Workshop Sessions

The panellists will look at various best practices in influencing public policy on local, national and regional political landscapes. The panellists will look at public policy from a Jamaican context, Colombian context and then from a foreign policy context in the region. Marcela Sánchez presents the systematization of lessons designed, coordinated and executed by Colombia Diversa, which serves to LGBT groups that can pick up and adapt their tools, strategies and lessons learned for achieving progress on the rights of couples of the same sex in the world. Sheronette Maria Mercurius will examine how LGBT activists and allies can influence and impact the policies
that comes from the Jamaican Cabinet and other countries such as this to protect the human rights of our members. Akim Larcher will focus on the various ways Canada can play a leading role in addressing LGBT issues through the work of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the development aid they provide to donor countries in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Marcela Sánchez (Columbia), Colombia Diversa
Sheronette Maria Mercurius (Jamaica), Women for Women
Akim Adé Larcher (Saint Lucia), Egale Canada Saint Lucia

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LBT rights in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and India

The progress of women inside the current societies has been long and difficult, and it is even longer and more difficult for lesbian, bisexual or transgender women and couples. The panellists from this workshop will cast light on the struggles of LBT woman in a post-Soviet country or in a traditional cast system, such as that from India. Anna Kirey will discuss current challenges in Kyrgyzstan, a post-Soviet country with reviving Islamic traditions and unstable government. She will mainly focus on the challenge of putting the rights of lesbian, bisexual women and transgender people on government and NGO agenda. Svetlana Aslanyan will present the problem of social identity of Armenian women from three generations: grandmother, mother, and daughter. She will examine how the transformation in Politics, Ideology and Society influence women's social identification. Indira Pathak will speak about the work conducted by Parma, the support group for marginalized sexualities, in the right wing state of Gujarat from India. Parma is perhaps the only group working in the rural, tribal areas in the country focusing on women in same sex relationships to create visibility and assist them.

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In Nepal, the current constituent assembly includes a representative of sexual and gender minorities. Some of the recent events signalling progress in Nepal for LGBTI rights include the Supreme Court’s decision ordering the government of Nepal to ensure equal rights of LGBTI as well as legal identification to third genders as “third gender”, the inclusion in the new national budget of a supportive provision for sexual and gender minorities in Nepal. Nepal is the only country in South Asia that provides equal rights to LGBTI as natural persons, unlike many other countries in the South Asian region. These achievements however have been possible only after last 9 years of hard work and struggle. Staff and members of the BDS have faced severe stigmatization and discrimination from society and the Nepali authorities. Outreach staff have been raped and severely beaten by armed police. Support and protection for a lesbian couple resulted in ongoing harassment and threats from their family members, including telephone death threats and physical intimidation.

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This workshop will address different ways of addressing LGBTQ discrimination at national levels, with examples from Denmark, Belgium and Armenia. Karen Badalyan will examine how to document LGBT Human Rights Violation and discrimination cases in LGBT communities that are not protected by law as well as socially. Based on his experience in Armenia, he will present tools and instruments to advocate both at a national and international level for LGBT rights Steven Wynants will present the anti-discrimination advances made in 2008 in Mechelen, Belgium. He will
give an overview on the approach of the city council and the Flemish government from the point of view of Mechelen's local GLBT organization, which was involved from the beginning. Søren Laursen and Mandana Zarrehparvar will discuss the success of The Equal Treatment Committee at the Danish Institute for Human Rights as a common platform spanning grounds for discrimination based on age, disability, gender, race and ethnicity, religion and belief, and sexual orientation. They will identify both the advantages and some of the obstacles of collaborating with NGO's from all six areas.

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The workshop is about how to reach out to LGBT youth in a society that is been demobilized in gathering for the last 50-60 years. It is about the lack of civil society, about the issues LGBT youth deals with in Estonia, how Tartu Gay Youth reaches out to them and with what issues of discrimination we are phased ourselves as activists in Estonia.

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This brand new documentary is the story of three young homosexual Aymara Indians in La Paz Bolivia, where homosexuality is still an explosive taboo. For example, last year's gay pride parade was attacked with dynamite, injuring several people. There are some signs of positive change, but there is still a long way to go before Bolivian homosexuals achieve the respect for their basic human rights from the authorities and fellow Bolivians. This film documents the situation from the perspective of these three young Aymara Indians.

The director Lucas Nielsen will introduce the film. (Note that this film is the same that is being shown as part of the workshop titled “Aymara Queer: Homosexuality in Bolivia - Challenges, Advances and Opportunities.”)

Directed and produced by Lucas Nielsen. 2009 Lucas Production (50 min.)

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Corporate gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual employees are leaders in building socially cohesive companies. This workshop examines the ways to achieve this and the tools to get there. It will be a forum for sharing knowledge on networking for social cohesion, building networks that make a difference, planning and executing programmes that make a difference and demonstrating how research can be used for learning. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a grasp of the ways and means to build effective networks, and collectively will identify urgent actions for corporate LGBT networks worldwide.

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LGBT people, like any others, need to work to be able to fully participate in society. What are the differences in the way we approach our jobs and professional lives? What challenges do we still pose to potential employers? Is there a need for any type of "special treatment" or adaptations of existing legislation to better include our community in the workplace? We will look at these aspects to comprehend what it means to be LGBT at work, to come out or not and will bring this discussion to the international level to clearly see what is happening today and what our actions for the future should be.

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The Global Unions recognise the diversity of LGBT communities. EI and PSI took the lead within the international trade union movement and established a sexual diversity forum in 2004 (The Porto Alegre declaration). Along these years the joint program has been implemented around the world. The session will bring key players from different unions’ initiatives and coalition building experiences seeking equal rights for LGBT workers.

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To work with other international and European trade unions through the European TUC (ETUC)to use existing international trade union LGBT structures and networks to advance LGBT equality and challenge discrimination and prejudice.

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This workshop presents examples of joint action strategies for fighting homophobia at every level of the school system in Quebec, Canada. Jacques Pétrin [Sexual diversity committee, Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ)] explains the goals pursued through the creation of two national coalitions to combat homophobia, one in the elementary and high school system and one in the college system. Line Chamberland [Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)] shows the advantages of carrying out research studies in collaboration with these coalitions in order to maximize positive results. Dominique Dubuc [LGBT committee of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN)] demonstrates the importance of working with existing local union networks to encourage cooperation within schools, with communities and with the various components of union organizations. Mona Greenbaum (LGBT Family Coalition) presents a project, carried out in collaboration with UQAM that aims to raise awareness in elementary schools about family diversity.

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Although in China Homosexuality was eliminated from the list of crimes in 1997, and was removed from the category of mental illness in 2001, the freedom of expression of one's sexuality and sexual identity is still under great oppression. Films, TV programs and publications related to same sex love and desire are all defined as illegal, while LGBT culture activities in public are always under governmental surveillance and have been raided by police frequently. If any media coverage of LGBT issue wants to get through the censorship, it must have reference to AIDS or negative news. Besides, there is no possibility of any gay pride march in China due to the related regulation. As LGBT people are deprived of the right to express their opinion openly, the Internet, underground films and magazines become the main channel of expression of same sex desires. In this manner, LGBT people have their voice heard and have the real existence of their community seen by the public. Moreover, they bring to their own community positive information rather than stigmatized clichés, and this has boosted their self-identity and raised their rights awareness. These webmedia,
underground film festivals and publications have become the powerful source of LGBT rights and
LGBT culture movement in China.

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In many parts of Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, stigma, discrimination, criminalization, and lack of access to health services have sparked alarming HIV epidemics that threaten the health of men who have sex with men (MSM), mirroring the HIV pandemics that ravaged gay communities in North America and Western Europe in the 1980s. Male-male sex is illegal in 86 countries, making MSM extremely vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Fewer than one in 20 MSM around the world has access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care, according to UNAIDS. MSM groups rarely benefit from international HIV prevention efforts because bilateral funding and grants from the Global Fund flow primarily through national governments that largely ignore the
needs of MSM. The objectives of this workshop is to raise awareness of the growing, but largely ignored problem of HIV/AIDS among MSM in low-income countries and to discuss how the international community can act to improve the conditions of MSM. Main questions: Overview of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among MSM in low income countries? What are the main barriers for access for MSM to prevention, treatment and care? How can civil society and public agencies work together to make sure that the needs and rights of MSM in low-income countries are respected?

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Violence and discrimination against gay men occurs every day, yet there has been little research done from a qualitative perspective that explores the impact of violence and discrimination on the lives of gay men. This workshop will add to the knowledge of how the lives of gay men are influenced by gay bashing and discrimination. Chad Smith will present a project that examines the experiences of canadian gay men that have been victims of violence directed at them as a result of their sexual orientation. Hans Henrik Hansen will present a study on how homosexual men from the Danish army perceive sexual orientation discrimination at the workplace. Both researchers use a qualitative approach. They have each interviewed six gay men, and data was analyzed using Grounded Theory. These research projects provide valuable information that can be used to shape national and global policy and practice to better assist gay men.

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Heteronormativity classes will always be thought in schools, even if every school curricula should present the diversity of human nature. This is not only generating a homophobic attitude in schools but it is as well infringing the youth to fully access their sexual and reproductive rights. The panelists in this workshop will discuss cases real from New Zealand and Denmark and will show why LGBTQ rights should be accessible to everyone. Robin Duff will present how diversity is mostly absent or frequently challenged from the NZ secondary schools programs. Karen Ewers will discuss policies, didactic methods and tools to counter heteronormative stereotypes and homophobic bullying in school – targeted at both pupils and staff. Daniel Townsend from Youth Coalition will provide a general overview of how sexual and reproductive rights are relevant to LGBT people and how it can be protected.

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In this workshop, three presenters from the Global South will discuss their experiences of participating in, or organising, LGBT-majority and non-LGBT-majority sports events or activities, both in the Global South and in the Global North, whether as openly LGBT participants or "in the closet".  They will also consider obstacles to developing LGBT sports organisations and competitions in the Global South, and what can be done to remove them.  In particular, financial barriers to participation in LGBT sports festivals held in the Global North will be examined.  For example, Outreach funding that allows LGBT activists from the Global South to travel to Copenhagen for the Outgames Conference does not include the registration fee for one of the Outgames sports competitions.  This fee is too expensive for many Global South activists, who are unable to make the Outgames' link between Sports and Human Rights a reality.  If they were able to participate, they might be inspired to work on developing LGBT sport in their own countries.

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The Dutch government has produced a policy document called: ‘simply gay’. The main objective is: Promoting the social acceptance of LGBTs among the Dutch population. The policy focuses on wide range of fields in society; amongst others it targets the work floor, elderly, and sports. The policy is not a report that’ll be hidden in the dungeons of the Dutch bureaucracy The Dutch minister that coordinates the program is very outspoken on creating movement and results within the Dutch society. The Dutch ministry of sport has appointed stichting Homosport Nederland (Dutch LGBT sport foundation) to implement the policy in sport. In the introduction of this workshop, we will explain the measures that the Dutch government has taken, we’ll share the way they are implemented, point out the different roles of different persons/organisations.

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LGBT persons in Europe face a great variety of situations under national law. In the West, the officially secular legislation of France remains deeply conservative with regard to access to marriage, adoption and donor insemination, and alternatives to marriage provide limited rights. In the formerly Communist East, Estonia might be ready to follow in the footsteps of Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia, by passing some kind of law recognising same-sex couples. Meanwhile, in the Northern "paradise" of Sweden, where full legal equality has been achieved, do LGBT persons enjoy equality in practice, for example, in workplaces, schools, and adoption agencies?

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This workshop will discuss different challenges to LGBT identities. Aeyal will discuss the challenges of globalization and transnationality to issues of sexuality and gender identity and their intersections, exploring the tensions between the universalizing human rights discourse and the complex realities of globalization and the critiques of identity politics which follows from queer theory. Alison will discuss the teaching of queer studies in the tertiary classroom, based on nearly twenty years of teaching queer studies at Victoria University of Wellington. Carlos will discuss psychology and homophobia in Brazil looking at the notion that homophobia is another form of violence that can be found in the level of speech, and investigating the production of subjectivity that promotes the Psychology when the subject is homo(sexuality). Clare and Holly will pose the questions: What would the world look like if it was set up in the interests of LGBTIQ people?
What kind of social movement would help us create this future? What are the kinds of changes we want to see in the world, and how we can make this happen?

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Lesbians have always been present in various civil society movements, in feminist groups as well as in the artistic sphere and in the fight for decolonization and independence of their country. In recent decades, they were present in the fight for equal rights with women of colour, aborigen women and more broadly with feminist movements. However, most of these groups paid little attention to lesbians' rights. When it was time to return the solidarity, lesbians did not have any choice but to create separate movements to fight for their own rights. Some positive examples will be given to prove that "history can be changed" and that some lesbian groups managed to have their concerns mainstreamed in other movements. ILGA will also take the opportunity to launch the publication on the relationship between lesbian and other human rights.

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