Mark Stephens: "Let's make LGBT rights the centrepiece of London 2012"

In the Guardian, Mark Stephens calls for action from the IOC on LGBT visibility and protection at the Olympics. Here is hs conclusion:

This article ends with three exhortations. The first is to LGBT athletes. You are the only ones who have the glare of attention that can be used to effect real change. If you feel safe to do so, come out and make a visible, memorable, courageous gesture for LGBT rights. Show that you are proud to be LGBT, just as Smith and Carlos were proud to be black.

The second is to the LGBT athletes who don't feel safe - and there must be many of you. I invite you to apply for asylum in this country on the grounds that you will face persecution at home if you are open about your sexual identity. Our supreme court has recognised, in HJ (Iran) in 2010, that a person cannot be asked to conceal their true sexual identity in order to avoid persecution. The court held that people must be allowed to live their lives free from the fear of serious harm coming to them as a result of their sexual identity. No one would consider it acceptable for a straight person to have to hide his or her identity: the same applies to LGBT people. LGBT athletes from the 84 criminalising jurisdictions should use this case to apply for asylum in the UK when they arrive for the Games in July.

Finally, to the IOC Committee. I implore you to ban countries where homosexuality is criminalised from competing in the Olympics. The Games are a valuable way of protecting human rights and promoting equality, a principle enshrined in the Olympic Charter itself. To distinguish between racial apartheid in South Africa, gender apartheid under the Taliban and the criminalisation of consensual sex between adults of the same gender is artificial. Countries that sanction such discrimination, and the violence that goes with it, should not be allowed to compete. Far from bringing politics into sport, this step would fulfil the values of the Olympic Charter.

Read in full HERE.

Amnesty International at Gay Games VIII in Cologne

(English below)

MERSI bei den Gay Games in Köln

Be part of it! – Das war das Motto der VIII. Gay Games, die dieses Jahr erstmals in Deutschland stattfanden. Auch wir von Mersi nahmen uns das zu Herzen und waren am Eröffnungssamstag (31.07.) mit einem Infostand in der Kölner Innenstadt präsent. In der Fußgängerzone zwischen Neumarkt und Rudolfplatz konnten wir eintauchen in die unbeschreibliche internationale Atmosphäre der queeren Sportwoche, sammelten Unterschriften für die Irak- und die Serbienpetition und ließen Solidaritätspostkarten für ugandische Menschenrechtsaktivist_innen unterzeichnen. Unterstützt wurden wir Mersi-Mitglieder aus Berlin und Köln von dem sehr engagierten Amnesty-Bezirksverband Köln. Bei einer Veranstaltung im Deutschen Sport- und Olympiamuseum am Rande der Ausstellung „Against the Rules“ sprachen wir mit Interessierten über die Herausforderungen der Menschenrechtsarbeit für Lesben, Schwule, Bisexuelle und Transgender. Wenn auch du aus dem Rheinland kommst und dich bei Mersi engagieren willst, bist du jederzeit willkommen.

koeln@mersi-amnesty.de

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LGBT Human Rights Worldwide
When: Tuesday 08/03/2010
Location: Deutsches Sport & Olympia Museum
Free entrance

Every day all over this world, violations of Human Rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender People (LGBT) are committed. These violations are very diverse and range from imprisonment, to torture and murder. Amnesty International has been working in this area for many years. At this event we hope to introduce YOU to our work. What are LGBT Human Rights? What is Amnesty International doing in the field? What can I do to support them? (The talk will be held in German.)

Beyond this event, Amnesty International was a guest at the Gay Games Village, where volunteers were in contact with the thousands of participants and visitors to Gay Games VIII.

A look back at Gay Games VII "Sports Equality Day" workshops

Chicago 2006 Gay Games Announces “Sports Equality Day” – 14 July 2006

CHICAGO, IL –

Chicago, IL - Chicago Games, Inc (CGI), the host organization of Gay Games VII, the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), and the Gay and Lesbian Athletic Foundation (GLAF) announced today a partnership to organize a series of workshops and educational seminars on issues of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in sports. The workshops will be held in conjunction with the 2006 Gay Games that takes place in Chicago from 15-22 July.

With an overall title "Sports Equality Day," the workshops will focus primarily on aspects of sports for younger and collegiate LGBT athletes, and the state of the LGBT sports movement in areas of the world with relatively large potential for development.

"GLAF is honored to be selected as a preferred partner organization of the FGG and the upcoming Chicago Gay Games 2006,” said O. Mac Chinsomboon, Executive Director of GLAF. “From our inception, the FGG has supported GLAF in our mission to create equality on the playing field. The FGG has been a sponsor of past GLAF forums, where intellectual discussion, debate and education have provided valuable networking opportunities among athletes in Olympic, professional, amateur, recreational, collegiate, and high school athletics communities."

In 2003 and 2004, GLAF organized two very successful conferences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about the issues of gays and lesbians in sports, and FGG officials said working with GLAF representatives again for 2006 will advance these issues further.

"This kind of partnership between a Gay Games host and another organization like GLAF is precisely what the FGG advocates in our position paper ‘The Image of the Gay Games’ that we published in 2003," said Roberto Mantaci, co-president of the FGG. "There are a lot of existing groups like GLAF that can play a valuable role in the success of the Gay Games and this is an effective way for them to do so in Chicago."

"With thousands of LGBT athletes as well as other individuals interested in the LGBT sports movement converging in Chicago during the week of the Gay Games, CGI is pleased to provide the opportunity for such a forum," said Suzi Arnold, co-chair of CGI. "We will also add new features to the Gay Games VII on-line registration system to include registration for the workshops."

CGI is in close partnership with several area universities offering logistical support through use of their facilities and assistance tapping into the many local youth and collegiate LGBT programs. These universities are expected to play a key support role for the "Sports Equality Day" workshops.

"The Gay Games started the LGBT sports movement, which is now a topic of research of many scholars working in the fields of sociology, philosophy and other human sciences," said Philippe Liotard, associate professor at the University of Lyon, France. Mr. Liotard is one of several researchers and academicians who will participate on the steering committee for the workshops. He said, "I look forward to being in Chicago during the week of the Gay Games to deepen my research and have the opportunity to meet with other colleagues to discuss our work in similar areas."

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Program

GLAF/FGG/Chicago has established a Chicago GLAF Steering Committee that has been designated to organize a series of workshops and educational seminars on issues of gays, lesbians, bisexual and trangender people in sports, to be held in conjunction with the 2006 Gay Games that takes place in Chicago from 15-22 July. These educational seminars and workshops will take place on a day dubbed “Sports Equality Day”, Friday, July 14 2006, a day prior to opening ceremonies.

The seminars will focus primarily on aspects of sports for younger and collegiate LGBT athletes and the state of the LGBT sports movement in areas of the world with relatively large potential for development.

“GLAF is honored to be selected as a preferred partner organization of the FGG and upcoming Chicago Gay Games 2006”, said O. Mac Chinsomboon, Executive Director of GLAF. “From our inception, the FGG has supported GLAF on our mission to create equality on the playing field, and as a sponsor of GLAF forums for intellectual discussion, debate, education, and networking among athletes in Olympic, professional, amateur, recreational, collegiate, and high school athletics communities.”

PROGRAMMING

10:30am Registration

10:45am - 12 noon
Youth sports: Not what your parents were thinking of, or is it?

Panelists: Bridget White, Head Volleyball Coach, Kean University, Dave Lohse, Associate Athletic Communications Director, University of North Carolina

This workshop will explore today's meaning of "Sport" and "LGBT Sport." Ever since the founding of the Gay Games, there are now several generations of participants at the games. There exist many leagues that have traditionally been defined as gay but also have a growing number of non-gay players. These are friends of the LGBT people, friends of friends, athletes that like to compete in a non-discriminating environment free of any bias, and just people looking for good old-fashioned competition. At the high school and collegiate levels, the needs of our youth are different, though there are still many challenges. Are the needs of the today's young athletes the same as those for that have been involved with the initial movement? This panel will discuss the new reality as it exists for all of us in sport. We'll explore several generations including high school, Collegiate, Olympic, professional, and recreational sport genres.

We'll also touch upon questions such as: Does sport build character? As a young athlete that's LGBT, how do I compete? How can a youth sport coach become a true mentor? How can my son and daughter get the most out of their sport experience? Can sport be created in a manner that promotes positive youth development? What about human resources for professional sports leagues -- do they handle it at all? Come network and share ideas with the leading sport psychology and youth development experts in the world. Whether you're a parent, student, sport psychologist, educator, coach, researcher, community leader, or youth development specialist, you will find plenty of valuable information, while enjoying interactive presentations.


12:30pm-1pm
Keynote/Q&A with Esera Tuaolo

Born of Samoan descent in Hawaii, Tuaolo was quick, 280-pound (127-kilo) defensive tackle, playing for nine years in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons. He played in the Super Bowl in 1998. He retired from the NFL in 1999 and came out in late 2002, bcoming a prominent spokesperson for numerous LGBT causes. In 2003 he spoke to nearly 200 NFL employees in New York on the topic of being a gay man in sports. Esera was the first player to perform the national anthem at a nationally televised football game, and he released a CD, First Christmas, in 2004. He is a Gay Games ambassador and he will sing at the Opening Ceremony at Soldier Field.

1pm-1:30pm
Keynote/QA with Leigh-Ann Nadoo

Naidoo is the first member of the Gay Games Ambassador program from Africa. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa, after a short time living in Chicago with her partner. In 2004 she was a member of the first African team to compete in beach volleyball at the Olympic Games. Her father, Derrick, was president of South Africa's first non-racial volleyball organization. Before beach volleyball, she competed in athletics (javelin, shot put and discus), tennis, soccer and softball.

1:45pm- 3:00pm
Where in the World is Sport?


In many places around the world, the LGBT movement (perceived or otherwise) is light years ahead of other countries. There's pro-LGBT in many western European countries and in the United States, yet often times there's still a backlash in very specific communities in these countries. Is the United States as progressive as many think? What about other parts of the world like Africa or South America, and elsewhere? Is the LGBT sports movement in outreach countries just "some years behind"? Can LGBT sport movement in these countries just look at the example of North American and European groups? Or is it the context so different that adjustments in the strategy of development of LGBT sports are necessary? How can we best foster the development of LGBT sport in this countries? Money or knowledge and expertise? And if money, is the allocation of scholarships to individuals to help them participate in a Gay Games (or other event) the best way to help? Or should this money be rather donated to local groups to realize local projects?

3:15pm-4:30pm
It Takes A Team! Educational Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Sport
Lindsey Cardin, Women in Sports Foundation

The Women's Sports Foundation is committed to creating an athletic climate that is respectful and safe for all people and eliminating barriers to all girls being active and healthy. It Takes A Team! is an education project focused on eliminating homophobia as a barrier to all women and men participating in sport. Lindsey Cardin is the Project Coordinator at the Women's Sports Foundation. She will go through a training session discussing topics such as teammates dating, negative recruiting, LGBT athletes and coaches in the locker room, and sexual harassment.

HIVOS on the impact of the Gay Games V international human rights conference on gay emancipation in developing countries

Hivos (Humanistisch Instituut voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking) is a Dutch organization for development co-inspired by humanist values. Hivos provides financial and political support to over 800 partner organizations in over 30 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Southeastern Europe. Along with these local organizations, Hivos seeks to contribute to a free, fair and sustainable world, where women and men have equal access to resources and opportunities for development. Hivos is convinced that if people have a fair chance, their possibilities are almost limitless. Hence the slogan "People unlimited ". An important guiding principle is to strengthen the social position of women, along with work in the area of HIV/AIDS.

From the HIVOS webpage on their gay emancipation policy:


In 1998, Hivos decided in association with Amnesty International to make it possible for activists from developing countries to participate in the international human rights conference of the Gay Games in Amsterdam. Their participation resulted in widespread publicity and a substantial increase in the number of activities in the field of gay emancipation in developing countries. It was the breakthrough needed to launch a true global gay emancipation movement, which until then had been dominated by Europe and the United States. It was also during this period that international gay emancipation started to appear on the agenda of national governments, including in the Netherlands.

Download modules on LGBT education from Gay Games VI Amnesty International Global Rights Conference

From the website of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, the outcome of the Amnesty International Global Human Rights Conference at the Sydney Gay Games:

Teaching Human Rights &; Sexuality (Sydney Gay Games Modules 2002) - A training
10/10/2002

You can download PDF versions (links below) of the teaching modules authored by IGLHRC staff for the Amnesty International Global Rights Conference at the Sydney Gay Games, Australia, October 2002.

Introduction to Human Rights Principles and Advocacy

Human Rights and Sexual Orientation: International and Regional Standards

Sexual Rights: Moving Beyond Identity Politics

Documenting Human Rights Violations

Gay Games VI at the 1st International Sport and Human Rights Conference in Sydney

In 1999, in the run-up to the Summer Olympics, the Australian Human Rights Council hosted the first international conference on sport and human rights.

Among the featured speakers was Stuart Borrie, sports director for Gay Games VI, to be held in 2002 in Sydney.

Find out more about the conference, including all talks, HERE.

View Stuart's talk on Scribd

A look back at Gay Games V human rights workshop

From the website of the Global Alliance for LGBT Education, created at Gay Games V, Amsterdam, 1998:

In 1998, Amnesty International and HIVOS organized a human rights conference alongside the Gay Games in Amsterdam. Empowerment Lifestyle Services was asked to organize a workshop on education against homophobia. This was the first global workshop on this theme.

Participants

The workshop had 5 speakers and was attended by about 20 people from every continent. The speakers were Toni Reis from Brazil, Alan Segal from Canada, Anna Leah Sarabia from the Philippines, XXX from South Africa and Peter Dankmeijer from the Netherlands.

Challenges

When Empowerment organized the workshop, it became obvious there were some basic challenges when discussing education about LGBT issues across cultures. The first question of the invited speakers was: what do you mean by “education”. This was a very valid question. Are we talking about formal education (schools, training) or informal education (learning on the spot, theme sessions)? Which kinds of schools or other formal education are we talking about? Which kinds of target groups: children, teenagers, heterosexuals, LGBT constituencies, professionals? For the sake of the workshop, Empowerment decided to focus on education of heterosexual young people in order to combat homophobia, especially in schools.

Differences and similarities

During the workshop, it became clear educational work differs in some ways, but it resembles in other ways. The divergences seemed to be mainly due to social and political contexts, which determined access to the school system and to young people. In a more conservative context, it is more difficult to get access.
But once educators have access, the discussions they have with young people seem to be very similar all over the world. Most young people are surprised and ask lots of (the same basic) questions. Some are afraid and angry; those kids and their often fundamentalist religious parents pose the biggest challenge for educators.

Recommendation

The recommendation of this workshop was to create a global network for exchange and to raise the quality of the work. This would be especially useful for the exchange of best practices on how to discuss homophobia and heteronormativity.

UN issues first report on human rights of gay and lesbian people

From the UN website:

15 December 2011 –

The first ever United Nations report on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people details how around the world people are killed or endure hate-motivated violence, torture, detention, criminalization and discrimination in jobs, health care and education because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

The report [read HERE], released today by the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, outlines “a pattern of human rights violations… that demands a response,” and says governments have too often overlooked violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Homophobic and transphobic violence has been recorded in every region of the world, the report finds, and ranges from murder, kidnappings, assaults and rapes to psychological threats and arbitrary deprivations of liberty.

LGBT people are often targets of organized abuse from religious extremists, paramilitary groups, neo-Nazis, extreme nationalists and others, as well as family and community violence, with lesbians and transgender women at particular risk.

“Violence against LGBT persons tends to be especially vicious compared to other bias-motivated crimes,” the report notes, citing data indicating that homophobic hate crimes often include “a high degree of cruelty and brutality.”

Violent incidents or acts of discrimination frequently go unreported because victims do not trust police, are afraid of reprisals or are unwilling to identify themselves as LGBT.

The report – prepared in response to a request from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year – draws from information included in past UN reporting, official statistics on hate crimes where there are available, and reporting by regional organizations and some non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

In the report, Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calls on countries to repeal laws that criminalize homosexuality, abolish the death penalty for offences involving consensual sexual relations, harmonize the age of consent for heterosexual and homosexual conduct, and enact comprehensive anti-discrimination laws.

In 76 countries it remains illegal to engage in same-sex conduct and in at least five countries – Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen – the death penalty prevails.

Ms. Pillay recommends that Member States also promptly investigate all killings or serious violent incidents perpetrated because of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, and to establish systems to record such incidents.

The High Commissioner also calls on countries to ensure that no one fleeing persecution because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is returned to a territory where their life or freedom is at threat, and that asylum laws recognize that sexual orientation or gender identity is a valid basis for claiming persecution.

Public information campaigns should be introduced, especially in schools, to counter homophobia, and police and law enforcement officials should also receive training to ensure LGBT people are treated appropriately and fairly.

Charles Radcliffe, the chief of OHCHR’s global issues section, told UN Radio that “one of the things we found is if the law essentially reflects homophobic sentiment, then it legitimizes homophobia in society at large. If the State treats people as second class or second rate or, worse, as criminals, then it’s inviting people to do the same thing.”

He stressed that all UN Member States have an obligation under international human rights law to decriminalize homosexuality, adding it was important to persuade rather than lecture States to change their laws.

“I think we have seen the balance of opinion amongst States really shifting significantly in recent years. Some 30 countries have decriminalized homosexuality in the last two decades or so.”

Mr. Radcliffe said that while all people have freedom of religion, “no religious belief or prevailing cultural values can justify stripping people of their basic rights.”

The report, which will be discussed by Council members at a meeting in March next year, has been released as top UN officials have increasingly raised concerns about human rights violations against LGBT people.

Last year, in a speech marking Human Rights Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that “as men and women of conscience, we reject discrimination in general, and in particular discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Ms. Pillay, during a public conversation last week on social media, also called for an end to bullying and other forms of persecution of LGBT people.

10 December 2011 / International Human Rights Day

Read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights HERE.

En français / Un discours historique de Mme Hillary Clinton à l'occasion de la journée internationale des droits de l'homme

Allocution de Mme Hillary Rodham Clinton, ministre des affaires étrangères des Etats-Unis, à l'occasion de la Journée mondiale des droits de l'homme


(Transcription non officielle)

Mme Clinton - Bonsoir. C'est pour moi un grand honneur et un vif plaisir que d'être parmi vous. Je tiens à remercier le directeur général Tokayev et Mme Wyden ainsi que d'autres ministres, ambassadeurs, excellences et partenaires de l'ONU.

Ce week-end, nous célébrerons la Journée des droits de l'homme, l'anniversaire de l'une des grandes réalisations du siècle dernier. À partir de 1947, des délégués de six continents se consacrèrent à la rédaction d'une déclaration devant incarner les libertés et droits fondamentaux des peuples, en tous lieux. Dans le sillage de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, beaucoup de pays plaidèrent pour l'adoption d'un texte de cette nature, soucieux qu'ils étaient tant de prévenir la perpétration de futures atrocités que de protéger l'humanité et la dignité inhérentes à tous les peuples.

Les délégués se mirent donc au travail. Ils passèrent des milliers d'heures à discuter, à rédiger, à relire, à réviser, à réécrire.

Ils incorporèrent les suggestions et les révisions émanant de gouvernements, d'organisations et de particuliers du monde entier.

Historic speech on LGBT rights from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

When we heard that Mrs Clinton would be making an important speech about human rights, we didn't realize how important it would be, and that it would be focused on LGBT rights. It is an amazing speech and declaration of principles. Some of our favorite lines (full transcript below the video):


"Some have suggested that gay rights and human rights are separate and distinct; but, in fact, they are one and the same."

"It is violation of human rights when people are beaten or killed because of their sexual orientation, or because they do not conform to cultural norms about how men and women should look or behave. It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished. It is a violation of human rights when lesbian or transgendered women are subjected to so-called corrective rape, or forcibly subjected to hormone treatments, or when people are murdered after public calls for violence toward gays, or when they are forced to flee their nations and seek asylum in other lands to save their lives. And it is a violation of human rights when life-saving care is withheld from people because they are gay, or equal access to justice is denied to people because they are gay, or public spaces are out of bounds to people because they are gay. No matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we are, we are all equally entitled to our human rights and dignity."

"[N]o practice or tradition trumps the human rights that belong to all of us. And this holds true for inflicting violence on LGBT people, criminalizing their status or behavior, expelling them from their families and communities, or tacitly or explicitly accepting their killing."

"And finally, to LGBT men and women worldwide, let me say this: Wherever you live and whatever the circumstances of your life, whether you are connected to a network of support or feel isolated and vulnerable, please know that you are not alone. People around the globe are working hard to support you and to bring an end to the injustices and dangers you face. That is certainly true for my country. And you have an ally in the United States of America and you have millions of friends among the American people."


Good evening, and let me express my deep honor and pleasure at being here. I want to thank Director General Tokayev and Ms. Wyden along with other ministers, ambassadors, excellencies, and UN partners. This weekend, we will celebrate Human Rights Day, the anniversary of one of the great accomplishments of the last century.

Beginning in 1947, delegates from six continents devoted themselves to drafting a declaration that would enshrine the fundamental rights and freedoms of people everywhere. In the aftermath of World War II, many nations pressed for a statement of this kind to help ensure that we would prevent future atrocities and protect the inherent humanity and dignity of all people. And so the delegates went to work. They discussed, they wrote, they revisited, revised, rewrote, for thousands of hours. And they incorporated suggestions and revisions from governments, organizations, and individuals around the world.