OutSummit - a Global Convening for the Human Rights of LGBTIQ People Taking Place on December 8-10

OutSummit is a global conference for the human rights of LGBTIQ people. OutSummit brings together LGBTIQ activists and allies from all over the world to share experiences, build networks, and come up with strategies to overcome the challenges LGBTIQ people face in the recognition and protection of our human rights. The event will take place virtually from December 8 - 10. 

Keynote speakers include Masha Gessen and Gigi Chao. 

Masha Gessen (they/them) is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of 12 books of nonfiction. Gessen became a journalist in the 1980s, working in the LGBTIQ press in the United States. In the early 1990s, they moved back to their native Moscow and stayed for more than 20 years, until the Kremlin's anti-LGBTIQ campaign compelled them to leave and return to New York City. They have lived there since 2014. They also played a critical role in the founding of OutRight Action International together with Julie Dorf.

Gigi (she/her) is co-founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality, a board member of OutRight Action International, and the founder of Hong Kong registered charity Faith in Love Foundation, which encourages volunteerism and alleviation of poverty through scholarships, resource distribution, and emotional support for marginalized youth. Gigi manages a family office and advises global organizations on diversity, inclusion, and ESG business responsibility in building shared values and mutual respect. She was recently announced as one of Outstanding’s top 100 LGBTIQ executives for her achievements with Hong Kong Marriage Equality.

In recognition of the volatile conditions many LGBTIQ human rights defenders operate under, and the increase of government instability around the world, we will host a plenary discussion called “LGBTIQ Activism in Countries in Crisis”. 

Over 30 sessions with speakers from across the world will cover a range of subjects, including tackling sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (also known as “conversion therapy”), ending gender-based violence in Asia, backlash against LGBTIQ people in Africa, and many more.

Human rights belong to everyone by virtue of being human, yet the human rights of LGBTIQ people are too often not recognized as such, denied, intentionally violated and challenged. To this day 67 countries continue to criminalize same-sex relations. Only five ban sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (so-called “conversion therapy”), and even today, in 2021, there isn’t a single country in which LGBTIQ people live free from discrimination, violence or harassment.

In this context, the need for a space for LGBTIQ activists, advocates and allies to come together, to share insights and best practices, and to strategize across civil society, state and private sector boundaries for the human rights of LGBTIQ people continues to be important and urgent.