IGLHRC Hails Landmark Law in Malta on Gender Identity, Expression and Protections for Intersex Children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2015

Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 

strimel@iglhrc.org,

+1-212-430-6018, @strimel

(New York)—

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) celebrates the unanimous passage of the “Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act, 2015” by the Parliament of Malta today. The new law enshrines the right to gender identity recognition and introduces anti-discrimination measures, allowing Maltese citizens to self-determine their gender identity and legally change their first name and gender marker without requiring any medical diagnosis or treatment.

The law also mandates a right to “bodily autonomy and physical integrity”—among the first of its kind—which provides children, especially intersex children and infants, protection from any “sex assignment” or “surgical intervention on the sex characteristics” until the person to be treated can provide informed consent. Notable is the law’s inclusion of refugees, instituting a process for individuals to file their application for asylum with their self-determined gender and first name.

“Malta’s new law is really the cutting-edge of human-rights legislation in the fight to fully recognize the rights of trans, intersex and gender non-conforming individuals,” said Jessica Stern, executive director of IGLHRC. “Crucially, Malta’s new law protects intersex infants from unnecessary surgeries to ‘normalize’ their bodies. I congratulate members of the parliament and civil society for their years of hard work to develop and pass this landmark legislation.”

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Download the full-text of the law: 

Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act, 2015

UN Development Commission: Don’t Trade Away LGBT Rights

High-Level Development Debate on Friday Chance to Highlight LGBT Rights Violations

(April 3, 2014 – New York) Heads of state and top government officials from all over the world meeting Friday at the United Nations have a responsibility to acknowledge that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is a barrier to development, said the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) today.

“It’s not rocket science: when you are criminalized, discriminated against, or bullied, chances are you have a harder time at school, at work, or when you are trying to access healthcare,” said Jessica Stern, Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). “That’s a development issue. That’s what we are talking about.”

The high-level meeting at the United Nations in New York tomorrow is meant to kick-off a week long discussion on development objectives at the Commission on Population and Development (CPD). The CPD is a 47-seat UN body that meets annually to discuss issues pertaining to health, population growth, as well as economic and human development.

This year, the CPD discussions are happening in the context of ongoing United Nations negotiations for a sustainable development framework, known as the Post-2015 process. The main objective for the Post-2015 process is for UN Member States to agree upon development goals, along with explicit targets and indicators to monitor compliance. IGLHRC recently joined dozens of other organizations in demanding attention to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals (LGBT) and communities in the Post-2015 process.

“Sustainable development simply cannot happen without addressing the systemic discrimination and violence perpetrated worldwide against LGBT communities,” said Stern. “We demand explicit attention to this reality in any new development framework.”

The CPD, which will meet all of next week, comes only two weeks after the closing of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, where this year’s debate also focused on development. At that commission, reference to non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity was left outof the final document at the last minute, as a trade-off to maintain a status quo agreement on the appropriate level of international oversight into national affairs.

“It is unacceptable that our rights are constantly used as a political bargaining chip,” said Stern. “We know governments can do better, and we demand they step up during the Commission on Population and Development, starting with tomorrow’s high-level debate.”

Background Information

At the 58th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the LBT Caucus—a group of LBT activists from around the world—wrote a statement demanding the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in the CSW process. The LBT statement received overwhelming support and was signed by over 70 organizations and more than 20 individuals. Because LGBT people and issues related to SOGI are often invisibilized in discussions of sustainable development, the LBT Caucus has decided to use an updated version of the statement as our manifesto for SOGI inclusion in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

This manifesto, entitled Demanding a Post-2015 Development Agenda Inclusive of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (excerpted below) will be open to signatures indefinitely. To add your endorsement to the manifesto, fill out the signature form.

We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations and individuals, are outraged that, despite the United Nations’ decades-long commitment to anti-discrimination, governments engaging in the ongoing Post-2015 discussions have so far failed to meet their obligations towards all human beings. They have done this by sidelining evidence of and broad regional support for sexual rights, the right to development, and the need to recognize a diversity of families, sexualities, and gender identities. They have also selectively ignored segments of their own populations, including people who are targeted for discrimination and violence because of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

We are deeply disappointed at this attempt to render our experiences, communities, and families invisible. And we stand alongside the people in other groups who have been ignored or isolated in similar ways.

We have been told that sexual orientation and gender identity are "too controversial" and that they have nothing to do with development. We know better. And so do our governments, though many appear to willfully ignore our presence and our realities in all regions of the world.

The Post-2015 agenda is meant to set new, universally applicable, development goals. To do this credibly, this agenda must acknowledge the devastating impact of violence, discrimination and marginalization in our lives everywhere. Study after study concludes that individuals stigmatized or targeted because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity face discrimination, violence and bullying that can force us out of growing environments. People assumed to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans* are kicked out of housing or denied employment, facts that have direct impact on our lives and earning potential. Legal and socially condoned discrimination against our communities marginalizes many of us, putting us at additional risk of violence, HIV, and other health problems. Discrimination and stigma further prevents us from seeking or receiving needed care. Too often, the result is preventable suffering, institutional violence and poverty.

We are outraged at the continued criminalization of our organizing, restrictions on our freedoms of expression and association, and the relentless attacks on our human rights. These violations take place in all regions. Dialogue and democracy require respect for diversity, not criminal sanctions for human rights defenders, health professionals, and anyone who does not adhere to prevailing social mores. The criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity, and related homophobia and transphobia do not translate into lasting social benefit for anyone. Quite to the contrary, as the World Bank recently concluded, hateful policies have both an economic and a personal cost.

At the 58th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the LBT Caucus—a group of LBT activists from around the world—wrote a statement demanding the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in the CSW process. The LBT statement received overwhelming support and was signed by over 70 organizations and more than 20 individuals. Because LGBT people and issues related to SOGI are often invisibilized in discussions of sustainable development, the LBT Caucus has decided to use an updated version of the statement as our manifesto for SOGI inclusion in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

United Nations Grants Official Status to U.S.-based International LGBT Rights Group

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)

Sara Perle, New York: +1 212-430-6015, sperle@iglhrc.org (English/Italian)
Jessica Stern, New York: +1 212-430-6014, jstern@iglhrc.org (English)
Cary Alan Johnson, Vienna: + 1 347-515-0330, cjohnson@iglhrc.org (English/French)
Marcelo Ferreyra, Buenos Aires: +54 11-4665-7527, mferreyra@iglhrc.org (Spanish/English)

July 19, 2010, the full United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted in favor of a US-led resolution to grant the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) consultative status. IGLHRC is only the tenth organization working primarily for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) human rights to gain such status at the United Nations.

"Today's decision is an affirmation that the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have a place at the United Nations as part of a vital civil society community," said Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC Executive Director. "The clear message here is that these voices should not be silenced and that human rights cannot be denied on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity."

The resolution passed with 23 in favor, 13 against, 13 abstentions and 5 absences.
This victory is particularly significant, coming as it does after a prolonged 3-year application process in the sub-committee that makes initial recommendations on status. Despite full compliance with all procedures IGLHRC faced deferrals, homophobic questioning, and procedural roadblocks in the ECOSOC NGO Committee.

Today's decision overturned a "no-action" vote in the NGO-committee that threatened to establish a dangerous precedent and the possibility of organizations deemed controversial being continuously denied the opportunity to have their application put to a vote even after undergoing the required review.

The vote also signals a recognition of the important role of a diverse and active civil society at the UN. In support of progress on IGLHRC's application, a group of over 200 NGOs from 59 countries endorsed a letter to all UN Member States, demanding fair and non-discriminatory treatment and supporting IGLHRC's goal of amplifying LGBT voices in the international arena.

"As human rights defenders and LGBT people living in countries where homophobic discrimination is a daily reality, we celebrate the accreditation of IGLHRC at the UN," said Frank Mugisha, Chairperson of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), one of 13 NGOs from Uganda to publicly call for IGLHRC to be accredited. "IGLHRC's access to the UN means that we too will have greater access to international human-rights mechanisms that can prove invaluable to LGBT people's lives."

The government of the United States stood strongly behind IGLHRC's application, calling for a vote in both the NGO Committee and ECOSOC. Ambassador Susan Rice, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, publicly supported IGLHRC's application. Additionally, 14 members of the US House of Representatives and 4 Senators sent letters of support for IGLHRC's application to all UN Member States. Among them were Senator John Kerry, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Congressman Howard Berman, Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The victory continues the upward trajectory for LGBT rights at the UN. It allows IGLHRC to participate in a more formal way through attending meetings, submitting statements and collaborating with the UN and governments in the international human-rights arena.
"We celebrate this decision," stated Toni Reis, president of the Brazilian LGBT group, Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais (ABGLT) - that in 2009 was the last LGBT organization to receive status. "It is crucial that LGBT NGOs have the opportunity to participate in the UN human rights debate - though in future, organizations should receive full and fair reviews before the NGO Committee itself."

Despite the limited opportunities offered to non-accredited NGOs, IGLHRC has a long history of advocating at the UN for the rights of all people, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. The organization advocated for sexual rights to be included in the official discussions at the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing; spoke at the first UN General Assembly meeting on HIV and AIDS in 2001; and in recent years has been part of a collaboration between NGOs and supportive States that resulted in the groundbreaking 2008 UNGA Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, signed by 67 UN Member States.

The votes on this resolution granting IGLHRC special consultative status were as follows:
Vote For - 23
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Guatemala
Italy
Japan
Liechtenstein
Malta
Norway
Peru
Poland
Rep. of Korea
Slovenia
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay

Votes Against - 13
Bangladesh
China
Comoros
Egypt
Malaysia
Morocco
Namibia
Niger
Pakistan
Russian Fed.
Saudi Arabia
Venezuela
Zambia

Abstaining - 13
Bahamas
Cote D'Ivoire
Ghana
India
Mauritius
Mongolia
Mozambique
Philippines
Rep. of Moldova
Rwanda
Saint Kitts & Nevis
Turkey
Ukraine

Absent - 5
Cameroon
Congo
Guinea-Bissau
Iraq
Saint Lucia

UN committee moves to keep out gay-lesbian NGO

UNITED NATIONS, June 3 (Reuters) - A United Nations committee that decides which nongovernmental organizations can be accredited to the world body moved on Thursday to keep out the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

The group, which had applied for "consultative status" at the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) three years ago, is an international NGO and advocacy group focusing on protecting the rights of homosexuals and lesbians worldwide.

Diplomats from Western nations that support gay rights complained that Egypt and other developing states that have been criticized by rights groups for discriminating against gays and lesbians prevented the committee from voting on whether to accredit the group, thereby leaving it in limbo.

"IGLHRC is disappointed by the vote of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations to block action on our application," Cary Alan Johnson, head of the New York-based group, said in a statement to Reuters.

The U.N. NGO committee has 19 members, among them the United States and Britain, who supported the NGO. Among those who voted against it were Egypt, Sudan, Qatar, Pakistan, China, Russia, Angola, Burundi and Sudan. Turkey abstained.

Johnson said it was "a clear case of discrimination against an organization because it defends the human rights of LGBT people around the world and promotes non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."

LGBT refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

The U.S. delegation defended the work of IGLHRC (www.iglhrc.org).

"This NGO is committed to combating discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity," the U.S. statement said. "It has contributed to valuable research on HIV/AIDs and its work is well known to this committee."

A Western diplomat told Reuters that "unfortunately we didn't have the votes" on the committee to overcome opposition from countries like Egypt, Qatar, Sudan and others. The diplomat added that IGLHRC clearly fulfills all the criteria for U.N. accreditation.

The British delegation issued a statement expressing its "deep regret" for the decision to reject a U.S. proposal to take action on IGLHRC's application for a U.N. accreditation. The British statement said the move not to accredit the group was proposed by Egypt on behalf of African countries.

"This act of simple discrimination runs contrary to the principles of the U.N., of ECOSOC and of the NGO Committee," it said.

One envoy told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the United States and Europeans would push for the U.N. Economic and Social Council itself to move to accredit the group, a strategy that he said would have a better chance of success.

"Walk for Tolerance" Calls for End to Bigotry in Jamaica

IGLHRC believes that a vital part of our mission is supporting the work of activist organizations and allies by disseminating important information on human rights issues affecting LGBT communities worldwide. To this end we are posting this statement from our partner, AIDS-Free World.

Press Release
For Immediate Release

(New York, USA – April 8, 2010) Yesterday in Montego Bay, over a hundred people carrying signs with messages from "My Bedroom My Business" to "Sex Work is My Choice" called for tolerance. Sexual minorities, sex workers and people with AIDS in Jamaica held a public event together for the first time. AIDS-Free World applauds the bravery of those who participated in the "Walk for Tolerance."

We are delighted at this important statement of solidarity from Jamaica AIDS Support For Life (JASL), the Sex Workers Association of Jamaica (SWAJ), and other local and international groups who walked proudly on the streets of Montego Bay. We endorse their demands, which include repealing the country's repressive sodomy laws.
"Today marked a change in Jamaica and the country will never be the same," said Maurice Tomlinson, AIDS-Free World's consultant in Jamaica.

"Lesbian, gay, transgendered people and sex workers boldly declared their right to be treated as equal citizens and the genie cannot be put back in the bottle. There will be no turning back. Despite initial fears about security, once the walk started, even the timid were caught up in the event. When we were greeted with the very few derogatory comments, we answered boldly and proudly. And the people quickly backed down."

The event highlighted the effects of intolerance on people who are particularly vulnerable to HIV. In Jamaica, HIV prevalence is 1.3% in the general adult population, 9% among sex workers and between 25% and 30% among men who have sex with men (MSM).

People who belong to these groups tend to be at the receiving end of many human rights violations. Fear and stigma keep them from reaching suitable HIV prevention, treatment and care. MSM are not to blame for their high prevalence rate; the bigots and homophobes who drive them underground are. Those who walked yesterday know this and were calling for it to stop.

If anyone is in doubt about the significance of this event, we would like to point out that it is the first of its kind in Jamaica, a country internationally notorious for its vicious homophobia. If anyone is in doubt about the courage of the people who participated, we would like to point to Jamaica’s abysmal human rights record with sexual minorities. Five years ago, Steve Harvey, a senior JASL employee, was murdered for being gay. Jamaica is one of the 79 countries with homophobic laws, and public figures spew hateful anti-gay diatribes with impunity. Just last year the Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, made disparaging remarks about gay people and announced that he has no intention of repealing the country's sodomy laws.


"As long as Jamaican society and law continues to drive sexual minorities underground, and focuses on the victims rather than the perpetrators of the injustices that help spread both human rights abuses and HIV, no prevention programs will stop the disease," said Paula Donovan, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World.

Sex work is also illegal in Jamaica, leaving sex workers with no recourse when they are exploited. Princess Brown of SWAJ said, "This was an important step in confronting the bigotry that has for a long while been meted out to sex workers." Society, including the church, is not known for its tolerance of sex work, although clearly if nobody bought sex, nobody would sell it. SWAJ believes that sex workers can play a lead role in preventing the further spread of the virus on the island if given the skills and power to encourage condom use and sexual health in their community.


We agree with those who walked peacefully and bravely on Montego Beach that until all people can be sure of their basic freedoms to live unmolested and unafraid, the pandemic will continue, and we will all be poorer for it. To quote a flyer being handed out on the beaches of Montego Bay today, as a rainbow flag flew overhead, "To Tolerate is Great!"

For further information, please contact:

Christina Magill
Executive Assistant to Stephen Lewis
TEL: +1 416-657-4458
clm@aidsfreeworld.org

In Jamaica, please contact:

Maurice Tomlinson
TEL: +1 876-784-0908
maurice_tomlinson@yahoo.com

20 years of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

Reflections on the work of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2010 as it works to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

IGLHRCs work spans the globe with staff in the Americas, Asia and Africa working to bring human rights to everyone, everywhere.

More on the Anti-Gay Seminar in Uganda

IGLHRC Update: More on the Anti-Gay Seminar in Uganda The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) have learned new details about the ongoing 3-day anti-gay conference in Uganda featuring some of the most virulent homophobes from the U.S. religious right. Here are some developments from the first day, reported by our partners who attended the event: Prior to the start of today's workshop, Stephen Langa, leader of Family Life Network (the Ugandan organization hosting the workshop) and his American guest speakers met with several members of the Ugandan parliament.

During the morning session, Stephen Langa told the group that homosexuality is a big problem in Uganda and the existing laws that criminalize gay people are not good enough. He claimed that gay rights activists recruit young people into homosexuality. Langa told the audience that he knows 2 girls at a particular boarding school who were given a lot of money by gay activists in Uganda to recruit their colleagues into lesbianism. "By the end of the year, they had managed to recruit 13 friends, all of whom were given money to recruit others," Langa alleged.

Don Schmierer, a member of the board of the American "ex-gay" organization Exodus International told participants that one of the biggest causes of homosexuality is the lack of "good upbringing" in families. He said that 56% of homosexuals experience abuse and violence in their families during their childhood. The abuse leads to pain, anger and hatred in the life of a child and this turns them into homosexuals.IGLHRC and SMUG will continue to monitor the situation and will post new updates on our blog as more information becomes available. The workshop will end on Saturday, March 7. To read the full account of today's event, please visit IGLHRC's blog: iglhrc.org/blog You can also read IGLHRC and SMUG's joint press release about this conference on our website: http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/pressroom/pressrelease/868.html

Gay Activists/Lawyers Attend Groundbreaking Meeting in Africa

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), Global Rights, Interights and the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists have just concluded a groundbreaking four-day workshop on legal strategies for promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Africa. The meeting, the first-ever dialog between lawyers who have worked on litigation related to LGBT rights and African LGBT leaders, was held in Cape Town, South Africa and attended by 45 participants from 11 African countries— Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Participants reviewed key pieces of litigation to document lessons learned. These cases included an unsuccessful challenge to Botswana's sodomy laws in 2003 (Kanane v. Botswana), the prosecutions of 11 gay men in Cameroon in 2006, the arrests of two women in Rwanda on charges related to sexual orientation in 2008, and the ongoing trial of 18 young men in Northern Nigerian on charges of cross-dressing and homosexuality.
A high point of the meeting was the discussion of Ooyo and Mukasa v. Attorney General of Uganda, a case settled in December 2008, in which two transgender activists successfully challenged the unconstitutional invasion of their home and their mistreatment by local police and elected officials. One of the litigants, as well as the lead counsel, key donors, and local organizers from Uganda were present at the meeting.

Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC's new Executive Director was present.

Lawyers, activist leaders and donors attending the meeting acknowledged the importance of impact litigation for repealing sodomy laws and challenging other discriminatory statutes and policies. Such litigation however needs to be situated within the context of local, national and regional LGBT organizing. Participants discussed the need for security for lawyers defending LGBT clients and causes. Many of the lawyers at the meeting had faced attacks on their reputations, attempts at disbarment, and even physical violence.
Participants ended the meeting with a call to create a multi-faceted LGBT legal fund for Africa and a training and support network for African lawyers working on sexual rights cases.

UN General Assembly to Address Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Statement affirms promise of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

For Immediate Release
(New York, December 11, 2008) -

As the world celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the UN General Assembly will hear a statement in mid-December endorsed by more than 50 countries across the globe calling for an end to rights abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity. A coalition of international human rights organizations today urged all the world's nations to support the statement in affirmation of the UDHR's basic promise: that human rights apply to everyone.

Nations on four continents are coordinating the statement, including: Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, Gabon, Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway. The reading of the statement will be the first time the General Assembly has formally addressed rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
"In 1948 the world's nations set forth the promise of human rights, but six decades later, the promise is unfulfilled for many," said Linda Baumann of Namibia, a board member of Pan Africa ILGA, a coalition of over 60 African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups. "The unprecedented African support for this statement sends a message that abuses against LGBT people are unacceptable anywhere, ever."
The statement is non-binding, and reaffirms existing protections for human rights in international law. It builds on a previous joint statement supported by 54 countries, which Norway delivered at the UN Human Rights Council in 2006.

"Universal means universal, and there are no exceptions," said Boris Dittrich of the Netherlands, advocacy director of Human Rights Watch's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights program. "The UN must speak forcefully against violence and prejudice, because there is no room for half measures where human rights are concerned."
The draft statement condemns violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization, and prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also condemns killings and executions, torture, arbitrary arrest, and deprivation of economic, social, and cultural rights on those grounds.
"Today, dozens of countries still criminalize consensual homosexual conduct, laws that are often relics of colonial rule," said Grace Poore of Malaysia, who works with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "This statement shows a growing global consensus that such abusive laws have outlived their time."
The statement also builds on a long record of UN action to defend the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. In its 1994 decision in Toonen v. Australia, the UN Human Rights Committee - the body that interprets the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), one of the UN's core human rights treaties - held that human rights law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. Since then, the United Nations' human rights mechanisms have condemned violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including killings, torture, rape, violence, disappearances, and discrimination in many areas of life. UN treaty bodies have called on states to end discrimination in law and policy.

Other international bodies have also opposed violence and discrimination against LGBT people, including the Council of Europe and the European Union. In 2008, all 34 member countries of the Organization of American States unanimously approved a declaration affirming that human rights protections extend to sexual orientation and gender identity.
"Latin American governments are helping lead the way as champions of equality and supporters of this statement," said Gloria Careaga Perez of Mexico, co-secretary general of ILGA. "Today a global movement supports the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and those voices will not be denied."

So far, 55 countries have signed onto the General Assembly statement, including: Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Cape Verde, the Central African Republic, Chile, Ecuador, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela. All 27 member states of the European Union are also signatories.
"It is a great achievement that this initiative has made it to the level of the General Assembly," said Louis-Georges Tin of France, president of the International Committee for IDAHO (International Day against Homophobia), a network of activists and groups campaigning for decriminalization of homosexual conduct. "It shows our common struggles are successful and should be reinforced."

"This statement has found support from states and civil society in every region of the world," said Kim Vance of Canada, co-director of ARC International. "In December a simple message will rise from the General Assembly: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is truly universal."
The coalition of international human rights organizations that issued this statement include: Amnesty International; ARC International; Center for Women's Global Leadership; COC Netherlands; Global Rights; Human Rights Watch; IDAHO Committee; International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC); International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association (ILGA); and Public Services International.

For more information, please contact:
In New York for Human Rights Watch, Scott Long (English): +1-212-216-1297; or +1-646-641-5655; or longs@hrw.org
In London for Amnesty International, Kate Sheill (English: +44-20-7413-5748; or ksheill@amnesty.org
In Halifax, for ARC International, Kim Vance (English, French): +1-902-488-6404
In Geneva for ARC International, John Fisher (English, French): +41-79-508-3968; or arc@arcinternational.net
In Amsterdam for COC Netherlands, Bjorn van Roozendall (Dutch, English): +31-6-22-55-83-00; or bvanroozendaal@coc.nl
In Washington for Global Rights, Stefano Fabeni (English, Italian, Spanish): +1 202-741-5049; or stefanof@globalrights.org
In New York for IGLHRC, Hossein Alizadeh (English, Persian): +1-212-430-6016; or halizadeh@iglhrc.org
In Brussels for ILGA, Stephen Barris (English, French, Spanish): +32-2-502-2471; ormailto:orstephenbarris@ilga.org; or in New York, +39 33-5-606-7158, or media@ilga.org

(December 14-18)
======================================

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is a leading human rights organization solely devoted to improving the rights of people around the world who are targeted for imprisonment, abuse or death because of their sexuality, gender identity or HIV/AIDS status. IGLHRC addresses human rights violations by partnering with and supporting activists in countries around the world, monitoring and documenting human rights abuses, engaging offending governments, and educating international human rights officials. A non-profit, non-governmental organization, IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in Cape Town and Buenos Aires. Visit http://www.iglhrc.org/ for more information

African LGBTI People Demand a Strong Response to AIDS

For Immediate Release, December 5, 2008
Media Contact: Hossein Alizadeh, 212-430-6016, halizadeh@iglhrc.org

Dakar, December 5, 2008- A group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people from more than 25 African countries has demanded an urgent response to the HIV pandemic affecting their communities. At a pre-conference held 3 days before the start of the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA), delegates voiced concern about various human rights violations experienced by LGBTI people in Africa and the diaspora. These included socio-political exclusions related to HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), access to adequate health services and other related issues.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Africa are nine times more likely to be HIV positive than their heterosexual counterparts. In Dakar, Senegal where the ICASA conference is being held, the prevalence of HIV infection among MSM is 21% versus less than 1% for the total population. "The deliberate refusal to address the needs of men who have sex with men in Africa or anywhere in the world will never help us end the spread of AIDS," said Paula Ettelbrick, Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), which organized the pre-conference, "The refusal to treat the health needs of this population blatantly defies the human rights obligations incumbent on states."

Despite the theme of this year's ICASA, "Africa's Response: Face the facts," there are still few prevention programs targeting sexual minorities on the African continent. Only seven African countries have included MSM in their national plans for AIDS prevention, and among these countries only South Africa has made the commitment to include women who have sex with women as part of its response to addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic. According to Fikile Vilakazi, Director of the Coalition of African Lesbians, "the gendered nature of the limited interventions seeking to address LGBTI people's needs on the African continent aggravates the situation even further."

More than two-thirds of African nations still explicitly criminalize same-sex conduct. The East African nation of Burundi recently passed a bill that moves the country closer to adopting a new sodomy law. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, UNAIDS, the Global Fund for AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis and other key organizations have made clear that laws against homosexuality fuel the spread of HIV.

"Same-sex practicing people have always been excluded from major African policy meetings because of homophobia," said Joel Nana, IGLHRC's Program Associate for Southern and West Africa, "We are invisible when serious matters such as HIV are concerned."
Workshop participants will attend the ICASA conference, where they will submit their concerns to international donors, national organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS, and African governments, which have thus far failed to respond to the challenges of HIV/AIDS among sexual minorities.

Issued by:
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
Behind the Mask (BTM)
Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL)
Alternatives-Cameroun
Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK)
Aids Project of the East Bay (APEB)
Center for the Right to Health (CRH)
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The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is a leading human rights organization solely devoted to improving the rights of people around the world who are targeted for imprisonment, abuse or death because of their sexuality, gender identity or HIV/AIDS status. IGLHRC addresses human rights violations by partnering with and supporting activists in countries around the world, monitoring and documenting human rights abuses, engaging offending governments, and educating international human rights officials. A non-profit, non-governmental organization, IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in Cape Town and Buenos Aires. Visit http://www.iglhrc.org for more information

Burundi: Government Moves to Criminalize Homosexuality; Activist Groups Express Outrage

For Immediate Release, November 24, 2008

Media Contact: Hossein Alizadeh, 212-430-6016, halizadeh@iglhrc.org

(New York, November 24, 2008) - In an unexpected move, the National Assembly of Burundi passed a law on Friday November 21, 2008, making same-sex acts punishable by between 3 months and two years in prison, along with a substantial fine. The following day, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and the Association pour le Respect et les Droits des Homosexuels (ARDO) issued strongly worded letters to the entire membership of Burundi’s Senate, asking them to vote against the legislation, which would criminalize homosexuality for the first time in the history of the country. The Senate may vote on the bill as early as tomorrow and if it passes Burundian President Nkurunziza will likely sign it into law.

IGLHRC and ARDO also wrote to President Nkurunziza, asking him to veto the legislation should it be presented to him for his signature. Both groups encourage others to contact Burundian authorities to protest the measure.
“Imprisoning people simply because of who they love offends every principle of human rights practice, which is to ensure dignity and respect for all people,” said Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC’s executive director. “This is less about sexuality and more about the visibility of a growing community of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Africa refusing to be treated as dirt. These laws are meant to silence and terrorize our community and must be stopped.”

Burundi—a small country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the south and east, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west—has been locked in an ethnically-based conflict for much of its post-independence history. A negotiated peace settlement, brokered with the assistance of a number of African states, has led to the installation of a multi-party government. The last few years have seen a certain level of reconstruction in the country, increased stability and the emergence of a nascent civil society.
The government of Burundi’s latest move comes in the context of considerable hostility to homosexuality in the region; two-thirds of African nations maintain criminal penalties for consensual same-sex behavior. In recent years several countries, including Nigeria and Uganda, have threatened to strengthen laws against homosexuality. New criminal codes in Zimbabwe broaden the definition of sodomy to include “any act that involves physical contact… that would be regarded by a reasonable person to be an indecent act.” Several nations, including Burundi, have enacted legislation criminalizing same-sex marriage, though little or no advocacy to promote such marriages has taken place. These laws appear to be emerging in response to an increasingly visible, outspoken, and organized sexual rights movement.
The United Nations has condemned laws that criminalize homosexuality as being violations of the rights to privacy and equality and has called upon member states that maintain such laws to review them. Members of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights have condemned physical attacks on and the imprisonment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

International and local human rights defenders have expressed grave concern not only about the nature of the current legislation in Burundi, but also about the way in which it has been promulgated. “The government has moved this bill quickly and unjustly through the legislative process,” said a representative of ARDO. “The whole process has happened over the course of a weekend, with no input from civil society or general discussion about the issue of homosexuality and freedom of expression within Burundi.”

If the current legislation passes, it is likely that the country’s HIV prevention efforts will suffer. Burundi has made commendable efforts to fight HIV and AIDS during the last decade. But IGLHRC’s 2007 report on HIV and AIDS in Africa, Off the Map, demonstrates how laws that criminalize homosexuality drive communities underground, making men who have sex with men less able to access HIV-related prevention information. UNAIDS, the Global Fund and other key international institutions concur.

An action alert related to this issue will be posted on IGLHRC’s website on November 25, 2008. For an update on the status of the legislation in Burundi, or to take action, visit: http://www.iglhrc.org/.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is a leading human rights organization solely devoted to improving the rights of people around the world who are targeted for imprisonment, abuse or death because of their sexuality, gender identity or HIV/AIDS status. IGLHRC addresses human rights violations by partnering with and supporting activists in countries around the world, monitoring and documenting human rights abuses, engaging offending governments, and educating international human rights officials. A non-profit, non-governmental organization, IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in Cape Town and Buenos Aires. Visit http://www.iglhrc.org for more information


email: executive_director@iglhrc.org
phone: 212-268-8040
web: http://www.iglhrc.org/

The Mission of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is to secure the full enjoyment of human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation or expression, gender identity or expression and/or HIV status.