International Trans Day of Remembrance: Remembering and reaffirming the struggle for equality and justice

International Trans Day of Remembrance: Remembering and reaffirming the struggle for equality and justice

Washington, D.C., November 20th, 2020.- On November 20th, International Day of Trans Remembrance, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) remembers the trans people who have been killed around the world, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the majority of such killings take place according to civil society reports. Race and Equality spoke with six trans activists from across the region who keep the memory of those killed alive and carry on the struggle for equality and justice.

An unimaginable reality

Brandy Carolina was 32 years old when she was stabbed to death by a man in the La Chinita neighborhood of Barranquilla, Colombia. Brandy was known as an extrovert who dreamed of earning enough money to buy a house for her mother, but she was killed for being a trans woman before she could make her dream a reality. Her death and the hateful motives behind it were reported by organizations that defend the rights of Colombians with diverse sexualities and gender identities.

“She never expressed fear beforehand, she was confident in herself, and really, nobody expects to die, it comes suddenly and where you don’t expect it,” said Andra Hernández, a representative of the Boyacá LGBTI Network and a member of Femidiversas. However, Andra pointed out that La Chinita was also the site of two murders in the months before Brandy’s death: the killing of a trans woman on April 16th, and the murder of a lesbian woman on March 26th. “We didn’t expect that someone so close to us would meet the same fate, at the hands of a society that doesn’t respect diversity and difference. You can never be prepared for a death, much less being murdered for being trans,” she said.

Every year, in the lead-up to Trans Day of Remembrance, the international organization TransRespect Against Transphobia publishes a detailed report on the killing of trans and gender-diverse people around the world. This year’s report reveals that between October 1st, 2019 and September 30, 2020, there were 350 such murders. 82% occurred in Latin America, with Brazil (152 murders),[1] Mexico (45), and Colombia (16)[2] atop the list of countries with the most killings.

Dying two times

Santiago Balvin, a non-binary trans-masculine activist from Peru, affirmed the importance of commemorating trans people who have been killed. According to Santiago, these victims continue to suffer discrimination and erasure after their deaths: “There is a feeling of frustration because you can’t do anything – their families don’t recognize their names, the media does not report about their identity correctly, it’s very painful when your sister’s death is treated this way and it keeps happening with impunity.”

Santiago also emphasized the importance to Peru’s LGBTI community of marking the Tarapoto Massacre, also known as the Night of the Gardenias, a targeted killing of transgender people on May 31st, 1989 that is recognized as the worst hate crime against transgender people in Peru’s history. According to Santiago, Peruvian civil society organizations have recorded five murders of transgender people in 2020.

Victoria Obando, a Nicaraguan human rights activist and former political prisoner, told Race and Equality that for her, Trans Day of Remembrance is a day to honor the struggle for trans rights, a struggle in which most of those killed had participated during their lives. “We live in a society that does not recognize us as part of society. It’s a tragedy what the trans population has to go through, especially trans women. They don’t recognize that we are also human beings,” she said.

Nicaragua does not have reliable data about violence against trans people, a failure which Victoria links to the broader socio-political crisis affecting the country. She also denounced the tendency to sideline trans activists in discussions about how to return democracy to the country. “Some people think in terms of categories like ‘special topics’ and see trans rights as something secondary to be kept in a box. As an activist, I have had to fight for acceptance; some people underestimate my abilities because of my identity,” she said.

Exclusion and impunity

Athiany Larios Fonseca, a Nicaraguan trans woman living in exile in Costa Rica, recalls one of the first times she encountered anti-trans discrimination. “My friend and her partner were attacked with stones outside her house; she later asked me why people treat us so badly, and I started to cry. People attack us and even kill us because of this hate, because we are not a woman or a man according to their biological rules,” she told Race and Equality.

Christian King, an activist with TRANSSA in the Dominican Republic, explained that Trans Day of Remembrance “is about recognition and reaffirming our trans companions who have lost their lives to discrimination, transphobia, and prejudices that come from a lack of political will or public policies that protect trans rights and penalize discrimination.”

In the Dominican Republic, the Observatory on the Human Rights of Trans People has registered 49 hate crimes against trans women, of which only 5 have been tried and led to sentences against the perpetrators. Along with TRANSSA, the Observatory advocates for a national Law on Equality and Non-Discrimination, a Law on Gender Identity, and the full implementation of the National Human Rights Plan.

The state’s responsibility

Bruna Benevides, a leader of the National Association of Travestis and Transsexual People (ANTRA)[3] in Brazil, stated that violence against trans people stems from a long historical process by which trans people are rendered invisible, denying them their most basic rights. Bruna placed the blame squarely at the foot of the state, which has failed to respond to trans people’s needs. “We see a growing neoliberal trend around the world, leading to fascism. The specter of “gender ideology” and the belief that trans people, women, and Black people must continue to be subordinated are central to this trend,” she added.

Bruna also emphasized the ways in which COVID-19 has exacerbated violence against trans people, with inequality, unemployment, hunger, and social exclusion all worsening during the pandemic. As TransRespect’s report makes clear, the pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on trans people, particularly trans people who are also excluded from society because they are women, Black or another racial minority, sex workers, migrants, young people, or poor.

Bruna went on: “Sadly, the lack of action and the lack of attention to trans people, the way that we are treated as invisible, leaves us without any state assistance. As a result, we are more vulnerable to violence. This is part of a broader logic that decides who can be killed, who can be discarded, who is not part of the hegemonic structure and can be exterminated easily. We are the country with the most killings of trans people in the world, and this year we are at the top of the ranking once again.”

On International Trans Day of Remembrance, Race and Equality calls on all states to remember their obligation to protect and promote the rights of all people without discrimination. Faced with a worldwide crisis of violence and murders against trans people, we offer the following recommendations:

  • States should adopt the necessary laws and policies to guarantee recognition, respect, and inclusion for people with diverse sexualities and gender identities
  • States should establish special mechanisms to respond to acts of violence against LGBT people, leading to full investigations, sanctions for those responsible, and guarantees of non-repetition
  • States should utilize official channels and resources to educate the population about sexual diversity and gender identity in order to promote societal recognition and respect for LGBTI people and their rights

[1] Data recorded by ANTRA, a Brazilian LGBTI advocacy organization

[2] Civil society organizations based in Colombia reported an additional 14 cases, for a total of 30

[3] Travesti is a Portuguese term for a person who was assigned male at birth, but who identifies and self-expresses as female, with or without any related medical interventions.

Lesbian Resistance Collective creates project to map the socio-cultural situation and emotional state of lesbian and bisexual women in Rio’s Maré Favela Complex

In hopes of presenting the daily experiences of lesbian and bisexual women from the slums, specifically those who live in the Maré Favela Complex in Rio de Janeiro, the Lesbian Resistance Collective of Maré created a project to map the socio-cultural and emotional situation of lesbian and bisexual women.  The project was organized by Beatriz Adura Martins and Dayana Gusmão (Read: https://bit.ly/2TDB5ES), and the research was carried out in partnership with the Institute of Psychology at the Federal Fluminense University (UFF) between November 2019 and June 2020. The mapping project is available for download on the Metanoia Editora website, run by lesbian women Léa Carvalho and Malu Santos. [1]

Their experiences were shared within Espaço Casulo, or Cocoon Space in English, where the therapeutic group took place, as well as in other social spaces used by the collective, allowing the mapping to take place alongside this region’s residents, rather than somewhere distant from their everyday realities. Before the research began, the psychology students leading it first learned about the situations that permeate lesbian and bisexual experiences within the favelas by exploring the realities of the Maré Favela Complex in person. From this exploration, fundamental questions were born that now form the mapping project.

The document aims to register and denounce the scarcity of information on lesbian favela experiences, particularly non-violent ones, seeing as hegemonic representations of favelas remit the violence and abandonment of public power. “Generally, these surveys only deal with middle-class lesbian women and/or those ‘on track,’ and the reality of lesbians in the favelas ends up being ignored. For this reason, the idea of ​​the mapping project is to affirm these existences in Maré and not to tell them how they should be,” explains Beatriz Adura [2]. Thus, she presents the question: how can numbers and surveying serve to chart subjective experiences?

Based on these reflections, the organizers affirm that this is pioneer research, as they know of no other socio-cultural and emotional mapping of lesbians and bisexuals within Brazilian favelas. With this, they hope to extend the discussion to many other mapping projects about these women’s realities across the country. The organizers emphasize that the plurality of “lesbianalities” needs to be made visible, as research reflects that, even in Maré, there are unique differences between their realities and those of other women. As  outlined in their objectives, the mapping intends to influence the construction of public policies that consider the specific lived experiences of lesbian and bisexual women from these communities, as well as to open debate and produce conviviality that contributes to the elimination of social marginalization that lesbians face in the Maré favelas.

Eight out of the 16 total favelas within the complex were included in the mapping project. The 40-question long questionnaire obtained a total of 59 respondents who answered questions about race, housing, maternity, religion, basic sanitation, and family relationships, among others. Having a majority of university student respondents, the project highlights the importance of community college entrance exams in Maré.  Looking at questions related to gender, researchers noted that these questions are more advanced academic questions. Gender is not a common topic that is considered in the daily lives of these women, so much so that 20% chose not to answer these questions and three designated themselves as non-binary.

Regarding race, 70% declared themselves to be non-white, a fact that the organizers see as vital to creating public policies that contemplate the reality of the favelas, as, generally, these surveys focus on the perspectives of white and middle-class lesbian women. More specifically, 47.5% declared themselves Black; 28.8%, white; 20.3%, brown; 3.4%, Indigenous; and no person claimed to be Asian. “We draw attention to the importance of specific surveys on methods of favela sociability that often do not appear in the statistics of generic surveys, always leaving the favela population destined to talk about their problems and violence. Lesbians living in the favelas of Maré exist and are mostly Black, brown, and Indigenous, representing 71.2% of this population,” the report indicates.

In regard to violence, the interviewees said they felt safer and more comfortable within the favela to express their sexuality, as they have already suffered attacks outside of it. With this, the research reveals that domestic violence is something that characterizes the daily life of lesbians in Maré. Many of them have already been referred by family members to some sort of conversion therapy [3] based on religious practices.  In this sense, this data reflects how the advancement of the conservative agenda and the growth of neo-Pentecostal churches in the region influence the situation of violence and the denial of lesbian existence. For these women, psychological violence represents twice as much oppression as physical violence, resulting in 70% of them declaring that they have no religion.

Given this scenario, the organizers explain that uniting the of lesbians in Maré was important for the construction of research, however, this was only the first stage. At the moment, the Lesbian Resistance Collective of Maré is looking for sponsorship for the second phase of the mapping project in order to cover more favelas throughout the complex. Few financial resources, the lack of technological material and even the difficulty in access to internet, made the project difficult to complete, not mention the COVID-19 pandemic that delayed the end of their research.

“Police violence was another factor that made research difficult. At various times when we were able to mobilize women to answer the questionnaire, police operations were taking place. Militarization only caused damage. For this reason, this research is done from a perspective of demilitarization of the favela and people’s lives. It is necessary to create a territory of care, of life production and not of control,” says Dayana Gusmão. [4]

The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human rights congratulates all involved in the elaboration of the dossier and supports all research that affirms the favela as a place of knowledge production. In this sense, we recommend that the Brazilian State:

1 – Create public policies that contemplate the diversity and intersectionality of lesbian women from slums;

2 – Undertake policies that aim to demilitarize slums, not only during the pandemic, but as a continual local policy;

3 – Implement the IACHR’s recommendations from its report on Violence against LGBTI people (2015) regarding actions to analyze and assess the prevalence of violence against lesbian and bisexual women: adopt specific measures to prevent and investigate this type of violence with a differential approach that considers power relations at the intersection of sex, gender, sexual orientation and gender expression [4]

 

[1] Access the mapping project: https://bit.ly/2TDB5ES

[2] Speeches presented during the launch of mapping project on YouTube at the Maré Museum, which took place on October 17th.

[3] Access the report on Conversion Therapies by the UN IESOGI, Victor Madrigal-Borloz: https://undocs.org/A/HRC/44/53

[4] IACHR. Violence against LGBTI people. 2015, p. 311, par. 69. Available at: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/violencelgbtipersons.pdf

The launch of the report “What is the color of the Invisible?” calls on the Brazilian State to produce data and recognize the racial agenda of the LGBTI population

“Race and Equality wants to give a space to voices that denounce the human rights violations of the Black LGBTI population to the Brazilian State.” With these words, Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), began the event to launch the report What is the color of the Invisible? The human rights situation of the Afro-LGBTI population in Brazil.  The event allowed Race and Equality to reaffirm its commitment to the Afro-LGBTI population in Brazil. Written by Isaac Porto, LGBTI Program Officer in Brazil for Race and Equality, and coordinated by Zuleika Rivera, LGBTI Program Officer at Race and Equality in Washington D.C., the report calls on the Brazilian State to provide public data on the situation of this specific community in Brazil and to recognize the racial agenda from an intersectional perspective.

 Panel 1: Violence and Access to Justice for the Afro-LGBTI Population

Recalling the importance of Black Awareness Month in Brazil, Carlos Quesada moderated the debate by highlighting the report’s role in making the Afro-LGBTI experience visible, which is often absent from the State’s political agenda. Opening the panel, the author Isaac Porto, shared how the report’s writing trajectory connected with his life story and, like his, many other stories that have also been marked by racism and LGBTIphobia, forms of oppression that simultaneously make these experiences invisible.

Porto indicated that the objective of the report is “to encourage the racialization of discussions about LGBTI lives in the country and, thus, to verify the specific impacts of racism on the lives of this group of people.”

“It should be mentioned that, as of now, the report is not a finalized document because there is no pretense to present arguments and conclusions that form some sort of verdict that declares what the human rights situation experienced by this population is and end any discussions that identify alternative paths to follow. On the contrary: we do not believe that, in the fight for human rights, it is possible to reach a final conclusion. To fight for rights is to always be at a starting point. It is to never to stop moving forward.”

Bruna Benevides, Secretary of Political Articulation of the National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA), emphasized that the merit of the document is that confronts the LGBTI movement and brings to it an intersectional discussion around race and LGBTI people. “That is why the dossier is symbolic and representative, because it demonstrates the importance and urgency of organizing ourselves collectively,” she said, highlighting the importance of building a collective political agenda.

Trans activist Gilmara Cunha denounced the invisibility of this population, especially when it comes to the Afro-LGBTI population living in Brazilian slums. “The report gives visibility to what is invisible in our country and to our leaders, in addition to denying our existence at the national level, it is also denied at a territorial level. We are pleading for existence that is denied to us all the time,” she explains. Washington Dias, Coordinator of the Afro-LGBT Network, states that the violence to which the Black Brazilian LGBTI population is subjected to is linked to historical characteristics of structural racism, and the absence of data is a result of this racism.

Livia Casseres, Coordinator of Racial Equity for Rio de Janeiro’s Public Defender’s Office, stressed the large gap in data production within the country and acknowledged the delay in the normative plan that accounts for the absence of rights that modulate racism. “The report shows how we are advancing in ways of producing citizenship in Brazil alongside LGBTI organizations, which is a form of confronting the coloniality of the legal system,” she claimed, celebrating the launch of the dossier.

Closing the first panel, artist and poet MC Carol Dall Farra presented an artistic intervention, bringing light and visibility to the multiple experiences of Blackness in Brazil.

Panel 2: Social Rights of the Black Population

Zuleika Rivera, the panel’s moderator, highlighted the importance of discussing the discrimination that Afro-LGBTI people face in access to health, education and work, specifically mentioning the difficulties of transgender people. As an example, she cited the Escola Sem Partido [1] project, which proposes to prevent discussions on racism, misogyny and LGBTIphobia in the field of education, advancing a conservative government agenda. Therefore, in her opinion, the report is an important milestone in the fight for LGBTI rights.

Presenting the second part of the document, Isaac Porto draws attention to the myth of racial democracy in Brazil, which has been denounced by the Afro-Brazilian movement for decades. The myth of racial democracy has marked the ideology of whitening, according to which white values ​​are unique and universal, forging the construction of society as a whole. With this, Porto reiterated the urgency to racialize reflections on the human rights of the LGBTI population, emphasizing that the differences between Black and white LGBTI experiences become more astonishing when comparing those of cis and trans people.

“It is clear that Black LGBTI people are the most affected in terms of murders in Brazil, and are the preferred targets of police violence, also facing more difficulties in access to justice, healthcare, education and work. Thus, it is essential to strengthen Brazilian organizations and activists work so that they have the necessary conditions to make the human rights situation of the LGBTI population in Brazil more visible, as well as the ways in which they have resisted the most diverse and perverse violations,” he commented.

Leonardo Peçanha, a Black trans man and activist at the Brazilian Institute of Transmasculinities (Ibrat) and the National Forum of Black Travestis and Transsexuals (FONATRANS), emphasized the issues in access to healthcare for Afro-LGBTI people. He stressed that there are many trans men who are getting pregnant and face gynecological treatments that are reinforced by misogynistic beliefs. Among these beliefs affecting Black trans men, is the myth that Black people have a higher pain tolerance, which is only one of the many consequences of racism.

Janaína Oliveira, Administrative Coordinator of the Afro-LGBT Network, believes that being Black in Brazil means that even the death of the Black population needs to be debated constantly because in Brazil Black people first have to fight for their lives, and then fight for their rights. “Launching this report is not only creating international visibility, but also making the Brazilian population aware of our invisibility. It is a document that brings our lack of access and treatment by the State to our bodies. The report allows us to think about public policies that generate equal conditions of access for the Black Brazilian LGBTI population” she commented.

Alessandra Ramos, President of Instituto Transformar Shelida Ayana, denounced that access to healthcare is not guaranteed on an equal basis to trans people, who are often received with laughter and presented with more barriers when searching for healthcare options. These situations prove that it is necessary to recognize the specific rights of the trans population. “It is important that to know that trans people are the most affected when we talk about the intersectionality of gender and race. These people do not have full enjoyment of their rights, and because of this, the report is a milestone,” she explained.

Concluding the discussion, the UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (IE SOGI), Victor Madrigal-Borloz, celebrated the completion of the report and its role in strengthening the construction of public policies on access to healthcare, work and justice. Madrigal-Borloz believes that “the report presents the different identities within the LGBTI movement and the need to recognize these agendas is through the racialization of discussion. The report connects social identities and the importance of occupying political spaces.” With this, the IE SOGI affirmed his mandate’s commitment to continuing its work from a racial perspective.

In light of the research and debate generated between several LGBTI civil society organizations that participated in the construction of the report, Race and Equality concludes the document presenting recommendations to the Brazilian State, international human rights organizations, civil society and other government agencies, of which we highlight:

1 – The ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance, as well as the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance.

2 – The establishment of a plan to combat LGBTIphobic violence in Brazil, through intersectoral action that establishes unified guidelines to combat LGBTIphobia and racism.

3 – That the Public Ministry of Labor carry out specific campaigns against discrimination against the Afro-LGBTI population in order to guarantee fair criteria for selection, promotion, wages and working conditions.

4 – That the necessary support be given to civil society organizations that are engaged in the production of data concerning the murder of LGBTI people, with the guarantee that they will not find unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles for their proper functioning, and that their work will be respected by government officials.

Download the report in English: https://bit.ly/3cil69J 

Download the report in Portuguese and Spanish: http://bit.ly/3evTMnm

Did you miss our launch? Watch: http://bit.ly/350lGF5

 

[1] The Movement Escola Sem Partido was created in 2004 by lawyer Miguel Nagib. Generally speaking, the movement demands a supposed “neutrality” for teachers, limiting them from giving their opinions in the classroom and restricting encouragement of political participation.  In May of 2014, Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of Jair Bolsonaro, then a state representative for Rio de Janeiro, asked Nagib to write a bill entitled Escola Sem Partido. Right after that, his brother Carlos Bolsonaro, a councilman for the city of Rio de Janeiro, presented a bill of the same type in the state capital. From there, these bills spread across the country. From 2014 to August of 2019, 121 bills of this type had already been presented in state and municipal legislative chambers in Brazil.  Source: O Globo. Anúncio de suspensão garantiu patrocinador secreto ao movimento Escola Sem Partido. November 8, 2019. Available at: https://oglobo.globo.com/sociedade/educacao/anuncio-de-suspensao-garantiu-patrocinador-secreto-ao-movimento-escola-sem-partido-24068869

Lesbian Rebellions: encounter of lesbian voices from Brazil and Colombia

“Lesbians against war! Lesbians against capitalism! Lesbians against racism! Lesbians against neoliberal terrorism!” It was with these words of liberation that on February 2007, during the 7th Forum of Feminist Lesbians from Latin America and the Caribbean, October 13 was anointed the day of Lesbian Rebellions (1).  During this meeting of anti-patriarchal struggle, with close to 200 feminist lesbian women from various countries, the General Assembly of the Forum decided to collectively honor the 1st Regional Forum of Feminist Lesbians which took place in Mexico, on October 13, 1987.

According to Angelina Marín, lesbian feminist activist of the collective Moiras, October 13 was consecrated as witch day and also represents the day of the arrival of the colonizers to indigenous lands. Marín pronounced this during her speech in Santiago, Chile’s city square, in a meeting with other lesbian feminists to celebrate this day (2). The day rallies feminist lesbian collectives and organizations around the region to celebrate lesbian existence through art and culture as an act of rebellion against the oppressions imposed by a patriarchal system that oppresses the existence of those that defy a cis-heteronormative society.

To honor these women’s bodies who persist and resist the erasure of their identities and their political expressions, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) invited lesbian women from Brazil and Colombia to share their voices, views and experiences on the meaning of this day and the challenges they face in their countries. Know their rebellious stories.

Colombia

 For María Vélez, an activist from Caribe Afirmativo, “this 13th of October is a day to remember and thank our older lesbian sisters for the struggle they began years ago. From naming, to self- recognition, to cohabitation of same-sex couples—these were the first steps so that today we can enjoy the recognition of these rights.”

María draws attention to the fact that lesbian rebellions pose challenges, especially in a country marked by an armed conflict like Colombia. These are adversities that make lesbian women constantly experience situations of intimate private violence, forced displacement, gang rape and forced pregnancy. She emphasizes that because it is a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country, in all these indigenous and Black identities, structural racism and machismo are embedded.

“Therefore, being indigenous and LGBTI or Afro-LGBTI, we face oppression inside our own communities and a particular type of violence in each territory. When you are a lesbian and Afrodescendant the violence takes a particular form related to the exotic nature of our identity and the sexualization of our bodies as Black women. Society considers that if you are a Black woman then you must be heterosexual, otherwise it does not suit us.”

Sami Arazabaleta, an activist from the NGO Somos Identidad, highlights the importance of lesbian women recognizing themselves as sexual beings that admire their own bodies outside of the heteronormative and machista norms. “Lesbian Rebellions are a necessary call to make lesbians visible, we refuse to continue being invisible from the “homosexual” global norm. We have learned that what is not named does not exist. A Lesbian Rebellion is to be and to love a woman face to face.”

Lesbian Rebellions are also an act of repudiation to the binary, feminist lesbians denounce that the binary way of seeing and being in the world confines lesbians to certain stereotypes. As an act of liberation, Lesbian Rebellions proclaim that their bodies exist for themselves, in a relationship of interdependence and (co)existence with nature. Sami translates her rebellion into poetry: “lesbian love is sublime, it allows women to be loved and recognized without male approval. I am a lesbian because I love myself and I love a woman!”

Brazil

The filmmaker, Naira Évine, activist from the Levante Negro collective, reflects that the affirmation of lesbian existence within the audiovisual industry is already an act of rebellion. “Because we are going against every heterosexual and cis-heteronormative system that makes a point of erasing our existence. It makes a point that our memory is not passed from generation to generation, that our stories are not told, that our perspectives are not commented or filmed. So, when a lesbian filmmaker, and in my case, a Black woman, makes sure that all these demarcations are placed on the agenda and are also spoken about and respected, I think that is being a rebellious woman,” she says.

In 2019, Naira launched the short film “O dia em que resolvi voar” (3) (The day I decided to fly, in English) which portrays lesbian stories. She re-enforces that films made by lesbian women, that talk about lesbian experiences and that have a racialized perspective, or not, of a lesbian woman, and are Latin American, is already a great act of rebellion. The filmmaker recalls that lesbians are diverse and deserve respect, a dignified life, a healthy and well-lived life, within the scope of basic human rights. Therefore, they resist when they insist that their existences be understood and respected.

“I don’t think there is a single way to be a lesbian, a way to demonstrate your sexual orientation. Oftentimes the closet is a place of protection, it is a place of self-defense and being inside the closet does not always mean cowardice. Sometimes it is also very courageous not to talk about it; there are many cases. There is no one way to dream of a more egalitarian society. This society would be conglomeration of the existence of several lesbians, bisexuals, homosexuals and the diverse experiences of different social groups. We are surrounded by lesbian rebels! Glad this day exists! Let us celebrate more and talk more about these brave women!” she says.

Camila Carmo, professor, investigator, writer and activist of the LesbiBahia collective, stresses that when thinking about what lesbian rebellions would look like in a country like Brazil, the construction of a political project that is emancipatory for all women and that defies the heterosexual system is key. As a Black, lesbian woman, she understands that “being a lesbian woman in Brazil is dealing everyday with racism, machismo, sexism and also putting myself in those movements of re(existence) for the construction of other modes of existence.” (4)

Camila also points to the structural issues of racism, poverty and femicide that are present within the cis-heteronormative system and how that is aggravated in territories marked by dictatorships and colonial invasions. “I think that the challenge has to do with removing attacks against indigenous people and the exploitation of people, animals and nature. This reflection goes through us and defines us all, even though I say ‘I’. Because when I say ‘I’, I am also talking about us. I do not believe alliances are possible outside a collective, so our big challenge is to think about how to act collectively, respecting differences and individualities,” she analyses.

Based on the stories of these inspiring rebellious lesbians, Race and Equality supports the defiance that comes from the strengthening of affective bonds between women and nature, between human rights and disobedience as a rupture with colonialism. We re-enforce our commitment to make visible the agenda and voices that represent Latin America, in alliance with activists and civil society organizations, and will denounce violations that affect the peaceful construction of a democratic society.

Race and Equality recommends that States in the region:

  1. Make all the necessary efforts to combat lesbofobia within their society, foster actions that promote and respect sexual diversity, and combat prejudice and discrimination;
  2. Create public policies to combat lesbofobia in the educational sphere and inhibit any initiatives that seek to prohibit debates around race, gender, and sexuality in schools and universities;
  3. Sign and ratify the Interamerican Convention against Racism, Racial Discriminations and other Related Forms of Intolerance and the Interamerican Convention against all forms of Discrimination and Intolerance.

[1]  http://feministautonoma.blogspot.com/2007/10/13-de-octubre-da-de-rebeldas-lesbianas.html

[2]  http://feministautonoma.blogspot.com/2007/10/13-de-octubre-da-de-rebeldas-lesbianas.html

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYjs54EfwxY&t=26s&ab_channel=Naira%C3%89vine

[4] On the concept of (re) existences, Camila makes reference to Professor Ana Lúcia da Silva Souza.

Race and Equality urges concrete government action to combat the alarming increase in violence against LGBTI Colombians

Bogota, October 6, 2020.– The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is deeply concerned at the rising rates of violence and discrimination against the LGBTI population of Colombia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Race and Equality calls upon the Colombian government to take concrete actions to prevent, investigate, and respond to attacks and killings motivated by anti-LGBTI prejudice.

Although LGBTI Colombians have achieved important recent victories in securing their human rights, including a court ruling that the LGBTI population of the city of El Carmen (Bolívar department) was eligible to receive reparations for abuses during Colombia’s armed conflict as a collective body and another allowing a trans woman to receive women’s pension benefits, the numbers of killings, threats, and cases of harassment continue to grow exponentially.

As of September 15th, the national Ombudsman’s Office had reported 63 murders of LGBTI persons and 388 cases of violence motivated by anti-LGBTI bias. The Office stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, “prejudice and discrimination have been exacerbated, obstacles to accessing justice by reporting crimes have increased, and so have other barriers created by a lack of empathy among officials charged with assisting the population.” To date, Race and Equality has documented 61 attacks against LGBTI persons, among them discrimination in public spaces, denial of rights to health and to nutrition, physical attacks including those with weapons, harassment, threats, and murders.

On September 5th, a man aggressively accosted Bogotá mayor Claudia López, a lesbian woman, and accused her of “teaching improper things to children.” This homophobic act, which the man said he did “in the name of Jesus Christ,” reveals that a climate of discrimination and social exclusion goes beyond official institutions. Despite formal progress, there is still not widespread tolerance for sexual diversity in Colombian society, preventing true recognition and inclusion from taking root.

Alarming numbers of attacks

From January-September 2020, Race and Equality has documented 30 cases in which LGBTI people were killed or severely wounded. Most recently, the killing of Juliana, a trans woman, from gunshots fired by a soldier put the violence facing LGBTI Colombians, especially trans people, into the spotlight. Throughout the country, indicators of violence are on the rise: in Armenia (Quindío department), the Ombudsman’s office issued an official alert about dangers facing the LGBTI population on August 25th. On September 1st, the LGBTI Network in Boyacá department denounced increasing police abuses of sex workers, particularly trans women, on social media. Caribe Afirmativo (Affirmative Caribbean) recently published an open letter to the authorities in the Caribbean region demanding a response to increased murders and attacks against LGBTI people, which have doubled compared to the same period in 2019.

LGBTI leaders face particular risks

Attacks against the leaders of LGBTI organizations indicate the fierce desire by LGBTI-phobic elements to repress pro-LGBTI initiatives across the country. To date, Race and Equality has documented 8 cases of attacks, threats, and murders of LGBTI leaders.

A dramatic example took place when Aurora Iglesias, popularly known as “Zunga,” a trans leader in Florencia (Caquetá department), was threatened with a firearm in her own home and warned to stop her work in the community. On September 17th, a burned LGBTI pride flag was found in front of a leader’s home in Armenia. The home of a gay leader in El Roble (Sucre department) was burned on August 25th. In addition to the direct impacts upon the targeted victims, these acts send a threatening message designed to tamp down LGBTI activism. Incidents such as the murder of Mateo, a trans community leader, and the attempted murder of John Restrepo, a leader in LGBTI conflict victims’ activism, both of which took place in public in broad daylight, underscore the risk facing LGBTI leaders.

Police abuse of sex workers

As Colombia experiences a tense climate of protest and debate about abuses by security forces, serious rights violations committed by the police against LGBTI persons have come to light. Race and Equality has documented 12 cases in which members of the National Police were denounced for attacking trans sex workers. These cases include physical aggression, unjustified seizures of property, and attacks using police service weapons. A common pattern is for police to threaten sex workers with arrest or fines (including arrests or fines for violating quarantine), demand payment, and physically and psychologically abuse those who do not pay, as has taken place in Medellín, Caldas, and Bogotá.

In another highly concerning incident, a young gay man named Juan Luis Guzmán was found dead in a police station under suspicious circumstances. He had been brought to the station after being arrested for breaking the curfew imposed due to COVID-19.

As civil society has consistently documented, police and military forces in Colombia play a major role in reproducing patterns of discrimination and exclusion against LGBTI people. When LGBTI people seek justice by reporting the abuses they suffer, they face greater vulnerability due to a lack of LGBTI-sensitive and gender-sensitive approaches in complaint offices, police retaliations, and/or institutional cover-ups.

Race and Equality joins with Colombian civil society to denounce these violations of LGBTI people’s rights and the ongoing crisis of violence against the LGBTI population. We call upon the government to:

  1. Prioritize investigations of rights violations against LGBTI people, sanction those responsible, and combat impunity. These efforts must integrate an approach that is sensitive to sexual and gender diversity.
  2. Strengthen efforts to educate security forces, especially the National Police, on LGBTI rights; monitor their compliance with LGBTI rights; and improve internal investigations about violations of LGBTI rights to fight impunity.
  3. Ensure that LGBTI people enjoy the right to access justice without discrimination. To make this right effective, efforts to train justice sector officials on LGBTI rights, mainstream LGTBI-sensitive approaches in the justice system, and strengthen monitoring systems will be crucial.
  4. Publicly condemn acts of discrimination and violence against the LGBTI population and implement public policies to combat LGBTI-phobia among the Colombian public.

UN Independent Expert on SOGI calls for global ban on “Conversion Therapy”

Washington D.C. July 17, 2020. – On July 14, the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (IE SOGI), Victor Madrigal-Borloz, launched his report on practices of so-called “conversion therapy” in an interactive online event in Spanish and Portuguese, following his presentation to the Human Rights Council on July 7-9, where he explained the severity of these practices, and the need for a global ban to protect LGBTI people.

The event included the participation of the UN Resident Coordinator in Honduras, Alice Shackelford, and Andrés Sánchez Thorin, Deputy Representative and Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Office for Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

According to the report, “conversion therapy” is used as an umbrella term to describe interventions of a wide-ranging nature, all of which have in common the belief that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity can and should be changed. Such practices aim (or claim to aim) at changing people from gay, lesbian, or bisexual to heterosexual and from trans or gender diverse to cisgender.

In the report, Madrigal-Borloz provided examples of interventions applied to attempt conversion which include acts of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse; electrocution and forced medication; and isolation and confinement, as well as verbal abuse and humiliation. It also shows that conversion therapy puts LGBTI people through many forms of physical and mental abuse, which constitutes inhumane, cruel, and degrading treatment and can amount to torture depending on the severity of pain and suffering inflicted.  “All practices which attempt forms of conversion are inherently humiliating, degrading, and discriminatory,” he explains.

The report also examines the perpetrators, promoters, and economics surrounding these practices, showing that they are oftentimes a lucrative business for different providers worldwide.  It notes that in some places, such as Ecuador, the average monthly cost for internment in these centers can be estimated to be around $500 per month.

Leading up to this event, Madrigal-Borloz carried out a series of consultations and received inputs from different regions around the world on these practices. This included an expert meeting held at Harvard University, where over 30 experts and activists from various countries came together to discuss this important topic. The meeting, supported by the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) and the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, opened dialogue on the subject which was vital for the elaboration of the report.

During the event, the IE SOGI highlighted that “there have been norms on what is considered sexual orientation and gender identity, and those who fall outside of those norms, such as LGBTI people, suffer stigma and discrimination.”

UN Deputy Representative Andrés Sánchez confirmed that, “The report reveals that these conversion therapies are carried out in all regions of the world and by a wide range of actors and include the active participation of family members and community members. It also highlights how children are vulnerable to these practices that cause serious and irreversible damage to their well-being.”

He continued by explaining that “the description of the pain and suffering of people who have undergone these so-called conversion therapies should deeply concern the entire population and the States to ensure that there is respect and guarantees of their human rights.”

The event was livestreamed through Facebook and attendees from various countries in Latin America joined. Attendees expressed their questions, concerns, and gratitude, and acknowledged the importance of these findings for their communities and how they are the first steps towards change.

Based on the findings in his report, the Independent Expert calls for a global ban on such practices and issues the following recommendations to States:

  1. Take urgent measures to protect children and young people from practices of “conversion therapy.”
  2. Carry out campaigns to raise awareness among parents, families and communities about the invalidity and ineffectiveness of and the damage caused by practices of “conversion therapy.”
  3. Adopt and facilitate healthcare and other services related to the exploration, free development, and/or affirmation of sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
  4. Foster dialogue with key stakeholders, including medical and health professional organizations, faith-based organizations, educational institutions, and community-based organizations to raise awareness about the human rights violations connected to practices of “conversion therapy.”

Race and Equality continues to support the work of the Mandate of the Independent Expert on SOGI and joins the call for a global ban on practices of “conversion therapy.”

To learn more about the report and watch this presentation, please follow the links below:

Summary: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/SexualOrientation/ConversionTherapyReport.pdf

Full Report: https://undocs.org/A/HRC/44/53

On July 10, there was another launch event in English. Watch the English presentation here:

https://www.facebook.com/IESOGI/videos/278885676780658/?v=278885676780658

#EndConversionTherapy

Pride Month: A Time to Celebrate and Resist

This year marks fifty-one years since the Stonewall Inn riots. This year we celebrate in isolation or with social distancing measures in place; nevertheless, we celebrate and we resist. The Stonewall Inn riots empowered generations to come and galvanized the LGBTI movement around the world, it became a symbolic call to arms. Stonewall said enough is enough and the personal became political.

Fifty-one years later we have a lot to celebrate. Many countries around the world have recognized the existence of LGBTI people and have passed laws prohibiting discrimination due to sexual orientation and gender identity. Transgender people also have more rights now and can legally change their names in many countries. In addition, in many countries, LGBTI can marry the person they love regardless of their sex or gender. In fifty-one years, the LGBTI movement has accomplished many things that were only dreamed of pre-Stonewall riots.

In Latin America, this month we celebrate Costa Rica’s legalization of same-sex marriage in compliance with the Inter-American Court`s Advisory Opinion 24/17. We also celebrate Brazil’s Supreme Court decision to allow gay men and bisexual men to donate blood. The decision; however, did not include travesties and transgender women. The last decade has seen many Latin American countries pass legislation in favor of LGBTI rights. There are now seven countries in Latin America that recognize same-sex marriages or unions[1], eight countries that allow transgender people to legally change their name[2], and countless others have anti-discrimination laws in place.

However, the sexual orientation and gender identity of LGBTI people in the region is constantly questioned. The rise of fundamentalist groups and hate speech has meant our lives and achievements are also threatened. The murders of LGBTI persons exhibit a profound hate, a sort of macabre scenario, just because we deviate from the binary. LGBTI people have also not been included in any government’s response to COVID-19, even though they represent one of the most vulnerable populations and are more likely to work in the informal sector and are therefore more vulnerable. Other countries in the region implemented gender-based measures which meant transgender people and gender diverse people were discriminated against. In Brazil, in the middle of COVID-19, murders against transsexual women and travesties continue to increase[3]. The fact is that we continue to live in a cis-heteronormative, machista society that continues to silence LGBTI voices, but we resist.

Pride Month is also a month to celebrate the historical memory of the LGBTI movement around the world. We must not forget the LGBTI lives lost during war. Latin America is also a region that continues to deal with the legacy of armed conflict and LGBTI victims. In Peru, May 31 is recognized at the national day against hate crimes and is a day where the LGBTI community commemorates the LGBTI lives lost during the armed internal conflict. To this day, the exact number of people who were killed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is unknown, this was never a part of the Truth Commission’s mandate.[4] However, the armed forces and guerilla groups both instituted “cleansing campaigns” which looked to eliminate the LGBTI population in the country. The signing of the Peace Agreement in Colombia presents an opportunity to learn from Peru’s errors and include LGBTI voices in the historical memory of the armed conflict and build a post conflict society that breaks the cycle of violence against LGBTI people.

This month is a time to celebrate but also to reflect on the achievements we have made and the coming struggles. We are living in a unique moment where the structural inequalities and historical marginalization of the LGBTI community is more apparent than ever, COVID-19 is proof of that.

A post-COVID-19 world must include the LGBTI community, promote tolerance, and education –  but what does that look like for a region that is so unequal, carries a legacy of colonization, and condemns whoever is “different”?

At Race and Equality, we make the following recommendations to States:

First, States must educate the population on sexual orientation and gender identity. Many of the prejudices against the LGBTI community come from a place of ignorance and informing the population is a way to combat this. States can incorporate an LGBTI program in their public tv channels.

Second, there is an urgent need to train all public authorities, not only on sexual orientation and gender identity, but also on LGBTI rights as well. States should mandate that all public authorities receive a course on these issues and current international jurisprudence on LGBTI rights.

Third, a gender identity law is crucial for the recognition of the rights of transgender people. It opens the door to other rights, allowing them to register under their social name at the bank or school and avoid the stigma their biological name carries.

Fourthly, all States should sign and ratify the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance[5].

Finally, States need to collect disaggregated data on LGBTI people. Public policies will only work if we know where the gaps are.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-52803210

[2] https://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/trans-en-america-latina-una-poblacion-en-constante-riesgo-480934

[3] https://antrabrasil.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/boletim-2-2020-assassinatos-antra-1.pdf

[4] https://idehpucp.pucp.edu.pe/analisis/31-de-mayo-recordando-los-crimenes-de-odio-durante-el-conflicto-armado-por-ariana-jauregui/

[5] http://www.oas.org/en/sla/dil/inter_american_treaties_A-69_discrimination_intolerance.asp

Race and Equality expresses its concern and calls the IACHR to publicly denounce the serious situation of violence and discrimination the LGBTI population is facing in Colombia during the COVID-19

Bogotá, june 25, 2020 – The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) addresses the honorable IACHR to express its deep concerned regarding recent incidents of violence and discrimination against LGBT people across Colombia. These incidents raise an alarm about rising human rights violations against LGBT Colombians during the COVID-19 pandemic. LGBT Colombians are suffering not only disproportionate negative impacts of the deadly disease, but also high levels of violence because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Sharp increase in violence and killings

In Colombia’s Caribbean coastal region, 15 homicides against LGBT people have already been recorded in 2020, the highest rate ever recorded by Caribe Afirmativo, a local LGBT rights organization and partner of Race & Equality.[1] Ariadna Barrios Ojeda, a trans woman living in the city of Santa Marta (Magdalena department), was discovered dead in her home on June 13th with multiple stab wounds.[2] The next day, Brandy Carolina, a trans woman in Barranquilla (Atlántico department), was also found dead with stab wounds. The neighborhood where Brandy lived had already seen the murder of Paloma, a trans woman, and Lidia Gamero, a lesbian woman, on April 16th and March 26th of this year, respectively.[3], [4]

 LGBT Colombians have also suffered many attempted murders, such as an attack on March 24th in which two sex workers in Bogotá were stabbed in an attempt to mutilate their breasts and buttocks and chased by their attackers through the streets.[5] The two women were denied assistance by the police and were later unable to obtain any public health services or police protection.[6] On April 18th, also in Bogotá, a trans woman named Daian Nikol Villalobos was attacked with a sharp weapon as she shopped for groceries.[7] This attack took place while Bogotá was under an order of pico y género, a quarantine measure that allowed women and men to leave the house on alternating days.

Increased police abuse

 Many LGBT Colombians also suffer violence at the hands of the police. On June 22nd, police officers chased and tasered a trans woman living on the street in Tunja (Boyacá department).[8] On June 20th, members of the National Police attacked a group of trans sex workers in Bogotá, insulting them verbally and brandishing their guns.[9] These episodes evidence the historic discrimination and violence perpetrated by the National Police, who have also been extorting sex workers, physically and psychologically abusing those who refused to pay during the pandemic.[10] On May 2nd, with pico y género still underway, National Police officers were also denounced for evicting a Black trans sex worker from her home; the National Police did not offer any justification for the act.[11]

Institutional violence and an insufficient state response

Although many Colombian governmental institutions have denounced anti-LGBT violence and announced initiatives to support the LGBT population, the national response to COVID-19 has revealed ongoing exclusion of LGBT Colombians. On May 29th, the Trans Community Network reported that Alejandra, a trans sex worker who had called for an ambulance due to symptoms of COVID-19, was refused ambulance service when the crew learned that she was HIV-positive and died shortly thereafter.[12] To this date, no investigation or review of the incident has been announced.

The neglect of LGBT Colombians is also clear in the case of Estefany, known as “Chispita,” a trans woman who lived on the street in Cartagena and was HIV-positive. A disturbing video was recorded on June 13th showing Estefany lying on the ground and calling for help as she suffered a health crisis. After four hours without help and despite several calls from neighbors to the authorities, Estefany was finally brought to a hospital, but died shortly after arriving.[13]

Colombia has also neglected people’s needs and human rights within jails and prisons. On June 8th, Daniel Osorno Márquez, a 22-year-old gay man known as “Pupileto,” was found dead in an isolated cell in Bosque detention center in Barranquilla. In announcing his death, authorities stated that Daniel had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Daniel’s family and lawyer announced that they had never been informed of this diagnosis. Daniel had repeatedly reported violence, sexual abuse, and discrimination during his incarceration.[14]

These cases illustrate the urgent need for effective measures by the Colombian government to protect the LGBT community. Race & Equality calls on the State of Colombia to:

  1. Provide additional support for civil society’s and local authorities’ human rights monitoring activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. Take the necessary actions to accelerate the investigations of violent crimes against LGBT people, particularly trans women, and accelerate the legal processing of these cases to combat impunity.
  3. Ensure that public health policies, particularly emergency medicine policies, do not stigmatize, criminalize or discriminate against LGBT people, especially trans people, LGBT sex workers and people with HIV.
  4. Strengthen measures to educate and train members of the National Police and INPEC (the national penitentiary system) on human rights, particularly LGBT rights, and ensure that all human rights complaints against these bodies are thoroughly investigated.
  5. Involve affected communities, including the LGBT population, in the design and implementation of COVID-19 response measures in order to collect necessary information, ensure buy-in, avoid unintentional harms and guarantee effectiveness.
  6. Implement public policies and COVID-19 response measures that respect diversity, acknowledge LGBT people’s self-identification and incorporate intersectional analysis. We particularly urge local authorities to explore alternatives to policies such as pico y género that separate people by gender in order to avoid the risks generated for LGBT people’s rights.

Race and Equality urgently calls on the IACHR to strengthen its monitoring mechanisms on the general situation of human rights of the LGBT population in Colombia in the context of the pandemic and asks it to reiterate to the State its obligation to respect human rights, even in emergency situations, recalling that States have an obligation guarantee the rights to life, integrity and identity of its population, especially those in the highest state of vulnerability which is intensified in emergency contexts such as the one we are experiencing.

[1] https://www.elheraldo.co/lgtbi/preocupa-aumento-en-2020-de-homicidios-de-personas-lgbt-734830

[2] https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/alerta-por-crimen-de-mujeres-trans-en-costa-caribe-pese-a-cuarentena/

[3] https://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/asesinan-mujer-trans-suroriente-barranquilla/

[4] https://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/asesinato-brandy-seis-las-personas-lgbti-asesinadas-area-metropolitana-barranquilla-marco-del-aislamiento-social/

[5] https://pares.com.co/2020/03/28/a-todos-los-que-bajen-les-damos-de-baja/

[6] https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/burlas-discriminacion-y-punaladas-la-violencia-que-revela-el-pico-y-genero-articulo-917657/

[7] https://www.colombiainforma.info/entrevista-pico-y-genero-o-la-vigilancia-del-genero/

[8] https://www.facebook.com/RedLGBTIdeBoyaca/photos/a.255356325169408/577495662955471/?type=3&theater

[9] https://twitter.com/redcomunitariat/status/1274290767964581888

[10] https://www.noticiasuno.com/politica/personas-trans-de-barrio-santa-fe-en-bogota-denuncian-crueldad-y-ataques-policiales/

[11] https://twitter.com/redcomunitariat/status/1256652501996240896

[12] http://oldrace.wp/es/espanol/raza-e-igualdad-lamenta-la-muerte-de-alejandra-monocuco-mujer-trans-trabajadora-sexual-en-colombia-y-condena-actos-de-discriminacion-y-violencia-institucioan-basados-en-su-identidad-de-genero/

[13] https://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/abandono-prejuicios-del-estado-hacia-mujeres-trans-continuan-evidenciandose-cartagena/

[14] https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/muere-pupileto-en-barranquilla/

Urgent Debate on the “current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and the violence against peaceful protest”

June 17, 2020

43rd Human Rights Council Session

Statement by the International Lesbian and Gay Association

Madam President,

Black Lives Matter.

This statement is submitted by ILGA-World together with the International Institute for Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality). It draws the attention to the situation of racial injustice and police brutality that affects people of African descent including those persons within these communities with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) worldwide.

The murder of George Floyd[1] has sparked an outcry that has highlighted the structural and systemic racism that permeates the United States and has reverberated and been taken up by other communities around the world. The militarized-like response to these protests has curtailed the right to freedom of assembly and expression while repeated incidents of police brutality have continued to be denounced and reported.

Around the world, during this International Decade for the People of African Descent, afro descendant LGBTI people are killed[2] and their deaths are ignored because they are People of African Descent and have diverse SOGIESC. State actors such as the police are among the perpetrators of violence and murder of these people These actors fail in their duty to protect human rights. And in cases in which state actors are not among the perpetrators of such violence, such crimes are often not properly investigated, persecuted and punished. This leads to impunity of the perpetrators.

International human rights law must be the framework that guides States in response to acts such as these. States should look at how the administration of justice is applied and how people of African descent, including LGBTI people are disproportionally impacted by an unfair judicial system which is a direct legacy of centuries of colonialism and slavery. We welcome the letter of the UNSR on Racism and we call upon States and stakeholders alike to address the root causes of racial violence, discrimination and stigma and its intersections with SOGIESC.

Thus, we urge States to support the creation of two independent international mechanisms of inquiry on Systemic Racism and Law Enforcement in the United States of America and on the Systemic Racism in Law Enforcement, Related to Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism and we urge these mechanisms to assess how these issues intersects and are amplified due to other grounds, such as SOGIESC and gender.

I thank you, Madam President.

[1] New York Times. 8 Minutes and 46 seconds: How George Floyd was Killed in Police Custody. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html

[2] Time Magazine. Two Black Trans Women Were Killed in the Past week as Trump Revokes Discrimination. https://time.com/5853325/black-trans-women-killed-riah-milton-dominique-remmie-fells-trump/. NBC News. Black transgender man fatally shot by Florida police <https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/black-transgender-man-fatally-shot-florida-police-n1218156>. National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA). Murders and Violence against Travestis and Trans People in Brazil – 2018. <https://antrabrasil.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/murders-and-violence-against-travestis-and-trans-people-in-brazil-2018.pdf>. TGEU. <https://transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-trans-day-of-remembrance-2019/>,

LGBTI Pride Month 2020

Each year in the month of June, we come together to celebrate and recognize the lives of LGBTI people and the impact they have had around the world.  This month, known as “Pride,” was chosen to commemorate the uprising at the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in New York City.  These six days of protests were a turning point for the LGBTI movement not only in the United States, but the entire world, leading the LGBTI community to demand equal rights for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

This year, at Race and Equality, we celebrate the fifth year of our LGBTI Program, working with our partners in Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Peru to revindicate their rights and give visibility to the struggle for LGBTI rights in the region. Since the revolt at the Stonewall Inn, the LGBTI movement has seen many victories around the world. Recently, Brazil’s Supreme Court overturned a law that prevented gay and bisexual men from donating blood and Costa Rica became the first country in Central America to legalize same-sex marriage. Although progress has been made, we continue to live in a heteronormative world which continues to deny the existence of the LGBTI population.

This Pride Month, we would like to remind everyone that this is not only a time of celebration, but now, more than ever, it is a time to demand equal rights for LGBTI people as well as give visibility to their struggles and victories. Amid the ongoing protests in the United States and police brutality against the Black community, we would also like to remind everyone that the Stonewall riots began, in part, by gender diverse black people, and in order to prosper, the LGBTI movement must be intersectional.

With this in mind, Race and Equality would like to amplify the voices of different activists around Latin America that continue to suffer various human rights violations which continue to be institutionally legitimized in many States due to the lack of public policies that sanction them.

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