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

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/

 

Race and Equality launches a project to combat religious racism in Brazil

Brazil, August 18, 2021 – In order to promote religious tolerance and reduce violence and discrimination against practitioners of African-derived religions in Brazil, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is set to launch a project to combat religious racism alongside Brazilian civil society organizations. This two-year project aims to empower and strengthen Afro-Brazilian organizations so they can document cases of violence based on religious beliefs. This documentation will be used for international strategic litigation that promotes a culture of respect for religious freedom, as well as to enable the legal support necessary for victims of religious racism.

The organizations that will coordinate the project with Race and Equality include: NGO Criola, RENAFRO (National Network of Afro-Brazilian Religions and Health) and FOPAFRO (Permanent Afro-Religious Forum of the State of Pará). These three entities will be responsible for training terreiros[1] in the states of Bahia, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Among the organizations involved, Race and Equality understands that it is of paramount importance to train religious leaders on national laws that deal with racial discrimination and to document human rights violations. These entities will not only present their documentation to the local, state, and federal authorities, but also to the Inter-American System of Human Rights, the UN, and advocate for Brazil to be held internationally accountable.

Furthermore, the strengthening of community and religious leaders presents itself as a unique opportunity given that, in 2022, Brazil will be reviewed by the United Nations committee that oversees the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Therefore, the documentation and visibility of cases of religious racism in the country is beneficial so that civil society can demand and hold the Brazilian government accountable, and pressure them to fulfill their internal obligations based on their international human rights commitments.

Another point to highlight in this project is the media and lawyers who are dedicated to the issue of religious racism in Brazil. Since the media, especially newspapers and TV news reports play a key role in perpetuating negative stereotypes against African-based religions, training journalists aims to break paradigms and demystify current narratives. These paradigms and narratives, in addition to silencing the practitioners of these religions, rely on dogmas of Judeo-Christian religions. In turn, it is urgent to prepare a legal body to respond to the growing denunciations of cases of religious racism and its victims. This project also seeks to expand and promote educational programs that qualify networks of lawyers in the country.

This project’s objective includes the promotion and respect for religious freedom, as well as creating activities that contribute to a paradigm shift at national and international level. For Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality, the legacy of this project is also in its multiplier effect, for the training activities aim to create an informal human rights network to defend religious freedom in Brazil and, thus, the organizations develop autonomy to document, denounce and address human rights violations. In addition, Quesada points out that in the international scene there is a lack of knowledge regarding religious racism in Brazil.

“There is a cultural fallacy that Brazil is a country in which everyone can exercise their religious beliefs freely. However, structural racism also manifests itself in religions from burning terreiros to parents who lose custody of their children by expressing their faith. Thus, the violence manifested by religious intolerance undermines the principles of human rights. We need to make these cases visible internationally and foster awareness at the national level,” contends Quesada.

Race and Equality recognizes that religious racism is a problem that needs to be combated in Brazil with the creation of public policies and implementation of laws that have already been approved. According to data from the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, in 2019, there was an increase of 56% (356 in total) in complaints and assaults for religious intolerance, compared to 211 in 2018 [1]. Most of the victims were followers of the Candomblé and Umbanda religions [2]. In addition, Data Dial 100, a telephone line for reporting violence, shows that between 2015 and 2019, 2,712 complaints of religious violence were made in Brazil, among these communications 57.5% were of African-based religions [3].

Teaming up with Afro-Brazilian organizations, Race and Equality reaffirms its commitment to denounce and combat human rights violations. Religious intolerance violates the right to equality, freedom of belief and expression, as well as fostering actions of violence and a culture of hatred that laregely affects populations vulnerable to structural racism and LGBTIphobia. That being said, throughout this project Race and Equality will denounce cases of negligence, racism and discrimination affecting religious democracy in Brazil.

 

 

[1] Terreiro means African-inspired traditional house.

[2]https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2020/01/21/denuncias-de-intolerancia-religiosa-aumentaram-56-no-brasil-em-2019

[3] The two well-known Afro-Brazilian religious traditions are Candomblé and Umbanda. Candomblé was formed by enslaved Africans, while Umbanda was created in Brazil at the beginning of the last century. There are notable differences between the two traditions. Candomblé’s chants are performed in languages ​​of African origin, such as Yoruba or Kimbundu. While in Umbanda, they are sung mainly in Portuguese. Another difference is the practice of animal sacrifice. In Candomblé, the practice of animal sacrifice is carried out as a way of circulating the energy that animates everything in the world: axé. More than religions, these traditions reveal the social, cultural and spiritual practices on the African continent.

[4] https://www.gov.br/mdh/pt-br/acesso-a-informacao/ouvidoria/balanco-disque-100

July 25: Call on the States of the Americas to Guarantee and Protect the Rights of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women

Washington, D.C., July 25, 2021. – Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and diaspora women fight and resist everyday against systemic racism and gender-based violence in situations that in turn generate a series of human rights violations upon them and their communities. For this reason, on July 25, the region celebrates The International Day for Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women. The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) recognizes their struggles and resistance and calls upon States to adopt policies that contribute to improving the lives of these women.

The last year posed various challenges mainly due to the impact of COVID-19 in the Americas. This pandemic exposed the conditions of inequality faced by the Afro-descendant population, but mainly Afro-descendant women, including those who are heads of family households, who defend human rights, who lead social processes in their communities, who hold public office in the midst of machismo and discrimination, and those with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.

Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women’s Day has been celebrated every July 25 since 1992, the First Meeting of Afro-Latina and Afro-Caribbean women took place in the Dominican Republic. It was the starting point for the struggle in demanding their visibility and all their cultural and social contributions to the formation of States. Over the years, this date has also served to raise demands on public policies to recognize, guarantee and protect the rights of this population.

This date acquires greater relevance as we are in the middle of the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, which was declared by the United Nations, and whose objective is to promote the eradication of all social injustices suffered by people of African descent, as well as to combat prejudice and racial discrimination, and to promote and protect the human rights of all.

Fighting and resisting using art.

The struggles and resistance of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and diaspora women are in every corner of the Americas and are manifested in various ways. One of them is art, so this year, Race and Equality set out to make visible and recognize women in the region who, through different artistic expressions, share their experiences, make their demands visible, demand justice and seek to contribute to improve the living conditions in their communities.

In Colombia, La Comadre is a process of Afro-Colombian women, victims of the armed conflict, which arose within the National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES). Its objective is to make visible the disproportionate effects of the armed conflict from an intersectional approach, and thus demand from the State the design and implementation of public policies, with an approach that responds to the set of effects they have experienced— Afro-Colombian women in the context of the armed conflict.

Since La Comadre, its members have organized different strategies to make visible the struggles of black people, and especially the struggles of black women, as well as the contributions they have made to the construction and advancement of this country, says Luz Marina Becerra, President of this initiative. One of the strategies has been the creation of plays. “The purpose is to make visible all those issues that we have experienced as black women, especially sexual violence, and to that extent generate awareness, sensitize Colombian society to all these damages and the impacts that have caused war on our bodies, on our lives, on our culture, on our models of life,” she explained.

In Brazil, Virgínia Beatriz expresses her art through poetry, where she seeks answers about her descendance, she resists and denounces the collective reality of Afro-women living in the favelas. Beatriz is a historian and member of the Coletivo Resistência Lésbica da Maré, and as a black and pansexual woman, she reveals that her poems reflect her concern of the invisibility of Afro-Brazilians, but she also seeks collective victories in an attempt to reconstruct the narratives of those that were usurped by colonization.

“In this way, art has the power to give us prominence, to contribute with our voice and our body in the struggle for our rights, whether in a video on the internet where this narrative circulates to various places, or in a slam circle in the street, in some academic text or book of poetry, uniting our art in a manifestation, the protagonist is ours and this is our history,” declares the poetry slammer.

In Nicaragua, the Murals RACCS Foundation (Movimiento para la Unidad Regional del Arte Local y las Expresiones Socioculturales de la Región Autónoma del Costa Caribe Sur) works to strengthen artistic skills and creative capacities under a playful and educational method. Its Co-Director, Psychologist, Gay Sterling, considers that in an adverse context where racial discrimination prevails, “the art of muralism is an important tool to combat negative social phenomena,” to convey messages that illustrate the struggles and demands for a more equitable and just society for women of African descent.

Sterling reaffirms the cohesion and determination of people of African descent in the struggle to eradicate discrimination: “Whether we paint, dance, sculpt or make handicrafts, we shout that no matter which country or region we live in, or whether they call us Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean, African-American, we are a single-origin diaspora because genes don’t lie.”

As an organization that defends and protects the human rights of people of African descent in several countries of the Americas, Race and Equality has been observing and documenting the inequalities and human rights violations faced by Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora women. For this reason, we take advantage of the fact that, in the framework of the Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women’s Day, hundreds of activists, leaders, groups and organizations advocate for this population, to make the following recommendations to the States:

– Create and/or strengthen the projects, programs, and mechanisms needed to combat violence and discrimination affecting women of African descent in the Americas.

– Adopt, within the framework of the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, public policies that guarantee the rights of women of African descent in the region, with an intersectional approach that takes into account other determinants of their life experiences, such as sexual orientation and gender identity.

– Collect and disseminate statistics, also under an intersectional perspective, on the presence and situation of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and diaspora women in the Americas.

– Sign, ratify and implement the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance.

 

 

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)

#SOSCuba: Race and Equality Demands Respect for Life and the Right to Protest

Washington D.C., July 12, 2021.- In response to the massive protests that took place on Sunday, July 11, 2021 in different cities in Cuba, the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), states its support for them, framed in the rights to association, peaceful protest, and in the set of human rights of Cubans recognized in their Constitution, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man.

Race and Equality, therefore, condemns that – contrary to its obligation to respect life and freedom of expression – the Government has reacted by repressing the mobilizations with disproportionate use of force, arbitrary detentions, energy shut-offs, and blockages of internet services, to which can be added the declarations of President Miguel Díaz-Canel in which he called upon his supporters to “confront these protests in the streets.”

Throughout the day on Sunday, the citizen protests took place in more than fifty cities across the Island, including Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Pinar del Río, San Antonio de los Baños, Camagüey, Santa Clara, Holguín, Cienfuegos, and Guantánamo. This wave of protests, which is unprecedented in the last sixty years of Cuban history, has been motivated by the profound health crisis in the country from the Covid-19 pandemic. This past July 8, the director of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, confirmed that Cuba is the country in the Caribbean with the largest weekly number of cases. As such, in the first ten days of July, the Ministry of Public Health counted 44,546 new cases and 235 deaths.

This is in addition to a marked shortage of food and medicine, as well as severe restrictions on the exercise of civil and political rights, and to the persecution and harassment of activists, artists, and independent journalists. All of this led to thousands of people going out into the streets this Sunday to express their demands and call for solutions from the authorities. Nevertheless, from the beginning the Police tried to stop the mobilizations and censure the independent press that was covering them, including violent aggression against Ramón Espinosa, a Spanish photographer and Associated Press (AP) reporter. Furthermore, the Government has deployed to the streets an elite group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba known as “the black berets.”

Parallel to this, President Miguel Díaz-Canel made declarations in which he threatened the protesters, signaling that “they will have to pass over our corpses and we are ready for anything,” qualifying them as “mercenaries” and “counterrevolutionaries.” Therefore, on Monday – when more information about the repression on the part of the authorities circulated – Díaz-Canel, who is also First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, said that the protesters “have gotten the response they deserved.”

Activists and human rights defenders from different parts of the country shared with Race and Equality that since Sunday they are experiencing shut-offs in electricity and Internet service. They also referred to the Police, State Security, and paramilitaries besieging their houses, and that the persecution and threats against opposition members had intensified. Meanwhile, the organization Cubalex published a list of 94 people detained and disappeared, among them the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, José Daniel Ferrer.

Race and Equality is following the protests in Cuba with much concern, given the repressive response of the Government and its eagerness to stigmatize citizen expression, exposing the protesters to attacks from its supporters. We believe that these protests respond to a legitimate feeling of the population, which has been gravely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic crisis, and the human rights situation in the country. We call upon the authorities to cease the repression and open the channels of communication with the protesters in order to hear their demands and offer opportune responses in line with their human rights obligations.

Additionally, we urge the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the human rights mechanisms of the Universal System, to reinforce their monitoring of the human rights situation on the Island, for the sake of formulating recommendations to the State to guarantee the rights to life, personal integrity, protest, and freedom of expression in the midst of this new wave of citizen protests.

Race and Equality launches the report “Nicaragua, an unsolved human rights crisis: Analysis of arbitrary detentions, judicial processes without guarantees, and political persecution”

On July 7, 2021, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) published a report titled “Nicaragua, an unsolved human rights crisis: Analysis of arbitrary detentions, judicial processes without guarantees, and political persecution”. The report compiles the results of an exhaustive investigation into human rights violations committed against political prisoners who were arrested in connection to the protest movement of April 2018 and prosecuted in unfair trials.

 In the context of the 2018 protests, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has registered 328 murders, thousands of people exiled, and hundreds of politically-motivated arrests. More than 124 political prisoners remain behind bars for their links to the protests.

Race and Equality found that between April 18, 2018 and February 13, 2020, a total of 657 people were detained arbitrarily. 565 of these detainees were formally prosecuted in 279 different criminal proceedings. Meanwhile, 92 of them were deprived of their liberty for periods ranging from six days to four months without ever being formally accused or brought before a judge. 

Another key finding of the report is that 51% of the criminal proceedings carried out against the prisoners ended in convictions. 288 people were convicted in total, receiving sentences ranging from 6 months to 256 years. 192 people (76% of those convicted) received sentences of 5 or more years while 96 (24%) received penalties from 6 months to 4 years.

The report highlights the lack of judicial independence in Nicaragua, which has resulted in serious rights violations. The political prisoners whose cases are discussed in the report suffered violations of due process, judicial guarantees, and basic human rights throughout their trials. These violations included non-public trials, the harassment of their defense attorneys, the use of false witnesses and victims by prosecutors, and the excessive and widespread use of pre-trial detention.

Race and Equality’s Senior Legal Program Officer, Ana Bolaños, stated that “The State of Nicaragua is responsible for the actions of its police forces, along with the actions of para-police and civilian armed groups that coordinate their actions with official authorities and enjoy total impunity.”

Antonia Urrejola, the President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), remarked that the report will serve as an important tool for the international community by clarifying “the political and institutional antecedents that form the base of the current deterioration and crisis we find ourselves in today” and that the investigation “includes an exhaustive analysis of the human rights violations committed against political prisoners during their detentions and their trials, along with the challenges facing the rule of law and democratic governance in Nicaragua.” 

Given the alarming situation facing both political prisoners and those released from detention, Race and Equality included a series of recommendations for the State of Nicaragua in the report, including: 

  1. Immediately releasing all those still detained in connection to the April 2018 protests and those being charged with ‘common crimes’ in retaliation for their involvement with protests or the political opposition.
  1. Ending all police and para-police harassment against prisoners who have been released, their lawyers, the organizations that support and accompany them, and independent media outlets who report on their condition.
  1. Adopting all necessary measures to determine responsibility and ensure accountability for illegal detentions; abuses of authority; torture and cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment; and other human rights violations committed by State agents.
  1. Allowing international human rights bodies, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), to return to Nicaragua.

The report is available at Race and Equality’s website.

 

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.

Recognition of Diverse Couples in Cuba: Race and Equality Promotes South-South Exchange on the Eve of Family Code Law’s Preliminary Draft

Washington D.C., July 1, 2021.- On June 29, 2021, the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) launched the report, “Towards the Recognition of Diverse Couples in Cuba” on the eve of the presentation of a new Family Code to Congress, which will be subsequently submitted to a referendum for its approval. The launch was carried out in a virtual event in which representatives of independent civil society on the island and activists from Ecuador and Costa Rica participated to share their country’s experiences and strategies in the recognition of marriage equality.

The webinar was called Recognition of Diverse Couples in Cuba: Exchange of Experiences in the Region. The panelists included the Executive Director of Race and Equality, Carlos Quesada; the journalist and independent activist from Cuba, Maria Matienzo; the Director of the Institute of Equality, Gender and Rights of the Central University of Ecuador, Christian Paula; and the President of the Association of Homoparental and Diverse Families of Costa Rica and Executive Director of the Sí Acepto (Yes, I Accept) Campaign in Costa Rica, Nisa Sanz. Race and Equality’s LGBTI Program Officer, Zuleika Rivera, moderated the event.

In addition to the LGBTI+ community’s demand on the island, the approval of marriage equality is in line with Cuba’s human rights obligations, as well as with the Constitution adopted in 2019. It conceptualizes marriage as a voluntary union between persons. It was determined that egalitarian marriage would become a reality by including it in a new Family Code that was to be presented and submitted to a referendum within two years, in other words, this year of 2021.

Rivera commented that the possibility of a referendum to decide the approval of this Code, brings with it a series of positions in favor and against this process. On one hand there are the fundamentalist voices that oppose the recognition of the rights of the LGBTI+ population, and on the other hand, there is the same LGBTI+ community and allies that support it but criticize the fact that a referendum will determine their rights.

The report

The report, “Towards the Recognition of Diverse Couples in Cuba” articulates Race and Equality’s analysis of marriage equality considering international human rights standards, its aim is to encourage discussion on the right to equality and non-discrimination, and its scope in the area of family protection. In addition, the document includes a series of recommendations for the Cuban State, international organizations and civil society to strengthen the protection of the human rights of the LGBTI+ population in Cuba.

In presenting the main findings of this report, the Executive Director of Race and Equality, Carlos Quesada, said that “the right to equality must be guaranteed, it must not be left to a referendum. “Marriage equality is based on national legislation, specifically on the Cuban Constitution in articles 1, on equality; 7, on supremacy; 13, on equity and social justice; 16, on the enjoyment of human rights and the repudiation of any manifestation of discrimination; 41 on the protection of human rights, in line with the principles of progressivity, equality and non-discrimination, and article 44, on the right to equality and social inclusion, among others” he contends.

“The acknowledgement of diverse people requires the recognition of the civil rights of Cubans in general,” declared independent Cuban journalist, who lamented that the demand for the recognition of the rights of the LGBTI+ population is limited by the absolute control exercised by the State, “based on an ideology in which there is no place for a man who is not heterosexual with a woman who responds to his own interests.”

Experiences in the region

The Director of the Institute of Equality, Gender and Rights of the Central University of Ecuador, Christian Paula, referred to the legal regulations, both national and international, which served as a basis for undertaking the struggle for the recognition of marriage equality in Ecuador. The right to marriage equality has been a reality since July 8, 2019. The specialist said that the Advisory Opinion 24/17 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) is very important for the region because the LGBTI+ population does not have an international treaty that specifically protects their rights.

The President of the Association of Homoparental and Diverse Families of Costa Rica and Executive Director of the “Yes, I Accept” Campaign, Nisa Sanz, shared her experiences of educational and the awareness campaign they carried out in Costa Rica’s demand for marriage equality. “It is very normal that in these types of advances countries face all kinds of barriers, ranging from total opposition to any kind of advance to those that completely favor egalitarian marriage”, she explained.

For Race and Equality, it is important to create this type of space for the exchange of experiences and to have the participation of activists from Cuba, a country where there is a severe restriction on the exercise of civil rights, and where the struggle for the recognition of rights for groups such as the LGBTI+ population is overshadowed by the government’s authoritarianism.

In the light of the experiences of Ecuador and Costa Rica, we hope that Advisory Opinion 24/17 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights will be used by civil society in other countries of the region as a tool for the demand for the recognition and guarantee of the rights of LGBTI+ persons. In the context of the discussion and adoption of the Family Code in Cuba, we urge the Cuban State to act in accordance with its human rights obligations, for the complete fulfillment of the right to equality and non-discrimination.

Race and Equality launches a report to raise awareness around the Afro-LGBT population in Brazil, Colombia, Peru and the Dominican Republic to contribute to the recognition of their ights

Washington, D.C., June 30, 2021. – The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) launched on June 30, 2021 a report titled, “La deuda pendiente con la población Afro-LGBT en Brasil, Colombia, Perú y República Dominicana” (“The Pending Debt to the Afro-LGBT Population in Brazil, Colombia, Peru and the Dominican Republic”) with the aim of highlighting the violence and discrimination faced by this community on the basis of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, and to contribute to the adoption of public policies for the recognition and guarantee of their rights.

This report is the result of systematized documentation carried out by Race and Equality based on reports presented by six partner organizations: Instituto Transformar Shelida Ayana and Rede Afro LGBT, from Brazil; Somos Identidad, Fundación Arco Iris de Tumaco y Conferencia Nacional de Organizaciones Afrocolombianas (C.N.O.A.), from Colombia; Ashanti, from Peru, and Trans Siempre Amigas (TRANSSA), from the Dominican Republic.

“With this report we seek to generate a conversation within the LGBTI+ movement and Afro movement to make visible the problems faced by Afro-LGBT people. We need to talk about racism within the LGBTI+ community and the LGBTIphobia within the Afro movement. Not only should we talk about inclusivity, but we must also show it and that starts with having these conversations,” said Zuleika Rivera the LGBTI Program Officer at Race and Equality.

For Narciso Torres, coordinator of Gender Equity and Sexual Diversity at the C.N.O.A., an important aspect of this report is that it provides a detailed overview of the violence and discrimination suffered by the Afro-Colombian LGBT population, which leads to the awareness of this situation and for States and civil society to take action to combat and prevent these abuses. “In addition, (it helps) to maintain hope for the transformation of coexistence between all,” he contended.

Sandra Milena Arizabaleta “Sami,” Director of the Afro-descendant Foundation for Social and Sexual Diversities (Somos Identidad), affirmed that in addition to the visibility of the realities that Afro-Colombian LGBTI people endure, the report points to the creation and implementation of public policies that respond to their demands. “We hope that this report will be publicized and approached by governments, and eventually become enforced state policies,” she expressed.

“This report allows us to create a dialogue between the government, legislative and legal sectors around the conditions of the Afro LGBTI+ Brazilian population, as well as provoke the human rights commissions of Congress to act, and to present requests to international organizations when we do not obtain a response from the State concerning our demands,” shared by Janaina Oliveira, from Rede Afro LGBT.

Regarding the experience of preparing Brazil’s data for this report, Eduardo Castro, from Instituto Transformar, indicated how his organization was able to learn from the different realities of trans and Cariocan women (people born in Rio de Janeiro). “Although the nucleus of members is mostly made up of trans and afro-transvestite people, the uniqueness of each experience, the regional specificities, the negotiations narrated by the subjects involving actors such as trafficking, the police, health workers or even university colleagues, marked the diversity of these experiences,” he commented.

The report includes a series of recommendations addressed to States, civil society and the human rights mechanisms of the Inter-American and United Nations system, all aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of the Afro-LGBT population in the region. Recommendations made to States include:

  • Sign and ratify the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance.
  • Take measures to collect disaggregated data on the population according to ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity.
  • Create new participation mechanisms and strengthen existing ones, so that Afro-LGBT people actively participate in the design and implementation of public policies that directly concern them.

 As of today, the report can be accessed and downloaded from the Race and Equality website using the following link: http://oldrace.wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Informe-Afro-LGBT_May2021.pdf (In Spanish only).

“Loving and Resisting from Diversity:” Race and Equality Celebrates LGBTI+ Pride Day

Washington D.C., June 28, 2021.- To commemorate this LGBTI+ Pride Day, The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) chose the slogan “Loving and Resisting from Diversity.” This slogan pays tribute to LGBTI+ organizations and activists who each day wage a powerful struggle to combat discrimination and violence, and move towards the recognition of their rights despite living in a context as adverse as Latin America and the Caribbean when it comes to human rights.

Although there has been little progress in the region in terms of recognizing and guaranteeing rights for LGBTI+ people, we want to exalt the great capacity to love and resist that people with diverse sexual orientation and gender expression or identity continue to sustain, when facing a society that attacks, excludes, and humilitaes them, in addition to increased attacks and instensified hate speech.

On this day we cannot refrain from remembering the Stonewall riots carried out in rejection of the police raid that took place in the early hours of June 28, 1969, in a bar known as Stonewall Inn in the New York neighborhood of Greenwich Village; this location is where LGBTI+ people used to meet. A year later that date would be declared as LGBTI+ Pride Day as a way to reclaim and celebrate the struggle for freedom and respect for the rights of this community.

Progress and Challenges

In the beginning of this month of June, the Prosecutor’s Office of Salta, Argentina, confirmed that the skeletal remains found by a day laborer and his son in a desolate area north of the city corresponded to Santiago Cancinos, a young trans man who disappeared in May 2017, who reported he was being bullied by his school and classmates.

This is one of the most recent and shocking events. However, when it comes to violence and discrimination, Latin America and the Caribbean accumulates a long list of episodes ranging from threats and verbal assaults to police brutality and murder. Hate crimes that in most cases remain unpunished-  this lack of will and judicial mechanisms only generates more negligence among authorities when making justice a priority.

LGBTI+ and human rights organizations closely followed the case of Vicky Hernandez v. Honduras, in which the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) determined the State’s responsibility for the alleged extrajudicial execution committed against Hernández in June 2009, which occurred in the midst of the tense socio-political context generated by the coup d’état that year. This set an important precedent of ensuring the application of justice in future cases of violence against LGBTI+ persons at the regional level.

With respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, we see how the situation of vulnerability of this population is exacerbated, as the health emergency deepens conditions of inequality in the fields of health, social assistance, education, work, among other inequalities. In addition, States have not taken into account the LGBTI+ realities of discrimination and institutional violence against gender nonconforming and trans people. For instance, in Colombia, people with diverse gender identity or expression were left in limbo with policies like “pico y género.”[1]

However, the commitment to fight for a more just and equitable society for all people has also led to celebratory results in the last year, like the approval of equal marriage in Costa Rica. We are slowly witnessing the progress of campaigns and bills for the recognition and guarantee of the rights of LGBTI+ people. In Argentina on June 11, the Chamber of Deputies approved the bill that guarantees the trans-transvestite labor quota. The so-called Diana Sacayán – Lohana Berkina Law, who were recognized defenders of the formal trans and transvestite labor inclusion, was passed with 207 positive votes, 11 negative votes and seven abstentions.

Let us celebrate!

Race and Equality spoke with LGBTI+ activists from different countries in the region and asked them about the importance of celebrating LGBTI+ Pride. These are their answers.

Christian King, trans non-binary activist and member of Trans Siempre Amigas (TRANSSA) – Dominican Republic: For me, celebrating LGBTIQ+ Pride Month is nothing more than claiming my personhood, and at the same time reclaiming all the people who have fought, who have lost their lives making themselves visible, those people who have led us to enter this movement of struggle and recognize ourselves as members of the LGBTIQ+ community, and to demand that the State recognize our rights.

Agatha Brooks, trans activist and member of Trans Siempre Amigas (TRANSSA) – Dominican Republic: Celebrating Pride Month is to make ourselves visible as the rainbow flag represents each of us, we are a brand that grows more and more every day. We become more visible so that equality becomes present in our communities, in our country and throughout the world

Darlah Farias, Coletivo Sapato Preto – Brazil: Celebrating LGBTI+ Pride is celebrating the life of this population. Not just the lives that struggle today, but all the lives lost so that we could be here. Principally I, as an Afro and lesbian woman, carry all my ancestry with me and understand that our struggle is forged in revolution and reinvention.

Thiffany Odara, FONATRANS – Brazil: Celebrating LGBTI+ Pride is celebrating the right to life, my existence, the right to be who I am, it’s celebrating the memory of my ancestors. Celebrating who I am is the greatest challenge for Brazilian society. The challenge of resisting to guarantee policies of social equity. Long live the LGBTI+ Pride Movement! I’m proud to be who we are!

Gael Jardim, Trascendendo – Brazil: Celebrating LGBTI+ Pride Day is about making a real difference. It’s remembering that this day was born out of a revolt so that people can have the right to exist in society, and no longer in ghettos, closets or exclusion. To celebrate Pride Day is to give visibility to our cause and our struggle, which is not a day but a whole year of citizenship.

Santiago Balvin, nonbinary transmasculine activist and member of Rosa Rabiosa – Peru: Pride for me is important because society has imposed feelings of guilt and shame on who we are, but we rise up against them by showing pride in who we are and by showing ourselves in an authentic way. It is also very important to know that we have been in hiding and that visibility has been important to be able to show ourselves, and also give voice to our problems.

Leyla Huerta, founder and Director of Féminas – Perú: Celebrating Pride Day is very important to me. It’s the day in which we recognize ourselves as brave, strong and resilient. It is also a date of commemoration for all those people who are no longer with us, and who, due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, were exterminated because that is the word that best fits our disappearances. A society that does not recognize us, a society that limits us in our own development, it does just that: exterminates us. Pride Day, as the word conveys, is a day in which we should be proud because we are here, resisting, advancing and educating.

Roberto Lechado, independent comedian – Nicaragua: Celebrating Pride Month is to celebrate life, but also to recognize myself as part of a community and remind myself that I’m not alone and that’s a super nice feeling. It is also reminding myself that it is okay to be the person I want to be, that my love is valid and valuable, and my existence is magnificent and important. Celebrating Pride is also for me, to make visible these colors that many times in the day to day become opaque, and to say to society “we are here, we exist, we deserve, and we matter!”

Miguel Rueda Sáenz, director and founder of Pink Consultores – Colombia: For me, celebrating gay pride means a lot of things. There’s an important historical force, it also shows community and group strength and fundamental social aspects, and it has an enormous personal stance as it recognizes me as a gay man, this day allows me to shout even louder. It is very important for me on June 28 to be able to celebrate who we are and why we exist.

Lesley Wolf, actor, dancer, and BA in Performing Arts – Colombia: Celebrating LGBTI Pride is more than a celebration, it turns into a demand for resistance. It’s re-signifying and dignifying a struggle that not only costs us nor takes us just a month, but a whole year, it’s a constant activity.

María Matienzo, activist and Independent Journalist – Cuba: For me to celebrate Gay Pride Day is to celebrate the claim of rights that we should all have as citizens of the world, although it’s not really a matter of one day, it should be a matter of a lifetime.

For Race and Equality, it is an honor to know and accompany the work that is being carried out, individually and collectively to defend and promote the rights of the LGBTI+ population. Denouncing the violence this population faces in different areas of society, making visible and documenting their realities and demands, and strengthening their capacities to influence Sates and the human rights mechanisms of the Inter-American and United Nations system.

For us, celebrating LGBTI+ Pride Day means reinforcing and renewing our commitment to working for a more just and equitable society for all people, without any discrimination. In addition, it represents an opportunity to make recommendations to States aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of the LGBTI+ population:

  • To implement educational campaigns on sexual orientation and gender identity, aimed at making people in all areas of society aware of and respect the diversity of the population.
  • To collect disaggregated data with an intersectional focus on the LGBTI+ population, including information on the violence they face.
  • To train authorities, mainly justice operators, health and education providers, so that LGBTI+ people can access these basic services without discrimination and without restrictions based on prejudices about sexual orientation and gender identity.
  • Adopt policies and laws that allow LGBTI+ people to fully enjoy their rights, such as the gender identity law.
  • Sign, ratify and implement the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance.

[1] “Pico y género” was a sex-based quarantine measure temporaily implemnted in Bogotá and Cartegena, where women and men were allowed out for essential tasks on alternating days of the week; trans women and men could go out according to their gender identity. However, the policy resulted in some 20 cases of targeted discrimination against trans people.

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