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LGBTQ Matters
to Amnesty
International

  Global Human

  Rights

Conference

 

 

Bv JUDITH BECKETT

is year Amnesty
International’s Global Human
Rights Conference was held in

conjunction with Gay Games 2002 in
Sydney, Australia. From October 30
through November 3, over 300
LGBT activists from around the
world met to focus on sexuality
rights. Because the Conference took
place in Australia, particular attention
was paid to the rights situations in
countries of the Asian Pacific.

In recent email correspon-
dence with me, Conference
Coordinator Allison Orr wrote, “I
think holding the Conference on the
days leading up to the opening cere-
mony of the Gay Games was a good
idea. People came eager to be friend-
ly and participate. Attendees joined
in the discussions with enthusiasm
and intelligence.”

One goal of Amnesty
lntemational (AI) conference was to
raise public awareness of the human
rights violations suffered by LGBT
and intersex people worldwide. The
core premise of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights is that
all members of the human family are
born free and equal in dignity and
rights. Yet in most countries — includ-
ing the U.S., where in the past year
25 trans people have died through
anti-trans violence — LGBT (les- ’ '
bian/gay/bi/trans) and intersex" people
brave enough to declare their per-
ceived sexual orientation or gender
identity are harassed, discriminated
against, deprived of their freedom,
tortured or even killed.

LGBT and intersex people
are always convenient scapegoats for
rising crime rates and the widening
gap between rich and poor.
Governments deny human rights
abuses, claiming they are upholding
religious, cultural or moral standards.

Twelve countries in the
world today call for the execution of
people committing homosexual acts.
In the U.S., 18 states have sodomy
laws that criminalize private consen-
sual acts between adults._Five states
exclusively criminalize such acts
between same sex couples.

AI believes that sexual ori-
entation and gender identity are fun-
damental aspects of our human iden-
tity. Therefore, AI is working to
denounce such atrocities and to
encourage and support activists
around the world struggling to break
through the wall of silence.

Organizers also wanted to
bring together notable and inspira-
tional leaders on one platfonn.
Indeed, a sample of speakers and
workshops at the Conference reflects
the diversity of individuals and cul-
tures brought together for the event.

For instance, Rodney
Croome, best known as an activist
involved in the long and successful
struggle for gay law reform in
Tasmania, spoke on “Leaming from
the Majority World: Creative
Activism in a Cultural Context.”
Julian Jayaseela a Malaysian Indian
AIDS activist, film producer, and
scriptwriter, addressed “Sexuality and
Torture in the Pacific.” Ashok Row
Kavi spoke about “Hindu and
Buddhist Responses to Political
Homosexual Identity and the New
Movement in India”

Organizers also hoped to
provide a forum for diverse cultures
to exchange ideas and share skills in
an environment that fostered idealism
and activism. Many of the workshops
and speakers provided this forum for
attendees.

Anna Lawarik, a transgen-
der woman, facilitated a workshop on
“The Effect of Prison on Transgender
People,” based on her own experi-
ence with incarceration. Paula
Gerber, a dedicated human rights
activist with Amnesty International
Australia who has dedicated her pro-
fessional career to human rrghts law,
spoke about “Using the Classroom to
Combat Sexuality Based Politics.”
The Swedish Ombudsman Against
Discrimination Based on Sexual
Orientation, Hans Ytterberg, present-
ed “The Possibility of the Provision
of Effective Remedies to
Discrimination and Violence.“

Presenters also came from
Fiji, Canada, South Africa, Hong
Kong, England, Nigeria, and Nepal.

“The attendance of so
many activists from such different
parts of the world was exciting. It
became clear that activism exists in a
cultural context and that different
solutions are required for different
communities. And yet it was also
clear that there are similarities
between people’s experiences,” Orr
wrote.

r, -AI took up the struggle for.

tGBT=humanrights in 1979 when. : 

activists there first became aware of
the systematic abuses suffered by
LGBT people on all continents and in
almost all countries. As the LGBT
movement has gained strength inter-
nationally, human rights abuses have
escalated, perpetrated by those who
have the most to lose if societies
change. Orr wrote, “I think this was a
great learning experience for every-
one. It was a chance to truly under-
stand what other people are going
through.”
According to AI, in
February 2001, in Somalia two
women who had lived together for
some time were sentenced to death
for “cultural perversion.” In May
2001, 52 men in Egypt, perceived to
be homosexuals, were arrested and
tortured. Twenty-one of these men
were convicted of “habitual debauch-
ery.” A l6-year-old boy was sen-
tenced to three years in jail for “sexu-
al immorality.” The next year, in
2002, three men were publicly
beheaded in Abha, Saudi Arabia pos-
sibly solely for their sexual orienta-
tion after a trial shrouded in secrecy.
Closer to home, on July 19,
2000, an African American gay man,
Frederick Mason, was arrested by the
Chicago police. Shouting racist and
anti-gay slurs, Officer Luis Alejo
pulled down Mason’s pants and
jammed a police nightstick up
Mason’s rectum while he was hand-
cuffed to the wall. AI and CABN
(Chicago Anti-Bashing Network)
demanded an outside investigation
and a settlement was reached in
August 2001. This case gave rise to
AI’s first-ever landmark report on
gay-bashing in the United States.
“People spoke openly and

honestly about their experiences,”
Orr continued, “and despite the very
traumatic nature of some of the sto-
ries, most people spoke in a very
positive way. The conference put a

 

human face on the persecution that
activist’s work against.”

In addition to publicizing
the atrocities, AI feels it is equally
important to celebrate and make pub-
lic successes and gains. For instance,
on April 24, 2002, the New York City
Council amended the New York City
Human Rights Ordinance to include
“gender identity expression.” In
Romania, Article 200 of the
Romanian Penal Code — criminaliz-
ing same-sex relations —- has finally
been repealed after years of cam-
paigning by international and
Romanian LGBT organizations. At
the same time, Romania has passed
an anti-discrimination law. Finally,
there are now twelve states in the
U.S. that have progressive anti-dis-
crimination laws on their books.
Vermont is one of them, but does not
specifically include gender or gender
presentation.

The final goal of the
Conference was to mobilize a wider
network of support on both interna-
tional and local levels. The delegates
of the 2002 Amnesty International
Global Human Rights Conference
passed the following resolution:

“We call upon the United
Nations to adopt a declaration on the
right to Sexual and Gender Self-
Determination for all persons. ‘ ii.

“We, the aforementioned’.
delegates, also call on the Australian
Government to advocate internation-
allyafonlsuch a=Declarati‘on; andiztuxcl
advocate for the accreditation of the
LGBT non-governmental organiza-
tions to the United Nations Economic
and Social Council. *

“Furthermore, we the dele-
gates call upon Amnesty lntemational
to support and advocate for the above
mentioned Declaration and the
accreditation of LGBT non-govem-
mental organizations to the United
Nations Economic and Social
Council.”

Right now, AI activists are
planning a publication around the
issues and ideas of the Conference,
putting papers from the Conference
on the website, and adding links to
the website that have been recom-
mended by attendees at the
Conference.

“We hope to build this into
a really useful resource for LGBT
activists,” Orr wrote.

And on the local level?
“People were so busy talking during
the breaks it was sometimes difficult
to get the speeches and workshops
started again!” Orr said. ‘‘I know of
several people who have plans to
meet up again in their own countries,
or who have formed email networks.
We wanted the Conference to be an
opportunity for people to meet and
network, and I think that was
achieved. I believe that listening to
the courage and determination of oth-
ers will encourage people to return to
their communities and continue their
LGBT campaigning with renewed
vigor.”

You can download Al’s
report Crimes Of Hate, Conspiracy
Of Silence: Torture And 111- Treatment
Based On Sexual Identity or register
to take action against torture at
www.stoptorture.org. V

Judith Beckett is a nurse, writer, and
lesbian-feminist activist who lives in
Bradford.