L.G.B.T. people have become ‘The Canaries in the Mine Shaft’ for global human rights.
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“It is a 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.”
In her historic speech at the United Nations gathering in Geneva, Switzerland on International Human Rights Day, 6 December 2011, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton affirmed the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans* (L.G.B.T.) people of every nation who deserve respect and protection under the law. In her speech she also promised that
“Wherever you live and whatever your circumstances … please know that you are not alone.”
Overview
Unfortunately, however, individuals, social institutions, and governments do not universally share her sentiments, to which even a cursory summary of international conditions under which L.G.B.T. people often live will testify. I have long thought that L.G.B.T. people metaphorically can be seen as representing the “canary in the mine shaft” since in places where individuals, institutions, and entire societies marginalize, commit violence against, and where they deny basic human rights to L.G.B.T. people, other social groups face similar if not worse adverse treatment as well.
Today approximately 80 countries worldwide criminalize same-sex relations and gender non-conformity, from India to Kenya, from Uganda to Kuwait, from Russia to Papua New Guinea, and many places in between, as well as in some states within the United States as late as 2003.
In June 2013, the Russian Parliament passed and President Vladimir Putin signed its “anti-homosexual propaganda” law specifically targeting “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations around minors,” including public discussions, events that “promote” L.G.B.T. rights, such as Pride Marches, and public displays of affection by same-sex couples that children might see or hear.
Lithuania’s Seimas (Parliament) in 2009 passed a nationwide law prohibiting the media and schools from distributing public information that has an adverse effect on the mental, physical, or intellectual health and moral development of young people, including the dissemination of information that promotes violence, suicide, and homosexuality, and specifically, that “agitates for homosexual, bisexual relations, or polygamy.”
In Moldova, the Balti city legislature ratified a law against “gay propaganda” in 2013. One year before, the Hungarian far-right political party, Jobbik, submitted an anti-gay propaganda bill to the country’s parliament. The bill would have banned “promotion of sexual deviation” targeting L.G.B.T. people as well as banning “pedophilic behavior.” Also in 2012, a police commission in Budapest turned down a request to allow an annual L.G.B.T. Pride march.
On 20 June 2011, six members of the Ukrainian Parliament from all the major political parties introduced a draft law (a bill), No. 8711 titled “On Introduction of Changes to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine (regarding protection of children’s rights on the safe information sphere).” The draft law restricted basic human and civil rights of L.G.B.T. people, including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. This bill, if it had passed, would have made it a criminal offence to promote “propaganda of homosexualism” by distributing information and the use of public broadcasting. Violation of Ukraine’s criminal code carries penalties ranging from a fine to 5 years imprisonment.
On 20 May 2012, organizers of the first scheduled Pride march planned for Ukraine in the capital city Kiev were forced to cancel the event over safety concerns as an estimated 500 neo-Nazi nationalists threatened to disrupt the proceedings. A group of masked thugs savagely attacked activist and organizer Svyatoslav Sheremet of the group Gay Forum of Ukraine, following a media briefing regarding the march’s cancellation called just before it was due to start. Also, the previous day, vandals destroyed a photo exhibit that showcased the lives of L.G.B.T. families in Ukraine under the former Soviet Republic. This came shortly following the seventh consecutive prohibition by Russian authorities of Moscow Pride activities.
Uganda enacted its Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2014 carrying penalties as high as life imprisonment, and also provisions for Uganda citizens engaging in same-sex relations outside Uganda to be extradited back for prosecution. The law includes harsh penalties for individuals, companies, media outlets, and other organizations that support L.G.B.T. rights, or those who do not turn in suspected L.G.B.T. people to the police. Since the law went into effect, L.G.B.T. people have been arrested, their offices raided, and attacked by mobs.
In Iran, the current Islamic Penal Code criminalizes mutually consensual same-sex relations, with punishments ranging from 100 lashes for consensual sexual relations between women (Article 239) to the death penalty for consensual sexual relations between men (Article 234). In addition, the Code criminalizes other acts between members of the same sex, including touching and intimate kissing, punishable by up to 74 lashes (Article 237). Since Iran’s Islamic revolution of 1979, human rights organizations estimate upwards of 4000 men accused of same-sex relations have been executed by government officials.
The Trans Murder Monitoring Project keeps records of homicides of trans* people worldwide. Its March 2013 update reported a total of 1,123 known murders of trans* people in 57 countries from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2012. The highest number of reported cases came from Central and South America, which accounted for 77% of the total. In the United States alone, the FBI reported in 2012 that of the 5,790 victims of hate-related crimes that year, 19.6%, or approximately 1,134, comprised victims of sexual orientation bias.
Senator Edward Markey Taking the Initiative
I was honored to have been asked to participate in a roundtable discussion with other professional and grassroots community activists and educators working in the area of L.G.B.T. health issues and human rights, where my U.S. Senator Edward Markey (a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) briefed us on a groundbreaking and forward-thinking initiative he introduced in the Senate. The bill titled the International Human Rights Defense Act (S.2472) already holds 24 co-sponsors.
The bill, when passed, creates a dedicated on-going high-level position within the U.S. Department of State. According to the description of the bill handed out at the briefing, the act directs the Department of State to:
- Make preventing and responding to discrimination and violence against the L.G.B.T. community a foreign policy priority and devise a global strategy to achieve those goals.
- Coordinate efforts to promote international L.G.B.T. human rights with local advocacy groups, governments, multilateral organizations, and the private sector.
- Create the position of “Special Envoy for the Human Rights of L.G.B.T. Peoples” in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, which will be responsible for all inter-bureau and inter-agency coordination of the United States government’s efforts to defend human rights for the L.G.B.T. community internationally.
- Continue to include a section on L.G.B.T. international human rights in the annual State Department Report on Human Rights.
The bill has already garnered support from numerous organizations, including Amnesty International, Council for Global Equality, American Jewish World Service, National Center for Transgender Equality, MassEquality, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Advocates for Youth, and others.
Throughout the roundtable discussion and briefing, Sen. Markey addressed our questions, and recorded our suggestions to consider in forwarding the bill’s eventual enactment. The Senator stated that he is hopeful, even confident, that the legislation will earn bipartisan support and that a concurrent resolution will ultimately emanate from the House of Representatives.
Both the president and vice president have “come out” in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples.
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Throughout President Barack Obama’s administration, we have seen progress to assure the civil rights of L.G.B.T. people on multiple fronts. Both the president and vice president have “come out” in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples. The U.S. Supreme Court killed the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (D.O.M.A.) in its 2013 United States v. Windsor ruling. The measure, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, permitted states to deny acceptance of marriages for same-sex couple in other states. The U.S. Internal Revenue service ruled in 2013 that same-sex couples may now file joint income tax forms if legally married, even if they move to a state that does not recognize marriage equality. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mandated that employers cannot discriminate on the basis of gender identity, which would violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination.
The California legislature passed, and Governor Jerry Brown signed into law in 2011, SB48, the first in the nation statute requiring the state Board of Education and local school districts to adopt textbooks and other educational materials in social studies courses that include contributions of L.G.B.T. people. California in 2012 followed shortly after by New Jersey, outlawed therapists to practice so-called “reparative therapy” to “cure” homosexuality.
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Yes, we still have far to travel to assure full human and civil rights of L.G.B.T. people, and people of all social identities in the United States and in many if not most countries across our planet. Thanks, however, to the pioneering legislation introduced by Senator Markey and the co-sponsors, who have set a high international moral imperative, the potential for the advancement of full citizen rights of L.G.B.T. people, where no more canaries choke on gas fumes in mine shafts will become a reality.
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Lead Photo: Nichole_Rowbottom/Flickr Other images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Lars: ILGA is a great organization doing wonderful work. The purpose of my article, though, was to announce the creation of a new envoy postion in the U.S. Department of State. When the position is filled, the envoy will work with organizations and individuals internationally to solve the problems facing LGBT people worldwide. The new position marks the U.S.’s official entry into the work that has already been underway in other countries and by other organizations, including ILGA. We may be late to enter into this international partnership, but because of President Barack Obama and Senator Edward Markey, we have… Read more »
I notice that your post has no mention if ILGA (the International LGBTI Association – ilga.org), despite that organisation having worked on these very issue for years. ILGA works on behalf of more the 700 LGBTI organisations across the globe, it has consultative status in the UN Economic and Social Council, etc. etc. Did you intentionally leave out international partnerships in general and ILGA in particular? I ask because seen from North-West Europe, having the US assume the role of teach the rest of the world about sexual orientation rights is a little odd – in particular since the US… Read more »
I agree wholeheartedly with guaranteeing equal human rights for LGBT people. One reason among many is the fact that discrimination against LGBT people tends to support discrimination on many other fronts. Homophobia is not something that only targets actual LGBT people. The places where homosexuality is banned are places where anyone can accuse anyone else of being gay. I hope no one out there thinks that militant homophobes are sticklers when it comes to evidence, presumption of innocence, or due process. More likely they’ll kill you on the rumor that you’re gay. Being hetero is no protection against homophobia, just… Read more »