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("Out for Justice" is the tagline of National Center for Lesbian Rights, recipient of staff-nominated small grant in December 2008)
by Christine Ahn, Caitlin Reyes Brune, Susanna Handow and Kelly McVicker
Throughout much of the world, women who identify as lesbians, bisexual or transgender face the dual oppression of being females and sexual minorities. As a result, they suffer under discriminatory laws and customs that relegate them to second-class status.
The US State Department has documented in over 100 countries cases of discrimination, arbitrary arrest and state-sanctioned oppression directed against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens, all part of a staggering pattern of human rights’ abuses against sexual minorities.
 At the Global Fund for Women, we recognize discrimination based on sexual orientation as inconsistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines and protects the rights of all people. We were disheartened when, in November 2008, a narrow majority of Californian voters approved Proposition 8, a measure rescinding the legal right of same-sex couples to marry.
In times like these, we turn to our Global Fund network for renewed inspiration and hope. In some of the most repressive parts of the world, women are joining with other marginalized communities to bring an end to ethnic discrimination, gender-based violence, and the denial of their political and social rights to sexual expression and reproductive choice. In India, for example, sexual minorities and sex workers’ collectives – such as Sappho for Equality, a lesbian rights group in Kolkata, India – were among the first to mobilize communities to address the country’s burgeoning hiv/aids epidemic among women, initiating hiv awareness and prevention campaigns that, literally, save countless lives daily. Sappho has created safe spaces for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women while using awareness campaigns and the creative arts to foster understanding of homosexuality, end violence toward and discrimination of sexual minorities, and build support for decriminalizing homosexuality.
In Latin America, lesbian activists, including Global Fund grantee Mulheres Rebeldes in Brazil, continue to push against the growing tide of religious fundamentalism that denies comprehensive sex education and contraception to poor indigenous women and adolescent girls. In Lebanon, Meem – a community of lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning women – uses personal empowerment, peer support, tolerance campaigns and advocacy to call out wider human rights abuses linked to oppressive laws, including those criminalizing homosexuality. “We cannot isolate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals’ rights from sexual rights, which include the right to health, education and information and bodily integrity, among others,” asserts Nadine, a Global Fund Advisor and Meem’s founder. Meem’s efforts have reached women in Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, and elsewhere in the Arab world, providing momentum to the growing movement to achieve equal freedoms, rights and respect for all women.
Most Global Fund supporters know that a society that discriminates against women on the basis of their gender or sexual orientation often also oppresses other minorities. Homophobic crimes, discriminatory policies enshrined in law, and “separate but equal” rhetoric subvert one simple principle: equality for all.
For every LGBT woman who steps toward greater freedom and equality, the sphere of liberty expands for a sister from another minority. If our state, nation and world are to follow a more righteous course, we must draw inspiration and courage from women’s efforts to dismantle racism, overcome homophobia and discrimination, and transform every other dehumanizing belief or behavior that stands as an obstacle to the realization of every person’s inalienable and universal human rights.
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