Courageous commitment to LGBTQIA+ rights / Compromiso valiente con los derechos LGBTQIA+
 

 *** Register Today ***

Join us for a discussion with LGBTQIA+ human rights defenders from Guatemala, Honduras, and Indonesia on the current challenges they face and ways the international community might support their work & commitment.

  • Date: May 29, 2024
  • Time: 11:00am - Noon (EST) // 22:00 Jakarta, Indonesia // 09:00 Honduras & Guatemala & Denver // 08:00 San Francisco
  • Sign up to the Zoom webinar here: bit.ly/PBIWEBINARLGBT2024
  • Language: English <---> Spanish (Translation)

LGBTQIA+ people – lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and asexual people – are often marginalized, arbitrarily arrested, violently attacked, or even murdered because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. They are affected by structural discrimination. In many places, state authorities are involved in this inequality and deny protection from hostilities and violence. Human rights defenders who raise their voices for more equality and draw attention to human rights violations against LGBTQIA+ people are particularly at risk when it comes to violence and criminalization.

Guatemala, Honduras, and Indonesia represent three unique and difficult contexts. 2023 was one of the most violent years for the LGBTQIA+ community in Guatemala, with 34 cases of hate crime. In Honduras, at least 47 LGBTQIA+ people were killed in the same year. Furthermore, Indonesia passed a law in 2022 that penalizes sexual relationships outside of heterosexual marriage from 2025 onwards.

Guest Speakers:

  • Riska Carolina, a lawyer and human rights defender from Indonesia, talks about her work at the Consortium Crisis Response Mechanism (CRM) and how LGBTQIA+ human rights defenders and individuals can be supported in crises.
  • Chahim Vásquez, human rights defender from Guatemala, will share about her work at the Espacio de Resistencia plural Jalanil Aj Q'eqchi' and, as an intersex woman and Maya Q'eqchi Afro-Romani, will also share the perspective of people who are affected by intersectional discrimination.
  • Loren López, a human rights defender from Honduras, is executive director of the Asociación de las Mujeres Lesbianas y Bisexuales LITOS part of the Asociación LGBT Arcoíris de Honduras, focusing on the defense of their sexual and reproductive rights, political advocacy work and the visibility of lesbian and bisexual women, and reports on the situation in Honduras and her work.