Blog: Perspectives

The purpose of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which is monitored by a Committee, is to codify international legal standards for women’s rights. To date, 186 countries have ratified CEDAW. Twice a year in Geneva and once a year in New York, a committee of 23 independent experts meets to hear how governments are implementing the convention to ensure equality for women. To supplement the information they receive from the state, the CEDAW Committee also reviews reports from NGOs (called shadow reports) to get a truer picture of women’s lives and what the state is doing to advance women’s equality.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) assists NGOs to develop shadow reports, sponsors activist travel so they can present their issues directly to the CEDAW Committee, and assists groups to prepare oral statements that the CEDAW Committee hears during informal meetings and briefings with NGOs.

Esta semana, Natasha Jiménez, un activista de Costa Rica miembro de Mulabi, una organización que brinda un espacio para discutir Sexualidades y Derechos en América Latina, presenta su informe alternativo sobre los derechos LBT en Costa Rica en la 49 ª sesión de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre la Eliminación de Todas las Formas de Discriminación contra la Mujer (CEDAW) en Nueva York. IGLHRC colaboró con Natasha durante varios meses en la creación de su informe sombra y también proporcionó recursos para que Natasha pudiera venir a Nueva York para la presentación.

IGLHRC prioriza el trabajo con la CEDAW, porque el seguimiento de su implementación ha sido una estrategia efectiva para las activistas LBT a nivel mundial para generar atención a fallas de sus gobiernos en una amplia variedad de cuestiones, incluida la violencia, los roles de género, los estereotipos, y la despenalización.

As many of you know, our movement achieved a major victory on June 17th, 2011 when the United Nations Human Rights Council passed its first-ever resolution challenging violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The resolution, which was presented to the council by South Africa and Brazil with 39 additional co-sponsors from every region of the world, was the result of the hard work of LGBT activists around the world who encouraged their governments to support the resolution.

In late 2010 IGLHRC participated in developing and presenting a workshop to discuss strategies for promoting the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia and its goals in Latin America and the Caribbean. Fernando D’Elio, then IGLHRC Program Associate for the region, gave a presentation at the workshop and shared his thoughts in a recently released IDAHO publication:“IDAHO - Establishing Strategies for Latin America and the Caribbean”

Over the past few years, many countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have produced significant advances in human rights to those who have been denied equality based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Implementation of national laws, various government programs, reformulation of codes, and other actions by countries’ governments have assured rights are being limited or even denied to LGBT citizens. However, these advances would have not been possible without the struggle and constant drive of civil society. By utilizing different strategies, many doors have opened despite numerous obstacles that try and prevent the imminent advancement of an inclusive society, equal and respectful to all without discrimination.

In early May the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held one of its twice-yearly summits. It was hosted in Jakarta by Indonesia (as the group’s current chair). Formed to establish economic, socio-cultural, and political cooperation and regional peace amongst members, ASEAN is a critical intergovernmental body in the region. It is also a body that has become an important target for civil society activism and, recently, for activism on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Significantly, the 6th ASEAN Peoples’ Forum in September 2010 in Hanoi, Vietnam for the first time included the human rights of lesbian, gays, bisexuals, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people in the meeting’s final statement.

When my father died, I went only to the first day of the funeral. It was not that I didn’t grieve. No matter how difficult our relationship had been, no matter how many times he yelled at or slapped me, no matter how much I disappointed him because I would never be the son he wanted, he was still my father. I wanted to be there to show my respect, but I could only stomach the dirty looks of my relatives for so long. They didn’t want me to be there. I had known this since the day my father died, discovered laying face down on our living room floor. The day passed by like a blur and I can only remember bits and pieces; my mother trying to wake him; my sister and I calming her down enough to drive to the hospital; the doctor’s cold, direct diagnosis of heart-attack. And I remember when my uncle arrived at our house. “You killed your father,” he muttered to me. “Murderer.”

The Mongolian LGBT Centre is this year's awardee of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission's Felipa de Souza award, which honors human rights defenders working on LGBT rights each year at its a Celebration of Courage gala. This piece was cross-posted to the Bilerico Project and Queerty.

The establishment in 2009 of an NGO solely dedicated to upholding the human rights of Mongolia's LGBT community was a milestone in the Mongolian LGBT rights movement, and marked the end of a difficult and frustrating three-year journey for we LGBT Centre founders. We encountered a lot of prejudice along the way, and a lot of unnecessary obstacles were placed in our path as a result of that prejudice.