Three years after 11M in Cuba: the demands of LGBTI+ people and the Family Code

Three years after 11M in Cuba: the demands of LGBTI+ people and the Family Code

Washington DC, May 11, 2022 – Today marks three years since the first march that the LGBTI+ population of Cuba organized independently of the National Center for Sex Education (Cenesex). The commemoration of this date occurs in the midst of sentences being given to the people who participated in the demonstrations of July 2021, the draft of the new Criminal Code, which could affect several LGBTI+ activists; and the Family Code, which speaks for the first time of same-sex marriage and adoption between same-sex couples, two demands of people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities on the Island.

This latest reform that is being promoted by the Cuban government seems like a big step in the recognition of LGBTI+ rights in the country, however, this initiative will be submitted to a popular consultation to be approved; that is, two people of the same sex could form a family in Cuba only if the majority of the inhabitants of the archipelago approve it in a referendum that the Island’s authorities are organizing.

What happened on May 11, 2019 in Cuba?

That day, which is also known as 11M, a traditional conga (Cuban dance accompanied by drums) was going to be held in Havana against homophobia and transphobia, as part of a series of activities prior to the commemoration of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, which takes place around the world every May 17. But, the official body that coordinates these activities, Cenesex , decided to cancel the demonstration at the last minute (as happened again today – this State entity canceled the conga that was scheduled to take place this afternoon), arguing that it could not be held because there were “new tensions in the international and regional context”, which caused great discomfort among the LGBTI+ movement in Cuba.

As a result of this, people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities on the Island convened through social networks, and met, starting at 4:00 in the afternoon, in the Central Park of Havana. There they came from different parts and, from one moment to another and without a set course, they began to march. It was the first time that the LGBTI+ movement in Cuba demonstrated on its own, peacefully demanding their rights without the help of the Cuban government, which continues without guaranteeing full recognition of this population.

That day members of State Security blocked the demonstration, which included a kissathon (name given to the act in which several LGBTI+ people kiss in public as a sign of protest). Dozens of people who participated in the improvised conga were attacked and arbitrarily detained by the authorities.

“Despite the prohibition by the State and the repression of LGBTI activists and groups, nearly 300 people gathered and marched through Prado, calling for a diverse Cuba and shouting ‘yes it could’, alluding to the unjustified suspension of the traditional conga of diversity, the only physical and public space that the community had as part of the Cuban Days against Homophobia and Transphobia organized by Cenesex ”, says Jancel Moreno, coordinator of Dame la Mano, an LGBTI+ organization on the island.

According to various activists and organizations, May 11, 2019 marked a before and after in the struggle for the recognition of LGBTI+ rights. “It represents a cry, an act of rebellion that for some could even have been a moment of outburst, and for others it also meant a change in their lives due to the arrests. Without a doubt, it is a date to never forget, where LGBTI+ people decided to claim their rights before a State that until now has always discriminated against us”, says activist Yoelkis Torres, coordinator of the organization AfroAtenas .

What has happened since then?

“No rights have been obtained. Although the Family Code project that is awaiting the referendum includes several of the main demands of the community, it is not yet a reality and may not become so. The Code will be taken to a referendum in a country with a sexist and homophobic history that is even inherited by ‘the revolution,’” says Jancel, who also maintains that being an LGBTI+ person in Cuba means carrying stigmas and prejudices, in addition to not having support or legal guarantees. “Although progress has been made from the perception of society itself, there is still a lot to do,” they add.

Three years after 11M, the demands of LGBTI+ people in Cuba remain the same: that their rights be recognized. “There is an article in the Cuban Constitution that speaks about the principle of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, but it is as if it did not exist,” says Yoelkis, who affirms that the Family Code represents hope for this population, which has been the victim of attacks, threats and murders, despite the fact that there is no known official record that counts the violence they have suffered for years.

LGBTI+ people are waiting for the referendum on the Family Code to be held, which, if approved by the majority of the island’s inhabitants, would represent a huge step in the recognition of their rights. They would go from not having a law that protects them, to being able to form a diverse family with guarantees to avoid any type of discrimination and violence.

From Race and Equality we express our commitment to accompany the demands of people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities in Cuba and we call on the government to listen to them, in accordance with its international obligations to respect and guarantee the human rights of all people, without any kind of discrimination. This is particularly relevant because we are two months away from commemorating another milestone on the Island – the peaceful protests of July 11 and 12, which, like the 11M march three years ago, were strongly repressed by the authorities. and resulted in the mass arrest of hundreds of protesters who today continue to be sentenced for exercising their right to freedom of expression. For this reason, we also call on the State of Cuba to observe international human rights standards and its actions that greatly affect the most vulnerable populations, such as LGBTI+.

Race and Equality launches the ‘Kátia Tapety Political Training School’

Brazil, May 06th, 2022 – On May 10 (Tuesday), at 5 PM, the International Institute of Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) promotes the launch of the Kátia Tapety Political Training School.   The inauguration will be at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM) and will be attended by the distinguished councilor, Kátia Tapety, and serve as well as a space for dialogue with women parliamentarians and representatives of social movements and civil society organizations.  The Kátia Tapety School of Political Training is the result of a project supported by the Open Society Foundations and the partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Brazil.

Faced with the current political scenario in Brazil, involved in hate speech, attacks and persecution of parliamentarians and human rights defenders, whose targets are black and indigenous women – cis and trans, and the growing spread of fake news; Race and Equality created a School of Political Training that aims to prepare women (black, LBTI, indigenous and quilombolas) to participate safely and democratically in the electoral process in 2022.  To confront political and electoral gender violence, the organizations Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (ANTRA), Articulação Brasileira de Lésbicas (Red ABL) and Rede Nacional de Negras ee Negros LGBT (Red Afro LGBT), will be responsible for the nomination of pre-candidates from their networks to participate in the School of Political Training.

Thus, through technical and pedagogical training, classes will be held in a hybrid manner, from May to September, to serve women social leaders from all over Brazil who eventually have an interest in applying for an elective position in the country. The programmatic content also includes practical training so that candidates have the tools to face authoritarian policies and the necessary instrumentalization to claim their rights.  In this sense, the Kátia Tapety School of Political Training emerges as an instrument of strengthening and democratic protection to achieve full legitimacy and decision-making power in its political agendas.

“The growth of gender-based political and electoral violence in Brazil has become increasingly alarming.  In March 2021, Race and Equality, together with other organizations, denounced cases of several currently elected councilors before a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and, unfortunately, we continue to urge the Brazilian State to protect these women. The Kátia Tapety School of Political Training was born from this urgency to promote the active participation of women in politics in a safe and democratic way so that they have full autonomy to defend themselves from violence and guarantee their rights”, explains Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality.

About Kátia Tapety

Kátia Tapety was the first trans councilor elected in Brazil, in 1992, in the city of Colonia de Piauí – PI.   Various data indicate that, in fact, Kátia Tapety was the first trans woman elected to legislative office in Latin America, at a time when there was still a refusal to talk about guaranteeing civil, political and social rights for trans people. Born and raised in the country’ interior, Tapety saw and felt the effects of the military dictatorship, accompanied by the process of redemocratization of the country and, just four years after the promulgation of the citizen constitution of 1988, was elected the councilor with the highest number of votes in the municipality of Colonia do Piauí, in the rural area of Piauí.  In her political career she was appointed councillor in 1992, 1996 and 2000; Mayor of Colonia do Piauí in the biennium 2001-2002; and was finally elected vice-mayor in 2004.

Today, at the age of 74, and with an incredible life trajectory in the country that kills the most trans people in the world, Tapety faced racism and transphobia, leaving a legacy of rights and a path of openness to reach achievements for black, travesti and transgender women throughout Brazil.  Therefore, for Race and Equality, honoring her represents a process of rescuing not only memory, but mainly democratic ties. Kátia Tapety reminds us of the post-dictatorship hope that flourished in Brazil in the 1990s and of one of the milestones of the Brazilian constitution – promoting development and social equality without discrimination of any kind – and that today, more than ever, is urgent.

The Kátia Tapety School of Political Training has as its principle the unique desire to form more and more Katias throughout Brazil and around the world, strengthening civil participation in spaces of collective decision, expanding and improving democratic tools and contributing to the reduction of gender and race asymmetries in political participation at the regional, national and global level.

Agenda:

Launch of the Kátia Tapety Political Training School

Date and time: May 10th (Tuesday), 5pm to 7:30 pm (Brasília time)

Place: Cinematheque of the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM)

Panel 1: Collective trajectories for the political participation of black, indigenous and LBTI women

Participants:

Rosângela Castro – Afro LGBT Network

Bruna Benevides – National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA)

Michele Seixas – Brazilian Lesbian Articulation (ABL Network)

Panel 2: Articulations and strategies of black, indigenous and LBTI women to strengthen democracy in Brazil

Participants:

Kátia Tapety – Honoree and First Trans Afro Councilor  of Brazil

Samara Pataxó – Legal Advisor of the Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) and Head of the Center for Inclusion and Diversity of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE).

Roberta Eugênio – Lawyer and Researcher at the Alziras Institute

Keila Simpson – President of the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA)

The event will be broadcast live via Zoom and Facebook Live and will feature simultaneous translation into Spanish and English (zoom only)

Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/3s5FS3x

*All safety protocols for COVID-19  will be required and carried out

*The event is not open to the general public

#31M: Recognize and respect the gender identity of trans people for the full guarantee of their human rights

Washington DC, March 31, 2022. – On International Transgender Day of Visibility, the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) wishes to magnify the importance of recognizing and respecting the gender identity of trans people, as a basis for the full guarantee of their human rights, specifically their economic and social rights. In Latin America, people with diverse gender identity and expression face great challenges in accessing basic services which, in turn, constitute fundamental rights that every person should enjoy without suffering any type of discrimination or violence.

In at least 11 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean there are legal or administrative processes for trans people to rectify their identification documents according to their gender identity. For example, in Brazil—the country with the highest number of murdered trans people in the world—the Federal Supreme Court (STF) established in 2018 that trans people and transvestites over 18 years of age, regardless of sex reassignment surgery, hormonal treatment or the presentation of medical or psychological documents, have the right to change their name, gender, or both, at any Civil Registry office in the national territory, without the presence of a lawyer or public defender.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, 14 of the 32 States of this country recognize in their legislation the right to gender identity, so that trans people can access the modification of their sex or gender through an administrative process, without having to go through a judicial process. The State of Mexico was the last to incorporate this recognition, in July 2021, with a vote in Congress that had 59 votes in favor, one against and eight abstentions. The other states are Coahuila, Colima, Chihuahua, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sonora and Tlaxcala.

In countries such as Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic, there is no legal or administrative framework for trans people to rectify their identity documents, or there is no jurisprudence in this regard; therefore, if a trans person decides to start the process, this is at the discretion of the administrators of justice and it can be a long and costly path economically and emotionally. That is the case of Mística Guerrero, a trans woman from Nicaragua who until May 2021 did not have an identity document. In 2012 she began the process of changing her name before the Supreme Court of Justice and since then there has been no ruling on her case, according to a local media report.

The lack of recognition of the gender identity of trans people is not only determined by the existence or not of processes to change their name, but also by the will and management capacity of State institutions that must implement these regulations in civil registries. And the fact is that, despite the existence of these processes in many countries, activists and LGBTI+ organizations usually experience difficulties for trans people to access them, due to factors such as lack of clarity and transphobic attitudes, which generates delays and people desist from continuing the process.

Added to this is the fact that there are very few trans people who have the support of their families in these processes. The home is configured as the first space in which people with diverse gender expression and identity experience acts of rejection, violence and discrimination, a dynamic that is maintained throughout their lives.

“[…] There are countless barriers that keep trans and gender diverse people from being able to develop their full potential and from accessing basic rights from an early age, which has to do with the rejection and violence they receive since they begin to externalize their gender identity. In that order, there are numerous reports that show a high prevalence of trans and gender diverse adolescents who suffer expulsion from their homes at an early age”, explains the Report on Trans and Gender Diverse People and their economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, published in August 2020 by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Gender identity and economic and social rights

The non-recognition of gender identity has serious implications for the recognition and exercise of human rights, including economic and social rights. It is important to point out that States have an obligation to fulfill and guarantee these rights based on the principle of equality and non-discrimination of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights.

“The lack of guarantee of the right to recognition of gender identity has as a consequence because trans and gender diverse people often carry identification documents that are not consistent with their gender identity,” the IACHR points out in the aforementioned report. In this way, access to rights such as health, education, housing and employment is limited and subject to prejudice. In addition, the possibilities of people suffering situations of violence and discrimination are increased.

Agatha Brooks, a trans woman from the Dominican Republic and a member of the organization Trans Siempre Amigas (TRANSSA), has experienced discrimination when trying to access housing. “We are not allowed to rent a house, because they believe that we are depraved people and that we are bad examples for children or families around us,” she indicates.

Apart from the problem of access to these rights, trans people also face violence and discrimination when they exercise them. Arturo Nicolás, a trans man from Peru and a member of Transmasculine Diversity, says that urgent measures are needed in the educational field to guarantee full access of trans people to this right. “ This does not mean only opening the spaces through quotas or similar measures. The care and containment protocols in case of violence are pillars to support trans or gender diverse people in educational spaces”, he affirms.

While Bruno Pfeil, a trans man from Brazil and coordinator of the Revista Estudios Transviades, shares his experience in access to health: “In the field of health, the (dis)access that weighs me down the most is gynecological health. Whether it’s for testing, or just for a routine checkup; It is always a headache to have to explain that I have a uterus, that I need a certain consultation, and that the regard that should be given to my body cannot be built under the cisgender prerogative.”

In its Report on Trans and Gender Diverse Persons and their economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights, the IACHR gives a comprehensive account of how the impossibility of rectifying personal documentation has been identified as one of the greatest obstacles to the effective enjoyment of other human rights, both civil and political as well as economic, social and cultural, for which it considers it urgent that the States adopt measures to guarantee this right in accordance with inter-American and international standards on the matter.

Although we recognize and celebrate the adoption of judicial and administrative processes for the recognition of the gender identity of trans people in several Latin American countries, we believe that this does not only depend on correcting their name and/or gender in their respective identity documents, but it is also closely related to the implementation of educational processes and public policies to eliminate LGBTIphobia in society and guarantee effective services that are tailored to their needs, respectively.

We also appreciate and thank the role of the United Nations Independent Expert on Gender Orientation and Identity, Víctor Madrigal-Borloz, who, through reports—such as the latest titled Law of Inclusion and Exclusion Practices—and numerous interventions before civil society and States, has positioned the issue of gender identity as a determining experience in people’s lives and, therefore, subject to a framework of rights that States must guarantee.

Along with this, we submit some recommendations to the States, many of which were set out by the IACHR in the aforementioned report and which we consider key steps to guarantee the human rights of trans people in the region:

  • Adopt gender identity laws that recognize the right of trans and gender diverse people to correct their name and the sex or gender component on their birth certificates, identity documents, and other legal documents. This is based on Advisory Opinion 24/2017 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IA Court).
  • Eliminate from their legislation and public policies any form of criminalization, direct or indirect, of the conduct of people in the exercise of their gender identity or expression.
  • Include protections against discrimination based on gender identity, in the public and private spheres.
  • Develop and implement policies and programs to promote respect for the rights of trans and gender diverse people and their acceptance and social inclusion. These must be comprehensive, transversal and based on the human rights approach and particularly including the gender perspective.
  • Develop and implement informative awareness and awareness campaigns in the public and private media on body and sexual diversity and the gender approach.
  • Promote information campaigns for trans and gender diverse people about all their human rights and existing protection mechanisms.

Trans Day of Remembrance: An urgent call to combat transphobia in Latin America

Washington D.C., November 20, 2021. As we commemorate another year of International Transgender Day of Remembrance, the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) wishes to draw the attention of States and the international community to the chilling numbers of murders of transgender people in the Americas – a reality that unfortunately places the region once more at the top of the list of most homicides worldwide. At the same time, Race and Equality wants to urge governments to prioritize issues of violence and discrimination against gender-diverse people and to adopt swift actions to combat transphobia.

On November 11, TGEU’s Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide (TvT) research project published its annual Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) report, released every year on the eve of November 20, International Transgender Day of Remembrance. According to the data, between October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021 there were 375 murders of trans people worldwide, of which 311 occurred between Mexico, Central and South America. Globally, the total represents a 7% increase from the previous report (October 2019 – September 2020).

Transphobic tragedy

In Latin America, Brazil continues to be the country with the highest number of murders against transgender people, followed by Mexico (65), Honduras (53) and Colombia (25)*. Regarding global figures, the TMM report highlights that 96% of the murdered persons were transgender women or transgender feminine persons, and 58% were transgender sex workers. This is a pattern that has been corroborated in the region by reports published by LGBTI+ organizations.

“The data indicates a worrying trend regarding the intersections between misogyny, racism, xenophobia and hatred towards sex workers, with the majority of victims being black and colored transgender women, migrants and sex workers,” warns TMM, which also alerts that these numbers are only a small sample of the reality, since many murders remain unreported, or are misidentified.

Lives taken away

Brazil, which represents 41% of the global murders against transgender people, also commemorates on this day the National Day of Black Consciousness. Therefore, November 20 represents a date among human rights organizations in the country – especially those working in the defense of the trans population and the black population – to honor both populations and coincides in the intersection of their vulnerabilities in the midst of a transphobic and racist society.

Brazil began 2021 with the brutal murder of a transgender teenager. In the early morning of January 4, Keron Ravach was stabbed and beaten to death by a 17-year-old who was identified and arrested as the perpetrator of the hate crime. The young woman, who was going through a gender transition process, was defined by her friends as a shy person, but who at the same time dreamed of being a social media influencer. According to the TMM report, the average age of trans people murdered in the last year is 30 years old, with Keron being the youngest of all victims, at just 13 years old.

Indolence and Impunity

In most cases of murdered transgender persons there is a history of violence and threats, but these are often ignored by the authorities or are not dealt with in a timely manner. As such, when the murder occurs, there is insufficient information to identify the person or persons responsible. This issue has been expressed by organizations who promote and defend the rights of the LGBTI+ population and was manifested in the murder of Gina Rodríguez Sinuiri on September 21, in Callao, Peru.

Gina, 28, was stabbed several times in a hotel room in the city. Although immediately taken to a hospital, she was pronounced dead 18 hours later. The suspect is a man who regularly solicited the services of transgender sex workers and contacted them through his social networks using different names. According to her companions, it was not the first time the man contacted Gina. In addition, Agencia Presentes, which is in charge of making visible the situation of the LGBTI+ population in Latin America and the Caribbean-collected statements from Gina’s partners, in which they pointed out that on several occasions they have approached the Peruvian National Police to report acts of violence against them but are always ignored.

On top of the authorities’ lack of action there is the fact that Peru does not have a Gender Identity Law, which means that transgender people cannot carry out procedures with their social name, and this exposes them to discrimination and mockery in various sectors of society. “We denounce to the authorities and the police, but they do not pay attention to us, and that is what makes us frustrated and angry. We have families, we are human beings with feelings. Every time we file a complaint, when we turn around, they put it away. The worst thing is that they laugh and throw us out,” said a colleague of Gina on that occasion.

Dying in Invisibility

Although the murders of transgender people are generally silenced, when addressing this issue reference is usually made only to transgender women, because statistics show that they are the main victims, which is undoubtedly a reality. However, transgender men are also the focus of violence and discrimination due to transphobia and, as in the case of trans women, this can become deadly for them. One such example is the case of Samuel Edmund Damian Valentin, a young transgender man who was shot and killed on January 9 in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.

Samuel Edmund was a student at Atlantic University College, in Guaynabo. On January 1 he had written on his Facebook page, “a new year to come, grateful for all the experiences that [taught me] how strong we really are, to life, to good and evil and for all the justice that is to come.”

“About transgender men and invisibilization in the public sphere, the truth is that it is the violence we suffer the most. Everyday life is designed for cis-gender men; we cannot be guaranteed public health issues in a dignified and efficient way for us. It is important that our identities are named, that trans men or transmasculine people get pregnant. What is not named does not exist. If we exist in the spaces, let us exist in the word”, says Danilo Donato, transmasculine activist and member of the GAAT Foundation in Colombia. According to the record of this organization on death of trans people, so far this year 2021 in the country 32 have been killed to date, while 8 have died from complications arising from surgeries and handmade interventions and barriers to access to rights.

Hate at its maximum expression

Kendra Contreras, known as “Lala”, was a 22-year-old transgender woman who lived in the town of Somotillo, in western Nicaragua. Those who knew Lala say that she was a young dreamer, hard-working, with a desire to better herself and who wanted her gender identity to be respected. Sadly, on March 3, 2021, two men ended her life in an atrocious way; they tied her to a horse and let it drag her twice for at least 400 meters and then stoned her. This is the ultimate expression of hatred towards women, bodies and diverse identities in a highly macho society, such as the Nicaraguan one.

Unfortunately, that was not the only time they killed Lala, as they do it every time they disrespect her gender identity and call her by her “first name” when they refer to her as “man” in news reports. Many media outlets fail to properly handle these cases by focusing on information and prejudices that generate morbidity and revictimize the victims of transphobia and gender violence.

Urgent appeal

Every year, Race and Equality takes advantage of this date to remind countries of their obligation to respect and guarantee the rights of all people without any kind of discrimination. Regarding the situation of violence and murders against trans people, we make the following recommendations:

  • Monitor and publicly sanction transphobic speeches that often slip into the media and incur in calls for discrimination and violence against the trans population.
  • Adopt the necessary laws and policies to guarantee the recognition, respect and inclusion of people with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.
  • Establish special mechanisms to respond to acts of violence and murders against LGBI and trans persons, which lead to the clarification of the facts and the punishment of those responsible, as well as the establishment of guarantees of non-repetition.
  • Collect data on acts of violence and murders against trans persons, disaggregated by specific gender identity and ethnic-racial identity.
  • Promote through the institutions and official channels a campaign to educate and sensitize the population on sexual orientation and gender identity, with a view to generating a context of recognition and respect for the integrity and life of LGBI and trans persons.

*In the case of Colombia, the Foundation Grupo de Acción y Apoyo a Personas con Experiencia de Vida Trans (GAAT) recorded 32 murders of transgender people so far in 2021.

United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Visits Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala in a Mission of “Active Listening” coordinated by Race and Equality

Washington DC, October 19, 2021.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), in conjunction with the delegations of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala, Honduras and Panama, organized a promotional visit with the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Víctor Madrigal-Borloz, to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The visits took place between October 11 and 16, the Independent Expert (IE SOGI) had the opportunity to meet with activists and LGBTI + groups from each country. In each “Listening Visit” — as the IE SOGI called them — he actively listened and dialogued with representatives and members of organizations that promote and defend the human rights of LGBTI + people, this contributed to strengthening the links between civil society and his Mandate.

The meetings were held in Tegucigalpa (Honduras), San Salvador (El Salvador) and Guatemala City (Guatemala). In total, around 35 organizations attended the meetings, and more than 100 activists from the LGBTI + community participated, including people who attended a public event in the Honduran capital, where the IE SOGI presented his latest report on gender identity, entitled, The Law of Inclusion & Practices of Exclusion.

In Honduras, Madrigal-Borloz listened to organizations that expressed concerns around the criminalization of LGBTI + people, particularly in the electoral context that the country is experiencing before the general elections scheduled for November 28. They noted that both the candidates and President Juan Orlando Hernández continue to spread hate speech which contributes to an increase in violence against LGBTI + people. This is aggravated, they said, by the multiple barriers that this community faces in access to justice, starting with discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Honduran civil society also described the various efforts that have been made to introduce a draft Gender Identity Law to the National Assembly, but to date have not been able to discuss it in Parliament. In this regard, they referred to the lack of guarantees for trans persons to have access to work, education and health, and in cases where they have had access to these spaces, they have been victims of expulsion and ill-treatment, especially in the area of health where staff are not trained and therefore engage in stereotypes and discriminatory practices.

The LGBTI+ population in El Salvador confronts a similar situation, where in May -after a new National Assembly was installed with a resounding majority of President Nayib Bukele’s party -the National Assembly archived a draft Gender Identity Law that had been introduced in March 2018. While organizations noted a decrease in official homicide figures, they were concerned about the increase in the number of missing persons. Likewise, lesbian women organizations highlighted that the fear of identifying as a lesbian woman due to the discrimination and violence they face prevails among this community.

The organizations also raised concerns regarding the persecution of trans women who are sex workers, and the lack of attention and protection of the State in the face of hate crimes suffered by LGBTI+ people in El Salvador. This, they said, is affecting the internal displacement and migration of this population, for which the spaces for participation and denunciation are increasingly closed. The Independent Expert also had the opportunity to meet with academic organizations and institutions who engage in data collection and legal and humanitarian assistance. In that regard, the importance of carrying out such work from a differential and intersectional perspective was highlighted.

In Guatemala, the organizations expressed concern about the NGO Law, because it implies limitations and threats to organizations that promote and defend human rights, and by the initiative of Law 5940 or Law to guarantee the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents against disorders of gender identity, because it proposes to remove the right to self-determination of gender identity of children and trans adolescents. This bill adds to the proposed Law 5272 or Law on the Protection of Life and the Family, which is also of great concern to civil society because it criminalizes abortion and uses retrograde and stigmatizing ideas to support the concept of cis-heteronormative families.

Activists were also able to share information on discrimination in the field of employment and education. They highlighted that transgender people are expelled from schools for making their gender identity visible and are constantly facing bullying. In addition, a large part of the transmasculine population cannot access employment because of their gender expression.

They also referred to the invisibility of lesbian and bisexual women, which means that crimes against this population are not reflected in official statistics or are categorized as crimes against heterosexual women. They also indicated that this group faces many barriers to accessing health because many do not feel comfortable going to a gynecologist and exposing their sexual life.

Race and Equality accompanied each of these meetings and will continue to support the work of the Independent Expert. In addition, Race and Equality is committed to continue working with civil society in these countries to make their struggles visible. We thank all civil society organizations, the delegations of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and all those who made this visit possible.

First report on transmasculinities and non-binary AFAB people in Peru: A key step for the recognition and protection of diverse identities in the country and the region

Washington DC, September 30, 2021.- With the aim of contributing to the promotion and protection of the rights of transmasculine and non-binary persons assigned women at birth (AFAB) in Peru, the Institute on Race, Equality and Rights Human (Race and Equality) launched on September 24, 2021 the first report that demonstrates the situation of this population in the country. The report includes recommendations to the State, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and the United Nations Organization to guarantee their human rights.

The report, entitled “Bodies and Resistance that TRANSgress the Pandemic: Transmasculinities and Non-Binary AFAB People in Peru,” was launched through a virtual event with the participation of representatives of the transmasculine and non-binary movement in Peru, including two individuals who helped produce the report, and the United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Victor Madrigal-Borloz.

“In Peru, the rights of trans people are not yet recognized, starting with the limitations to access the right to identity, which means that other fundamental rights cannot be accessed,” said the Executive Director of Race and Equality, Carlos Quesada. He also mentioned that when talking about the trans population, one usually thinks only of trans women, which means that the experiences and demands of transmasculine and non-binary AFAB people are not reflected in public policies and, on certain occasions, are also not present in the agenda of the LGBTI + movement.

Zuleika Rivera, LGBTI Program Officer for Race and Equality, indicated that the preparation of this report sought to understand the situation of transmasculine and non-binary AFAB people in Peru. She highlighted that one of the most important findings being the fact that the discrimination and violence that this population faces begins in the nucleus family, something that – Rivera said – is determined by the lack of information and the stigma that predominates in society regarding people with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.

The situation

It should be noted that the completion of this report included a documentary review, data processing of transmasculinities and non-binary AFAB people who participated in the first survey for LGBTI people, which was carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INEI) in 2017; a self-applied virtual interview called, “The Situation of Trans Masculine, Trans Men, Non-Binary Transmasculines and Non-Binary AFAB People Before and During the COVID-19 Situation in Peru,” and eight semi-structured interviews.

The report was presented by Alithu Bazan Talavera, a member of the report’s research team, non-binary trans activist and researcher, and by Santiago Balvin Gutiérrez, also part of the research team, non-binary transmasculine activist and member of the organization Rosa Rabiosa. The third individual who made up the research team is activist, researcher and teacher Denisse Castillo Matos, who is also part of the organization Más Igualdad Perú.

During the presentation Bazan mentioned that most of the people interviewed reported that they began to experience their identities from the age of 22, due to little or no information on the trans and non-binary spectrum. The activist and researcher pointed out that non-recognition in the family environment entails a series of violations and a systematic exclusion of trans-masculine and non-binary people.

Balvin Gutiérrez included in his presentation that in the case of trans men and trans-masculininities, 85.44% have identity documents that do not represent their desired social name, and in the case of non-binary people, 48.57% expressed the same sentiments. In addition, among both populations, 70% reported difficulties when exercising their right to vote due their identity documents not corresponding with their gender identity and/or gender expression and for fear of suffering violence. 

Significance of the report

Bruno Montenegro, National Coordinator of Transmasculine Fraternity-Peru, described the report as “historic” and said it will contribute to generate great advances in the struggle of the transmasculine and non-binary population. Montenegro further stated that all the information and evidence contained in this report will serve to demystify the belief that trans and transmasculinity men have privileges only because they are male or because they identify with masculinity.

“Transmasculinities do suffer violence even though we identify ourselves from masculinity (…) This report is important to demystify transmasculinities and put our realities on the agenda. Trans men also abort, trans men also decide to gestate, trans men also suffer so-called corrective rapes,” he emphasized.

The United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Víctor Madrigal-Borloz, highlighted the relevance and significance of this report. “This report has a particular impact on Peru, but this information can also be raised as a working theory regionally and globally. For me it has been incredibly revealing in levels, perspectives and consciences that were not at all visible in my mandate,” he affirmed.

“There is data that, in addition, in its deep personalization call us to reflect; the testimonial is of great value and this study is extraordinary in that sense,” added Madrigal-Borloz.

Recommendations

The report, “Bodies and Resistance that TRANSgress the Pandemic: Transmasculinities and Non-Binary AFAB People in Peru,” contains recommendations to the State, the IACHR and the UN, with the aim of contributing to the adoption of public policies and/or measures in favor of the human rights of trans-masculine and non-binary people. In the case of the State, we recommend that the State urgently adopts a gender identity law.

In the case of the IACHR, one of the recommendations is that it creates dialogues with civil society organizations and independent activists related to the population of transmasculinities and non-binary AFAB people. In the case of the UN, the report recommends that the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity make an official visit to Peru and publish a report with specific recommendations for the protection of this population.

Access and download the report in Spanish here: https://bit.ly/3uxtklx

Executive summary in English here: https://bit.ly/3o5oZ7S

Lesbian Visibility Day in Brazil: Luana Barbosa Case – “If not for us, no one will be”*

Brazil, August 29, 2021 – The month of August in Brazil highlights and marks the struggles of lesbian women. It’s a month that honors Lesbian Pride— August 19 specifically references the first manifestation of lesbian women, known as the “Brazilian Stonewall,” in São Paulo, in 1983. Banned from distributing the bulletin, “Chanacomchana,” Brazil’s first lesbian activist publication, the activists decided to occupy Ferro’s Bar’ claiming their rights and denouncing lesbophobia. August 29 also calls for the right to freedom of expression and representation as it represents Lesbian Visibility Day. It was during the first National Lesbian Seminar (Senale) held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1996, that the date was created to denounce the erasure and highlight lesbian experiences within the LGBTI+ and feminist movement.

To stress the importance of ‘Lesbian Visibility,’ Race and Equality brings to the surface the Luana Barbosa Case, which completes five years this year. The murder of 34-year-old Luana Barbosa dos Reis Santos, in 2016, in Ribeirão Preto (SP), denotes the complete invisibility black lesbian women endure, the absence of their social and individual rights, and moreover it symbolizes why lesbians need to claim a fight for visibility, rights and integral security.

Luana was the victim of brutal police violence. After being approached by three military police officers, she refused to be searched and demanded the presence of a female police officer. In the company of her son, mother and neighbors, Luana was brutally beaten by the police and as a result died five days after the attack due to cerebral ischemia and brain trauma. The brutality of her death reveals the intricacies of police actions in Brazil towards black LGBTI+ people, who, in addition to possessing a color that equates to the public enemy for the police, Luana’s existence challenges the cis-heteronormativity, further aggravating police brutality. After Luana’s experience with police brutality, she still managed to record a video in which she reported the assaults, in addition to the death threats made by police officers who also threatened her family [1].

In February 2020, Luana’s case was ordered by the courts so that the defendants would be tried by the popular jury. However, the defense appealed and the trial continues without a definite date. Although the trial was suspended, the case of Luana Barbosa was not labeled as a mere allegory of police violence in Brazil. Immediately after the incident, the UN Women and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of South America (OHCHR) appealed to the Brazilian State for an impartial and transparent investigation recognizing that the case of Luana is emblematic of racist violence, gender and lesbophobic in Brazil [2].

According to Roseli Barbosa, the sister of the victim, the fact that Luana associates with masculine lesbianism, which in Brazil is accompanied by the adjectives: ‘sapatão’ and ‘camioneira’ in a pejorative way (words that were re-signified by the lesbian movements with pride and belonging), constantly made Luana the target of insults and prejudice. Several times, Luana paid a high price for looking like a poor, black man [3]. In another police interrogation, Luana had to show her breasts to prove she was a woman. The presumption of innocence for black, poor and vulnerable people is practically non-existent. To exist as a black-lesbian, woman-mother-peripheral is a cry of resistance in Brazil.

What is the color of the Invisible?

Race and Equality continues to follow the case of Luana Barbosa with Brazilian LGBTI+ organizations and denounce it to international human rights mechanisms. In the dossier “What is the color of the Invisible? The human rights situation of the black LGBTI population in Brazil” [4], published by Race and Equality, there is a chapter dedicated to denouncing police violence against black LGBTI people in the country. In focus groups carried out by civil society organizations, it can be seen that the brutal death of a black woman did not mobilize society and that lesbian invisibility is a determining factor in the lack of public commotion regarding the deaths caused by the State.

As the dossier points out, socio-racial hierarchies in Brazil determine the conditions of life and death. There is a hierarchy between death that is visible and death that is not, and skin color is a factor that separates the two. Fátima Lima, a black lesbian woman and university professor, argues that the life and death of lesbian women are marked by erasure.

“The violence suffered by black and racialized women in the context of the South is still very little visible, discussed and faced. Marked by silence and pain, their stories are crossed by different forms of violence that range from injurious discursive practices to corrective rape, beatings and murders. In the Brazilian LGBTI+ movement, for example, lesbian women have always denounced their deletion,” expresses Fátima. [5]

 2021: Building new directions for the case of Luana Barbosa

In 2021, the case of Luana Barbosa continued to have international repercussions during the 47th Assembly of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in which Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented the report on systemic racism and the excessive use of public force [6]. The tragic story of Luana’s murder was recorded in the report as one of seven cases in the world where police violence was linked directly to racial discrimination and prejudice. According to Bachelet, “there is a widespread presumption of guilt over black people,” and adds that “the excessive vigilance imposed on black people makes them feel threatened rather than protected.”

During that same Assembly (UNHRC47), Race and Equality denounced police and political violence against LGBTI+ people in Brazil as a result of systemic racism. Together with the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Mundo), they joined the pronouncement of the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites, Transsexuals and Intersex (ABGLT). It should be noted that the case of Luana Barbosa was present in the joint statement, to further foster an international repercussion of justice for Luana Barbosa [7].

Nationally, there is a political movement to fight against lesbocide and for LGBTI+ agendas. During the last municipal election, in 2020, several black, lesbian and transgender parliamentarians were elected, however before and during the electoral process they faced numerous threats and hate speech for their expressions of gender and sexual orientation. During their terms of office, these parliamentarians strategically united to confront and denounce the ongoing political violence in Brazil.

Mônica Francisco, State Deputy of Rio de Janeiro (PSOL), is the author of the ‘Luana Barbosa Draft Law.’ The bill aims to establish April 13 (date of Luana’s murder) as the ‘State Day to Combat Lesbocide.’ In addition to making visible and promoting the rights of lesbian women, the date is intended to support public campaigns and activities aimed at raising public awareness of a culture of non-violence against lesbian women. The bill, which still needs to be voted on and approved by the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro, represents a major step towards the construction of a public agenda that supports and makes visible the protection and integral health of lesbian women.

Among the circumstances that made Luana Barbosa’s case a symbol of the struggle and resistance of lesbian women in Brazil, Race and Equality understands that the lack of public authority assistance for the specificities of lesbian women is one of the key factors for their agenda’s erasure. The absence of public data on lesbocide and on the current situation of living lesbians leaves civil society with the responsibility of research production which does not always have the necessary financial support to be carried out.

In Rio de Janeiro, in 2020, the Collective Resistance Lesbian da Maré launched a mapping of lesbian and bisexual women living in favelas [8]. The document aims to denounce the scarcity of answers about lesbian experiences in favelas, especially experiences of non-violence, since the hegemonic representations of favelas refer to violence and the abandonment of public power. Also, the Associação Lesbofeminista Coturno de Vênus, headquartered in Brasília, launched, in 2020, a mapping of lesbians in the Federal District. This year, Coturno de Vênus is promoting a nationwide mapping of lesbians, together with the Brazilian Lesbian League. It will be the first national socio-demographic mapping of lesbians.

Race and Equality recognizes that there is still a long way for lesbian women to reach the fullness of their rights. It is essential to create public policies that deconstruct a collective imaginary beyond violence, pain and hypersexualization of lesbian women. Violence in life, through corrective rapes, family abandonment, conversion therapies, loss of custody of their children, lead many lesbian women to suicide. Thus, Race and Equality recommends to the Brazilian State to:

1 – Create a Legal and Parliamentary Committee to produce data on violence against lesbian women – lesbocide (lesbocídio);

2 – Promote public policies that support and strengthen organizations that seek to make lesbian agendas visible;

3 – Implement a policy of comprehensive protection for lesbian women who are victims of violence, in light of the intersectional issues raised in Luana Barbosa’s case;

4- Promote actions and campaigns to combat lesbophobia to eradicate disinformation and prejudice that reproduce the marginalization of lesbian women;

5 – Implement a national health policy that meets the specificities of the LGBTI population, in this case, specifically meeting the demands of the lesbian population.

 

 

 

*Quote by Jész Ipólito in his article published in: https://www.geledes.org.br/do-luto-luta-nao-esqueceremos-luana-barbosa-dos-reis-morta-por-pms-em-ribeirao-preto/

[1] http://g1.globo.com/sp/ribeirao-preto-franca/noticia/2016/05/antes-de-morrer-mulher-espancada-disse-que-foi-ameacada-por-pms-veja.html

[2] http://www.onumulheres.org.br/noticias/nota-publica-do-alto-comissariado-de-direitos-humanos-das-nacoes-unidas-para-america-do-sul-e-da-onu-mulheres-brasil-sobre-o-assassinato-de-luana-reis/

[3] https://ponte.org/a-historia-de-luana-mae-negra-pobre-e-lesbica-ela-morreu-apos-ser-espancada-por-tres-pms/

[4] and [5] http://oldrace.wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FINAL_dossie-lgbti-brasil-ebook.pdf

[6]https://www.ohchr.org/SP/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27218&LangID=S

[7] http://oldrace.wp/es/onu/raca-e-igualdade-celebra-a-adocao-da-onu/

[8] https://bit.ly/2TDB5ES and http://oldrace.wp/es/brazil-es/coletiva-resistencia-lesbica-realiza-mapeamento/

[9] https://bit.ly/lesbocenso and  http://oldrace.wp/es/brazil-es/coturno-de-venus-realiza-lesbocenso/

 

Dominican Republic: Activists and the LGBTI + Community Fight for the Senate not to Approve the Penal Code that Excludes Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as Grounds for Discrimination

Washington, D.C., July 19, 2021. – The Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic approved, on June 30, a reform to the Penal Code that excludes sexual orientation as a ground for discrimination— organizations and activists that defend and promote the rights of LGBTI+ people in the country are engaged in a legal and social battle for the Senate not to ratify this Penal Code. Ratification would inevitably expand the grounds of discrimination against the community with different sexual orientations and gender identities.

The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) spoke with human rights activist and lawyer Juan Alberto Francisco, who explained that efforts to reform the Penal Code have been underway for more than 20 years, but they have always been hampered by the dominance of conservative groups in both the House, Senate, and even at the Executive level. An example of hindered progress includes the 2015 reform that was vetoed by former President Danilo Medina, which included three grounds for terminating a pregnancy.

Francisco noted that it was only in August 2019 that a bill recognizing sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for discrimination was introduced. However, the latter was left out in the draft prepared by the Justice Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. When it was finally put to the vote on June 30, 92 Members voted against sexual orientation being covered by Article 187, which refers to the grounds for discrimination.

The specialist said that another worrying change within the article includes a paragraph that reads: “there shall be no discrimination where the service provider or contractor bases its refusal on the grounds of religious, ethical or moral conscientious objection or on institutional requirements.”

“That means that in the event that the LGBT community is excluded from any health service, from any employment, even from any commercial establishment, it will not be considered discrimination,” says Christian King, a trans non-binary activist and representative of the organization Trans Siempre Amigas (TRANSSA). “This is a setback considering that TRANSSA has used the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney General’s Office, and we have obtained compensation for damages caused to LGBT people who have been discriminated against in that regard,” he adds.

After approval in the Chamber of Deputies, it is up to the Senate to vote on this Penal Code reform. Although there is still no set date for this, activists and the LGBTI + community in the Dominican Republic are taking various actions to make visible the human rights violations that would result from the final approval of this Penal Code—moreover, to recognize that both sexual orientation and gender identity are causes of discrimination.

“A movement has been formed called RD es de Todes, it is made up of activists and members of the LGBT community who do not want this Penal Code to be approved as is. With TRANSSA we have exhausted legal processes hand in hand with the Observatory for Human Rights of Trans People, so that the Senate understands that rights are being violated. What we carried out with the Observatory was a preventive protection action before the Superior Administrative Court so that the Senate does not approve it, while the movement, RD es de Todes, encourages   senators to raise awareness. We are also doing visibility work with the media and the Inter-American System to create pressure so that the Senate does not approve the reform,” expressed King.

The human rights activist and lawyer, Juan Alberto Francisco, explained that from the legal point of view, senators must understand that including sexual orientation in Article 187 of the Penal Code does not imply any conflict with national legislation, including the Constitution, since sexual orientation is already included in other laws such as the Code of Criminal Procedure, which says  that there can be no discrimination against judges or officials of the Public Prosecutor’s Office on the basis of racial prejudice, sexual orientation, among others.

Francisco commented that, unfortunately, in the Senate there is also a strong influence of conservative and anti-rights groups. In addition, even if the Senate modifies the Penal Code based on the demands raised, it must return to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.

From Race and Equality, we join the concern of activists and the LGBTI+ community of the Dominican Republic regarding the Penal Code reform, and we call on the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and the Executive branch to take into account the obligations of the State in the field of human rights, especially with regard to guaranteeing non-discrimination.

Race and Equality celebrates the adoption of the UN resolution for the protection of african people and afro-descendants against police violence

Washington DC, July 15, 2021 – The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) celebrates the adoption, by consensus, of Resolution A/HRC/47/L.8 Rev.1, which aims to promote and protect African and Afro-descendants against excessive use of public force. This resolution was voted on at the 47th  General Assembly of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HRC47), in which Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented her report on the subject, calling on member states to dismantle systemic racism and end police violence. This ruling is a historic step towards reforming systemic police brutality against the black population.

The Resolution establishes an international mechanism of independent experts to promote transformative changes to justice and racial equality. This mechanism should be composed of three experts with experience in law enforcement and human rights, who will be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, under the guidance of the High Commissioner. To this end, the mechanism must work closely with experts from international bodies and treaties.

Additionally, this same mechanism will be responsible for investigating the responses of governments to peaceful protests against racism and all international human rights violations, as well as contribute to accountability and reparation of victims. The mechanism will be presented to the UN Council annually, together with the High Commissioner, who will also present an annual report, to be declared at its 51st session in June 2022.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the adopted Resolution recognizes the legacy of slavery, colonialism, and the transatlantic slave trade of African peoples. This recognition dialogues with the 21-year-old Durban Conference, whose Durban Declaration and program of action cite the link between the past, present and future, recognizing that Afro-descendants continue to be victims of the consequences of slavery, the slave trade and colonialism. Thus, both documents call for the former colonial powers to assume the consequences of colonization and its impacts on today’s black population around the world.

In presenting her report, Bachelet reiterated that, “no state has taken full responsibility for the past or the current impact of systemic racism,” thus confirming the urgent need for measures to ensure an end to impunity and discriminatory policies. Thus, the promotion of racial justice and equality pervades the adoption of reparatory policies against systemic racism in Western nations affected by colonialism

In view of this resolution, we also praise the importance of human rights organizations and defenders who are part of the anti-racist struggle. Through their advocacy work, the committee against racial discrimination, the rapporteur on racism and the working group on Afro-descendants have made numerous recommendations to the UN system for the protection of human rights.

Towards a Global Transformative Agenda

The implications of Resolution A/HRC/47/L.8/Rev.1 of the Human Rights Council adopted by the UN are the results of a historical demand of the black population around the world. Michelle Bachelet’s mandate research under Resolution 43/1, provides concrete recommendations on the measures needed to ensure access to justice, accountability, reparation for excessive use of force, and other human rights violations against the black population. The case of George Floyd in the US brought to light racial debate versus police violence on a global level. Therefore, investigating the violent responses of governments towards peaceful protests against racism and supporting the victims of human rights violations was made as an urgent response from international mechanisms.

That said, the attack on democracy by the States is carried out as an attempt to weaken both the anti-racist struggle and the guarantee to fundamental rights. Therefore, among the pillars of reparations to African and Afro-descendant peoples is the establishment of independent monitoring mechanisms and standardized methods to report and review the use of force. Furthermore, data should be published and broken-down by race or ethnic origin of the victims, highlighting the racial profile, the cause of deaths and serious injuries that are related to the maintenance of order, and subsequent prosecutions and convictions.

Statement on Police and Political Violence in Brazil

On the occasion of the UN’s HRC47, Race and Equality with Brazilian and international human rights organizations, denounced the ongoing police and political violence in Brazil as a result of systemic racism. The neglect of the Brazilian government in the face of constant allegations of human rights violations, both in the political sphere and in the public and private spheres, highlights how the structure that supports the maintenance of racist practices is ingrained in its institutions, especially in those in which the state seeks to impose order through violence—the police institution.

Thus, Race and Equality in partnership with the Marielle Franco Institute (IMF), IMADR and Minority Rights, [1] denounced police violence against the black population in Brazil. The statement, delivered by Anielle Franco, Executive Director of the IMF, urges the United Nations to establish an independent and impartial mechanism within the police forces that will help ensure accountability and respect for human rights standards and ensure that all cases of disproportionate use of force are investigated. In addition, the statement highlighted the recent cases of the Chacina do Jacarezinho, in which the excessive use of police force resulted in the brutal murder of 25 black youths in Jacarezinho, a favela in Rio de Janeiro; and the case of Kathleen Romeu, a 24-year-old pregnant black girl, shot dead during an illegal police operation in the Lins Vasconcelos Complex, also a favela in Rio de Janeiro.

In another complaint to the UN Council, Race and Equality and The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Mundo), the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites, Transsexuals and Intersexes (ABGLT) [2] was to denounce not only police violence, but also political violence that has haunted, delegitimized and silenced the Brazilian LGBTI+ population. The statement highlighted the case of Luana Barbosa, a black woman, mother and lesbian, brutally murdered by police in 2016, whose case was mentioned in Bachelet’s report. In addition, the implications of systemic racism traversed by sexism, makes the LGBTI+ population hostage not only of police brutality, which disrespects its gender identities in a violent way, but also hostage to the anti-gender agenda promoted by the current government, already institutionalized in the promotion of hate speech and closure of specific public policies that serve the LGBTI+ population.

Thus, it is worth remembering that the brutality of police violence in Brazil disproportionately affects the racialized population and people who express different genders. With the promotion of a state security policy that aims to eliminate these bodies, the system relies on the racist and LGBTIphobic structures and commands an eye-catching necropolitical project aimed at an agenda of ethnic-racial cleansing, promoting the genocide of the black population. Presented as a fait accompli by the government to disregard the injunction of the Supreme Court (STF) that restricts police operations in the city’s favelas during the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in more than 800 people killed by police since June 2020.

Responses from the States in the Region

In response to the complaints, the Brazilian state lamented the deaths cited by the High Commissioner’s report, making itself available to continue cooperating with the UN. Furthermore, the state informed that the justice system is investigating cases and intends to work on systemic responses and proposes to work specifically on human rights education for public authorities.

The Colombian government on the other hand, questioned the data presented on the murders of Afro-Colombian leaders and people during the National Strike, thus demanding that they be verified. In this way, it sought to delegitimize the protests that took place, emphasizing that the State does not tolerate violence by public servants that violate human rights— facts that can be proven both by media footage and by the constant denunciations of aggressions and deaths.

Race and Equality urges the States in the region to fully cooperate with the UN mechanism created to end impunity for racialized state violence; ensure accountability and remedies; and confront the roots of racism. In the case of Colombia, we express concern about the government’s negative response and our hope that the Colombian authorities will investigate and publicize human rights violations and killings against Afro-descendant defenders amid the National Strike protests.

As for Brazil, we hope that the State will follow up on investigations and on a human rights cooperation policy aimed at ending police violence and impunity for those responsible. We emphasize that Brazil needs to effectively implement the Inter-American Convention against Racism. Thus, we reaffirm our commitment to monitoring human rights violations by States and ensuring the implementation of this Resolution by the UN mechanism, so that it can work together with special procedures to strengthen accountability in the administration of racial justice. Finally, we believe that it is essential that the UN can ensure the participation of Afro-descendant peoples and communities in the formulation and implementation of States’ responses to systemic racism.

 

[1] Access the pronouncement: https://bit.ly/3yXYcfO (available only in English)
[2] Access the pronouncement: https://bit.ly/3r9WhC4 (available only in English)

Inter-American Court decision in the case of Vicky Hernández and others vs. Honduras: an unprecedented ruling for the region’s trans community

Washington ,D.C., July 1, 2021.– On June 28, 2021, as the LGBTI+ community celebrated its struggle for human rights worldwide, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights released its decision in the case Vicky Hernández and others vs. Honduras. The decision is only the Court’s fifth ruling on LGBTI+ rights and its second on the rights of trans people. The Court decided, for the first time, that the rights of trans and travesti women are protected under the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belem do Para). The Court also ordered the State of Honduras to implement a law on gender identity within two years, an unprecedented reparations order for the region.

Vicky Hernández was a trans woman, sex workers, and human rights defender who was killed in 2009 during Honduras’ coup d’état. On June 28, 2009, a state of emergency was ordered amidst the unrest of the coup. According to witnesses, that day, police attempted to arrest Hernández and other women who were outside pursuing sex work. The women fled, and the next day Hernández was found dead. Her death came amidst many arbitrary detentions and homicides that accompanied fierce protests in the context of the coup.

Among the Court’s findings is that Honduras suffers from “a context of continuous violence against LGBTI people dating back at least to 1994” that worsened, particularly for trans women pursuing sex work, during the 2009 coup. The Court pointed out that the Organization of American States (OAS) has expressed concern about violence and discrimination against LGBTI+ people in the region since 2008, emphasizing that this population lacks social visibility and protection across the Americas.

The Court emphasized that even before Hernández’s death, she suffered multiple violent attacks at the hands of the police. Citing Claudia Spellmant Sosa, director of the Color Rosa Collective, it wrote that Hernández had approached the Collective multiple times to report arbitrary detentions and physical attacks. The Court held the State responsible for these abuses, for the context of unaccountable police control over public spaces during the coup, for the situation of generalized abuses against LGBTI+ people in Honduras, and for violence and discrimination by the police against trans women.

The State of Honduras accepted some responsibility, acknowledging failures in the investigation of Hernández’s death that violate its obligations under Article 8.1 (judicial guarantees) and Article 25 (legal protection) of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights. The Court made several additional points regarding the State’s responsibility, including the unmet need to account for Hernández’s gender identity, her work as an activist, and the possible role of state agents in her death during its investigation. The Court reiterated its findings in Gutiérrez Hernández and others vs. Guatemala and Azul Rojas Marín and other vs. Perú, which discuss gender stereotypes and their impact on the actions of public officials.

Finally, the Court’s decision lays out standards on trans people’s and people of diverse gender identities’ right to a name, stating that “States must respect, and guarantee to every person the possibility of registering, changing, rectifying, or adapting, their name and other essential components of their identity such as image and reference to sex or gender, without interference from public authorities or third parties.” This decision opens the doors for more States to guarantee meaningful rights to gender identity.

Race and Equality welcomes and celebrates this ruling as a historic victory. It not only names a State as responsible in the murder of a female trans sex worker and rights defender, it also includes reparations orders that, if implemented, will mark an important advance in the recognition and protection of LGBTI+ rights in Honduras and in the rest of the region.

Race and Equality applauds the Court’s decision, especially its reparations order requiring the implementation of a gender identity law and the collection of disaggregated data on violence against LGBTI+ persons including variables of “ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, health status, age, and class or immigration or economic status.” We hope that the ruling will become a reference as civil society demands justice in cases of violence against LGBTI+ people throughout the region. We are confident that this ruling will be a tool for civil society to identify patterns of violence and discrimination against the LGBTI+ population and seek justice and reform. For states, it has great potential to advance policies and laws that advance the rights of LGBTI+ people.

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