That’s all the time we have for this discussion today. We just got to scratch the surface of a huge global issue, but thank you Peter for highlighting where gains are being made and for taking the time to join us.
As I said earlier this week we are focusing on LGBT rights activists around the world for our LGBT Change series. You can nominate local heroes here. And follow the coverage on the Global Development Professionals Network on Twitter and on Facebook. Email globaldevpros@theguardian.com to pitch us a story.
Question: Why is the LGBTI rights movement focusing on equality rather than liberation?
Tatchell says:
For LGBTI people living in countries where same-sex relations are still punishable, they say their first priority is decriminalisation and protection against hate crime. The liberation agenda seems a far away dream. However, while focusing on the urgent practical issues we can also imagine beyond parity with what is. Mere equality means equal rights within the status quo - a status quo that has been devised by and for the straight majority and is often also oppressive to heterosexuals. It involves LGBTI acceptance of the pre-existing dominant values, laws and institutions. The bid for equality does not question the current system. It seeks only the same status for LGBTIs within it. In contrast, LGBTI liberation questions society and seeks to transform it. With an agenda beyond what currently exists, it aims for the betterment of everyone, LGBTI and straight.
Peter Tatchell’s answer to the question about how to win LGBTI rights in the Middle East:
Even in the Middle East there are LGBTI organisations - some clandestine, others open. Helem has been operating publicly in Lebanon for many years. It has offices in Beirut and organises events for LGBTIs, as well as aiding LGBTI refugees from Iraq, Syria and Iran. There also also LGBTI networks comprising people from Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The internet and social media is connecting Middle Eastern LGBTIs to the wider global LGBTI community. So they don’t feel so isolated; though they still risk persecution. Change in the Middle East can only come from within. It cannot be imposed from outside. Sadly, it will be slow. But Helem is a positive model. I am hopeful in the long term.
Question via Twitter:
Question via email from a gay man from Mauritius (email globaldevpros@theguardian.com with your questions):
How can LGBTI rights be won in the Middle East?
This week we are focusing on LGBT rights activists around the world for our LGBT Change series. You can nominate local heroes here. And follow the coverage on the Global Development Professionals Network on Twitter and on Facebook. Email globaldevpros@theguardian.com to pitch us a story.
The next question is… what can people can do to encourage progress on LGBTI rights?
Tatchell says:
People in the west can lobby their governments to switch foreign aid from governments that discriminate against LGBTIs to local NGOs and international aid agencies that don’t discriminate. This way homophobic governments would be incentivised to ease their victimisation of LGBTI people and poor people would still get the aid they need and deserve. There won’t be a homophobic backlash if the aid is continued via NGOs that don’t discriminate. This way no one will suffer and there will be no consequent anti-LGBTI sentiment
Question from Georgina Sturge, senior research officer in social protection at the Overseas Development Institute:
Do you think the UN sustainable development goals present a genuine opportunity for the advancement of LGBTI rights? Are they a hook for campaigners to push for equal rights or can you think of more effective entry points to pushing this agenda?
Peter Tatchell says:
The sustainable development goals fell short by not including a strong commitment to end criminalisation, discrimination and hate crime based on sexual orientation and gender identity. But LGBTI issues can still be raised and pressed for within the SDG framework, the Commonwealth, the G20 summits. These issues can also be flagged up in aid agreements.
Read Peter Tatchell’s comment piece on LGBTI rights around the world here:
Question: What human rights campaigns are you focusing on this year?
My upcoming campaigns include:
Building bridges with the Muslim community in the UK, while at the same time challenging homophobia and supporting LGBTI Muslims who are often victimised by people from their own faith.
Supporting the right to self-determination of the peoples of Palestine, Balochistan [in Pakistan], West Papua and the oppressed Arab minority in Iran. Because I am openly gay, my support for their freedom is helping diminish anti-LGBTI prejudice.
Lobbying to get LGBTI human rights on the agenda of the 2018 Commonwealth summit is going to be one of our priorities this year.
We are currently writing a new report making the economic case for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, showing how it is bad for the economy. We hope this might help persuade some governments and businesses to give up their opposition to LGBTI equality.
Response to the question from @BritishAsianLGB below:
Question: What areas are you most worried about for regression of LGBTI rights?
By far the most intensified anti-LGBTI repression is in Syria and Iraq. The situation is also worsening in Ethiopia and continues to be dire in Russia, Cameroon, The Gambia and Egypt. LGBTI people are still at serious risk in the Palestinian territories, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. In all these countries, they face a combination of state persecution and family or religious violence.
Indonesia and Malaysia are heading backwards. Both used to be quite tolerant: don’t ask, don’t tell. But the Muslim administration in Aceh province, Indonesia, began a crackdown a few years back and now this backlash is spreading to other regions with the rise of anti-LGBTI Islamist movements that are targeting LGBTI organisations and events. There is a lesser but still worrying crackdown in the Muslim majority areas of Malaysia.
Question from Twitter (follow the conversation there at #LGBTChange):
Hello and welcome to today’s live chat with Peter Tatchell.
We will be discussing LGBT rights around the world and what NGOs, governments and the general public can to do achieve progress towards equal rights for sexual orientation and gender identity minorities.
The first question is:
Can you give me three examples of places where the balance is tipping in favour of an aspect of LGBTI rights, and with a little push, progress can be made?
Peter Tatchell says:
The global trend is towards the decriminalisation of homosexuality. A dozen countries have lifted their ban in the last few years. There is a similar trend towards the legalisation of same-sex marriage and the legal recognition of trans people. There has been a push in Taiwan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal and Cuba for improved LGBTI rights and even for same-sex marriage. I am hopeful that we’ll see change there soon.
Peter Tatchell has been tirelessly campaigning for LGBTI human rights around the world for five decades. He staged the first gay rights protest in a communist country in East Germany in 1973, twice attempted a citizen’s arrest of the president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe (in 1999 and 2001) and was beaten by neo-Nazis at Moscow Pride parade in 2007.
In 1990 Tatchell was a founding member of the LGBT direct action organisation OutRage! He started campaigning for same-sex marriage in the UK in 1992. In 2011 his friends and allies founded the Peter Tatchell Foundation, of which he is director, to support UK and worldwide human rights campaigns.
Join the veteran activist and other campaigners and experts to discuss what you can do to support LGBTI human rights activists in the global south and around the world.
Follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #LGBTChange or check back to this page from 2pm-3.30pm on Monday 20 February.
Tweet, comment below or email globaldevpros@theguardian.com with “Peter Tatchell Twitter chat” in the subject line to contribute questions and comments to the discussion.
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