet, in the 78 countries in the world where same sex relationships are criminalized, any positive expression on the issue of sexual identity is censored, putting an initial barrier to the possibility of advocating for change, or to start addressing the stigma that sexual and gender minorities face. In many additional countries, freedom of expression around sexual orientation and gender identity issues is heavily restricted by abusive laws which equate information about sexual and gender diversity to pornography, or deem them intrinsically harmful to children and/or offensive to society at large.

Our analysis reveals that at least 70% of the world population live in contexts where their freedom of expression on issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity is systematically being violated.

This includes either countries where same sex relationships are outright illegal, or those like Russia which explicitly restrict freedom of expression on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, and also those which use other laws, like pornography or public morality laws, to systematically censor information related to sexual orientation and gender identity (as in China and Turkey, for example).

Worrying trends

The Russian Federation has indeed recently provided the most notorious case of violation of freedom of expression for sexual and gender minorities through the banning of so-called ‘homosexual propaganda’ towards children, which actually results in the prohibition of any public discourse about sexual orientation and gender identity or expression; a case which has sparked international outrage.

But this cloaking of repression in the language of children’s rights and public morality has also become a very popular tactic for conservative constituencies in contexts where the direct and total criminalization of same sex relationships is not an easy political option, which is the case in many of the Council of Europe countries and in much of Latin America. Bills were tabled recently in Ukraine, Costa Rica, Hungary, Lithuania and Latvia (and discussed by authorities in Armenia and Kyrgyzstan), and while largely unsuccessful for now, this trend casts a shadow over the future. Many organizations working with sexual and gender minorities are fearing that restrictions on Freedom of Expression and information will constitute their upcoming battleground.

The right to freedom of gender expression universally violated

In almost NO country in the world can trans people freely express their true gender identity without having to face extreme violations of their human rights. Progressive legislation, guaranteeing people’s rights to self-determine their gender identities and expressions, lags far behind sexual orientation focused legal progress in all world regions.

In Europe, for example, 16 countries deny trans people the rights to change their name and gender on official documents. And 23 of the 33 countries which do allow it, require forced sterilization as a pre-requisite for such changes. 19 countries require divorce. In all too many cases, doctors and psychiatrists remain the final decision-makers on how trans people will be allowed to access their rights.

Less than a handful of governments worldwide have legal provisions in place for non-binary identifying individuals to have their gender expressions formally recognised. Amazingly, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan provide recognition of ‘third gender’ on national identification papers. The rest of the world, including Europe, lags far behind and only a handful of national medical authorities do NOT categorise trans or gender non-confirming identities in terms of mental health conditions.

Where LGBT people are censored, all people are deprived of their freedom of expression

The censorship of sexual and gender minorities issues acts as a powerful indicator of the general level of respect of human rights. Not surprisingly, the heaviest crackdowns on sexual and gender minorities come from contexts where there is equal pressure on advocates for democracy, right to freedom of religion or belief, women’s rights, minority groups rights, etc.

Repeatedly, as in recent developments in Turkey and Armenia, gender equality measures are being cast – and effectively smeared – as enabling the promotion of homosexuality, attacks on traditional values, and the breakdown of established families. Where LGBT people are censored, all people are deprived of diverse and important viewpoints.

Defending freedom of expression of sexual and gender minorities is therefore not only to defend particularly vulnerable groups of people, it is also a strategic move; to stand in solidarity at the forefront, often referred to as the ‘last frontier’, of the defence of human rights. It is therefore a concern to all human rights organisations campaigning for freedom of expression rights for all people.

For the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia, May 17 2014, thousands of people will stand together in hundreds of actions around the world, to fight for a world where LGBT people – and everyone – have the right to freedom of expression !

Take Action !

• Join the IDAHOT Creative Protest working group on facebook, where over 500 activists from around the world are already discussing their protest plans for May 17 2014. It’s an informal space for for networking, ideas sharing, planning and IDAHOT events posting in the lead up to the Day, and beyond. Come and join us !

• Join the May 17 movement by Creating a ‘Free Expression Zone’ in your town or city. Find out more here !

• See specific Ideas for Action 2014 here !

• IDAHOT Freedom of Expression: policy discussion space. For activists who are planning advocacy activities around Freedom of Expression for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2014, we’ve also set up a policy discussion group, where activists can exchange strategic information on this specific angle. If you have specific expertise or just an interest in this theme, please come and join us here.

• For ideas for advocacy actions, download the full IDAHOT info & campaigning toolkit here.

• If you would like to be involved – as a partner organisation, as a group taking action, or as a volunteer – please drop us a line at contact@dayagainsthomophobia.org

We would love to hear from you !

Arguments for Action

It is relatively new that faith and religions have come to be used in the same sentences as human rights, and sexual and gender diversity. These connections do, however, constitute crucial human rights issues, if we are to live as ‘complete’ human beings – both in terms of gender and sexual diversity, and in terms of spiritual fulfillment and freedoms of expression.

In many cases, particularly with mainstream and more traditional forms of religious practice, religious communities and practices have very often been dominated, as well as polarized, by forces from the conservative right. This polarization has been beneficial only for the purpose of isolating and constraining a field of human experience – which really comprises various expressions – and saving it for a single block of conservative voice.

These voices have been active inside our homes, in our local politics, in national political debates and in global negotiations, often leaving little or no room for human rights based decisions.

Homophobia, transphobia and sexism have in fact often been promoted as core values, where conservative religious voices are given free reign, sometimes forming even a backbone of social and religious belief – in the name of ‘public order’ and ‘traditional morality’, for example – which ultimately perpetuates long-standing ideas of LGBT people as sinful, sick or criminal.

At the same time, progressive voices of faith among religious groups have often been pushed aside and de-legitimised, as well as blamed, for not taking the right stances, or for not being on the right track. Some have even been accused of betrayal or complicity with evil.

LGBT members of faith groups have faced particular forms of discrimination; rejected on the one hand by many LGBT communities, as well as by their own faith communities. LGBT communities often have been, and still are, subject to stigmatization, and disowning by local communities, homes or religious leaders, as well as attacks, insults, blackmailing and violence. Amidst all of this, they have very often been stripped of their rights to express and to fulfil who they are, as complete and social human beings. LGBT people too have the right to faith!

We are refusing to feel ashamed!

Social pressure – emphasising the need for certain ‘treatments’, statements and behaviors – from family members, community or religious leaders, and friends often seed internal homophobia and transphobia in us. This is one of the most hurtful yet effective ways of disarming the person, and also LGBT communities as a whole.

Having community leaders speak up!

Religious voices often justify violence against, and criminalization of, LGBT people through reference to religions. Of course these voices are not the majority, but they are mostly the loudest, which in the end draws false conclusions that all religious voices are in question.

Not only religious groups linked to the state, but also religious community leaders, and the faithful everywhere, have a say in the inclusivity of religions. In this sense, community leaders and people of faith everywhere, who may never become visible activists at the frontline of the LGBT movement, can also be valuable partners in condemning attacks committed in the name of religions or morality, or in ‘cleansing’ the nation from ‘marginal’ voices.

Ideas for Action:

Join the Global Inter-faith Prayer Initiative on May 17, 2014!
Now in its 8th year, you can find out all about the Initiative here.

Promote dialogue!
Consider promoting a dialogue between different faith communities, with other religious denominations, to create platforms for information exchange and collective action.

“What would God say?”!
We often hear people arguing that God would do cruel things to LGBT people: God would burn them. God would hate them. God would punish them… People re-package their hateful words as the words of God or Gods.
You could consider writing a piece or creating a short video, filming what you think God would do, or more importantly what God would NOT do. Show how the God or Gods you believe in say something other than hateful words.

If you would more information about how to mobilise together with progressive voices of faith email us at contact@dayagainsthomophobia.org

Further resources:

• CALEM – Confederation of Associations LGBTQI Europeans and Muslims: www.calem.eu
• Article by CALEM on “Self Sustainable Mosque, Refugees Shelter and Muslim İmam-Es Training Center”,here.
• European Forum of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Christian Groups:
  www.euroforumlgbtchristians.eu
• Global Interfaith Network on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (GIN-SOGI), here.
• Jerusalem Open House, here.