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OutRight TV: HIV and Human Rights
September 29, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
In this episode of OutRight TV, Head of Operations Kevin Wanzor interviews OutRight Alum Karyn Kaplan. Karyn was an HIV Program Officer for OutRight (then IGLHRC) from 1998 - 2002 and continues to fight for HIV/AIDS treatment access today. Karyn talks about OutRight being invited to speak at the first ever UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS and helping mobilize Thailand to create the Thai Drug Users’ Network (TDN), the first of its kind in the region.
UN LGBTI Core Group Event Recap: Building Back Better
September 29, 2020| Contributed by Katherine Martin - OutRight Communications Assistant
Last Wednesday, the UN LGBTI Core Group hosted the 8th annual high level discussion during the 75th session of the General Assembly. The event, “Building Back Better: How to Create a Virtuous Circle for the Inclusion of All LGBTI Persons” addressed the multiple, layered, and intersecting forms of discrimination suffered by LGBTI people and what is being done to work towards inclusion.
OutRight TV: Feminism in Algeria
September 29, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
In this episode of OutRight TV, Arabic Media Coordinator Nazeeha Saeed speaks to Hanane Mettouchi, an Algerian feminist. Hanane talks about the feminist movement in Algeria, specifically in the way that they mobilize and campaign for independence, despite the backlash they face.
OutRight TV: OutRight Alum Helps Resist Soviet Coup Attempt
September 23, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
In acknowledging 30 years as an organization, this OutRight TV episode features OutRight alum Tom Boellstorff, interviewed by Operations Manager Kevin Wanzor. Tom talks about working with LGBTIQ activists in the USSR beyond the festival and playing a large role in resisting the Soviet coup d'état attempt by operating as an underground printing press.
From Russia With Homo Love
September 23, 2020| Contributed by Julie Dorf and Masha Gessen
On July 22, 1991, a Czech Air plane carrying sixty-four American queers landed in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). We were on our way to the International Gay and Lesbian Symposium and Film Festival in the Soviet Union. It was absurd. It was exhilarating. It was mostly our fault.
OutRight TV: From Lebanon to Canada
September 18, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
In this episode of OutRight TV, Arabic Media Coordinator Nazeeha Saeed speaks to Norma Lize, a trans activist from Lebanon who sought asylum in Vancouver, Canada two years ago. Norma, despite living her authentic life in Canada, talks about discrimination she continues to face based on her ethnicity and identity. Together they discuss the positive life changes that have come along with leaving their home country as well as the things they both miss about Lebanon.
OutRight TV: Seeking Asylum
September 15, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
In this episode of OutRight TV, Arabic Media Coordinator Nazeeha Saeed speaks to Omar Hassan. Omar is a transgender male who left Egypt in 2010 to seek asylum in the US. Omar talks about coming to terms with his identity, his first love, and navigating discrimination - even from his own family.
Sissy That Mob: LGBT youths front and center in Thailand’s democracy movement
September 14, 2020| Contributed by Guest blogger - Paisarn Likhitpreechakul
OutRight periodically features analysis from our colleagues and partners. We welcome a contribution from Paisarn Likhitpreechakul. Paisarn is a writer and freelance journalist with interests in LGBT+ issues, human rights, Buddhism and Asian history.
Expanding Work Tackling Gender-Based Violence in the Caribbean
September 11, 2020| Contributed by Daina Ruduša - OutRight Sr Communications Manager
Gender-based violence is a phenomenon most often associated with violence perpetrated by men against women. Yet it is also the most common form of violence faced by LGBTIQ people. What leads to gender-based violence are archaic perceptions of gender roles and appearances, toxic masculinity and notions of how things “should be”. As such, anyone who somehow does not fit, or worse still, challenges what is perceived as the norm, can be a target and victim of gender-based violence (GBV).
OutRight TV: Organizational Sustainability: OutRight COVID-19 Grant Recipient
September 11, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
In this episode of OutRight TV, Africa Program Officer Yvonne Wamari speaks to Ishamael Bahati of PEMA Kenya. PEMA advances the human rights of gender and sexual minorities in Kenya and was one of OutRight's COVID-19 grant recipients. Ishamael talks about an inability to access government relief, hostile home environments, and the importance of maintaining organizational sustainability beyond relief money through social and economic empowerment programs.
OutRight TV: Filipino Resilience: OutRight COVID-19 Grant Recipient
September 3, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
In this episode of Outright TV, Asia Program Coordinator Ging Cristobal speaks to Maroz Ramos of GALANG Philippines. GALANG is one of the organizations in the Philippines that received a grant from OutRight's COVID-19 Global LGBTIQ Emergency fund. Maroz talks about GALANG's focus on the intersection of LBT rights, economic disadvantage, and feminism and shares how they were able to provide support to more than 200 people from 4 regional LBT organizations with their grant.
OutRight TV: Changing the Narrative
August 28, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
In this episode of OutRight TV, Communications Assistant Kate Martin speaks to Beijing +25 fellow Ro-Ann Mohammed. Ro-Ann talks about her work diversifying the LGBTIQ narrative in the Caribbean through Pride events, research, and her organization, SHE Barbados. Ro-Ann encourages the global North to be mindful of the rhetoric used when speaking about homophobia in the Caribbean.
OutRight TV: Hope for LGBTIQ Equality
August 11, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
In this episode of OutRight TV, UN Program Officer Luiza Veado talks to Human Rights Specialist Miguel Mesquita from Organization of American States. Together they talk about how the pandemic has exposed existing vulnerabilities, achievements in the LGBTIQ community, and solidarity among marginalized groups.
President Duda, “LGBT-Free Zones” and the Growth of Nationalism in Poland
August 10, 2020| Contributed by Katherine Martin - OutRight Communications Assistant
Homophobia and the claim that same-sex love poses a threat to so-called “traditional family values” drive injustices that take place against members of our community every day. Acts of violence, discrimination, and hate work to keep the LGBTIQ communities in the margins of society. 67 counties around the world continue to criminalize same-sex relations.
Fundraiser for Helem, Beirut-based LGBTIQ Organization
August 10, 2020| Contributed by OutRight Action International
The enormous explosion in Beirut that killed almost 150 people and left more than 300,000 homeless, also impacted Helem, the oldest LGBTIQ organization in Lebanon. The Helem community and service centers were less than half a mile from the epicenter of the explosion and suffered heavy damages as a result. However, the true tragedy was the enormous number of individuals who are now left homeless and without basic needs. Staff and volunteers have been heavily involved in the relief effort around the city but they can do so much more with our help. Thousands of individuals are in need of shelter, food, money for repairs, and medical equipment.