Towards full citizenship: sexual orientation and human rights. (Human rights: unfinished business).

Eighteen years ago, in some feminist circles we "out-of-the-closet" lesbians could be counted on the fingers of one hand. In fact, some people used their fingers to point us out and help with the count. When we first formed the Grupo de Lesbianas Feministas (GALF, Lesbian Feminist Group) with the idea of working with, for and in the name of other lesbians, we had to search for each other like needles in a haystack. But in Lima's lesbian demimonde, we had to start taking off our shoes and socks to count up all the members in our little informal survey. We started passing out our first newsletter, Al Margen (On the Margins) in a discotheque full of different kinds of women whose sexual identities we couldn't even guess. "No, thanks, I'm not a lesbian," most of the lesbians told us. In the next issue, we called it a newsletter for "women who love women" to draw them in to the activities and reflections of our group.

In retrospect, we achieved a lot from that experience. Regardless of the number of newsletters we sold, we realized that to reverse the fear, prejudices and negative stereotypes about lesbians, we had to start with ourselves, then our partners, and later move on to our communities and organizations, including political parties, unions, social movements, schools, universities, hospitals, news media, churches, the police forces and governments--this last one a particularly tough nut to crack.

Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, and many lesbians and non-lesbians have passed through the ranks of GALF. Despite the progress we have made, the group's work has not changed much: we continue to defend our dignity, Our lives, our loves, the simple right to walk down the street hand-in-hand with someone we like or love.

We still believe that another world is possible, a world that includes diversity. In this world, questioning ourselves for being who we are would be ridiculous; instead, the weirdoes would be the homophobes, those who can't tolerate anyone outside heterosexual norms. Punishment would be reserved for acts of discrimination or violence against people for their sexual orientation.

However, the prejudices and myths that still prevail about lesbians are often accompanied by discrimination and even violence. Amnesty International recently published a report entitled, Crimes of hate, conspiracy of silence: Torture and ill-treatment based on sexual identity, which documents dozens of cases of mistreatment and torture of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals worldwide:

   Around the world, lesbians, gay men
   and bisexual and transgender people
   are imprisoned under laws which
   police the bedroom and criminalize
   a kiss; they are tortured to extract
   confessions of "deviance" and raped
   to "cure "them of it; they are killed
   by death squads in societies which
   view them as "desechables"--disposable
   garbage (Al, 2001, p. 6).

In many parts of the world, being gay or lesbian is not a right, but a crime. Nonetheless, there are successful strategies which are producing changes. We lesbians, together with other discriminated groups, have assumed the responsibility for winning respect for diversity for everyone, not just for ourselves, through consideration for and inclusion of our diversities.

Visibility

The fact that many lesbians, gay men and bi- and transsexual people hide this part of our identities is not accidental, and its impact on ourself-esteem and our working, social and political lives has not been adequately examined.

Understanding and confronting the internalization of this homophobia, both by hetero- and homosexual persons, is essential. The well-intentioned discourse that includes diversities is often belied in practice. We say we are against all forms of discrimination, but look out! if we discover that the wife's boss, our children's teacher, our gynecologist, our roommate or a presidential candidate is a lesbian.

Discrimination, often unconscious, is deeply rooted in everyone, including within the discriminated group-in this case, lesbians, whether we are feminists or not. We have assimilated the heterosexist ideology which permeates the general population; we have learned to reject homosexuality, sexual pleasure, infidelity, the lack of the "maternal instinct," etc. We associate lesbianism with illness, aberration or sin. Many lesbians perceive their own sexual orientation as a temporary and passing fancy, rather than a possibility and a right.

Official history remains silent about the existence of lesbians. Lesbian texts reach us truncated, vague, fragmentary, abridged.

In this hostile environment, many lesbians, upon discovering their attraction to other women, feel they are alone. At first, they remain silent, hide, manipulate or mock their own feelings in the face of intolerance of their difference. The anxiety, shame, guilt, fear, pessimism and disorientation in the face of these feelings are present in the relationships of many lesbian women of all ages. We also contribute, with our truckload of sand, to the myth that lesbians do not exist or that we are only an invention of industrialized and decadent societies.

That's why we decided first to look at ourselves, to rethink, to learn or unlearn our preconceptions about our bodies and our rights, to accept our attraction to other women as a valid desire, to begin to experience this desire more willfully and freely, to find pleasure in it. Yes, this blend--a real molotov cocktail in some cases--endows this aspect of our lives with dignity. Just like everyone else, we have the right to a dignified life, to receive equal treatment under the law, to equal opportunities, to enjoy all human rights.

This is not to say that visibility solves all our problems once we lesbians feel empowered to be open about what we are. Self-acceptance is an important step, but it is only the beginning. We need to work continuously to construct a personal strategy and a support network of organizations, alliances and actions that promote the protection of our rights. In addition to telling our own story, we also can look for evidence, trustworthy data, studies, practices and strategies which can improve the lives of lesbians and all women.

Access to information, communications and lesbian visibility have improved a lot from those early days in terms of media, formats, quality, quantity and diversity. Today, we have a virtual Turkish bazaar with everything one could possibly want. Although the struggle for greater inclusion has not ended, within lesbian groups there is greater diversity and breadth. Today, the need for visions that emphasize the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of our rights is more urgent. It is not enough just to be lesbians.

Sexual Orientation

There is an ongoing debate about what term to use to refer to our diverse emotional lifestyles and sexualities. Many of these discussions are related to the ongoing debate that pits nature against social construction: are we born lesbians or do we become lesbians? This complex question has direct implications for how we deal with the issue within the social sciences, the political sciences and our own activism.

During the 1980s, one sector of the lesbian-feminist movement in Latin America used the concept of sexual option. But others questioned if one really elects to be hetero-, homo- or bisexual or if one is born with a given tendency. At the same time, it is hard to talk about a real choice given the strength of heterosexual norms.

By contrast, the word orientation does not refer to origins or causes but simply expresses a fact. In an excellent and well-documented paper by Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), sexual orientation is defined as:

   "... real or imputed acts, preferences,
   lifestyles or identities, of a sexual or
   affective nature, in so far as these
   conform to or derogate from a dominant
   normative-heterosexual paradigm."
   (Heinze, quoted in GALZ,
   2000).

On the other hand, the Amnesty International report previously mentioned offers the following definition:

   Sexual orientation refers to a person's
   sexual and emotional attraction
   to people of the same gender
   (homosexual orientation), another
   gender (heterosexual orientation) or
   both genders (bisexual orientation)
   (Al, 2001, p. 3).

In both definitions, sexual orientation is a broad term which includes hetero-, homo- and bisexual people. It is important to note that these terms do not refer only to sexual partners or relations. It is not the bedroom that defines us: some heterosexuals, as well as lesbians, are celibate: some have taken vows of chastity, and others have never had sexual relations. Neither do specific sexual events strictly define us because heterosexuals can have one or more homo-lesbian adventures and vice versa.

The concept of sexual orientation has evolved over time through a variety of uses both by those who defend freedom of sexual orientation as well as those who deny it. The term has gained currency within the context of human rights.

Sexual Orientation as a Specific Category

The basic expressions in favor of equal rights and non-discrimination found in most human rights instruments do not apply to people with a non-heterosexual orientation. In 14 countries of the Americas and a total of 88 around the world, homosexuality is illegal (ILGA, 1999, p 60). In 1999, only 19 of the 212 countries studied had laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (ibid, p. 59). These figures indicate that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and transsexual persons (LGBTT) are not considered human beings, given that universal human rights do not apply to them.

There are countless examples of violations of the human rights of LGBTT persons. We mentioned previously the Amnesty International report on torture and abuse of people for their sexual orientation. Another important contribution is the report of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) entitled, "The Time for Tolerance is Over--Sexual Orientation, Women and Human Rights in Africa and the Caribbean, 1995-1999," which describes the situation of civil, political, economic and social rights of lesbian and bisexual women, as well as advances in anti-discrimination legislation in the region.

Our lesbian, women's, LGBTT and human rights organizations around the world have been lobbying for the inclusion of sexual orientation as an explicit category for protection against discrimination and for the recognition, promotion and protection of the civil, political, social and economic rights of LGBTT populations. Including sexual orientation explicitly in local, national, regional and international laws would protect these people from shifting legal interpretations.

The Human Rights Focus

Two key aspects of a perspective based on human rights are the establishment of standards and the establishment of responsibilities. The conventions, pacts and international declarations on human rights provide an ethical framework and establish common standards which serve as a basis for measuring the extent to which the rights and liberties of individuals are promoted. The idea of establishing responsibilities means governments, the UN and other intergovernmental organisms go beyond simply agreeing with the idea and commit themselves to undertake all possible efforts to implement the human rights commitments which they have made. Since governments are responsible for implementing human rights standards, they themselves must make the changes necessary to insure fulfillment of these commitments (CWGL, in Meillon, ed., 2001, p. 195).

Of course, criticisms have arisen throughout the history of human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was criticized for the bias of its specific political and social context, as it was written by a group of mostly white men from the North just after the end of World War II and based on democratic and libertarian values centered on the individual. This explains why violations of the human rights of women were not included in the agenda. So the real "universality" of this Declaration is debatable. However, many groups have been able to add their voices, create critical consciousness, exert pressure and join in the debate. By increasing our awareness of the violations of the human rights of specific groups of people, our concept of human rights has expanded, and slowly but surely, there has been an opening in the UN language.

Lesbian Rights as Human Rights

The discussion of human rights is not an abstract debate. The laws which penalize homosexuality in different parts of the world, the lack of legal protection against different types of violence and discrimination, and the lack of recognition of a series of rights (domestic partnerships, adoption, shared maternity or paternity, social security, inheritance, etc.) have concrete effects in the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and transsexual people.

Some advances have been achieved in international law, and some precedents have been established. Several supervisory organisms of the UN have recognized that international legal norms prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, including:

* Final Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Isle of Man, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, October 16, 2000, paragraph 22;

* Final Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Kyrgyzstan, January 27, 1999, paragraphs 127-128;

* General Observation 14, paragraph 18 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, August 11,2000;

* Committee on Human Rights, Toonen v. Australia, Sentence or Communique No. 488/1992, issued March 31, 1994.

Similarly, the UN Committee on Human Rights has urged States to repeal laws which penalize homosexuality and to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in their constitutions and other basic laws, as in:

* Final Observations of the Committee on Human Rights, Poland, June 29, 1999, paragraph 23.

The advances reflected in these documents are the result of decades of pressure and lobbying in international fora by activists and NGOs to expand the meaning of human rights to include the experiences of LGBTT. As we have elsewhere observed:

   [...] In spite of the setbacks and
   counteroffensives, this is an irreversible
   process because its sole
   focus is the future and the possibility
   of change. Millions of people
   around the world have become
   aware of how discrimination generates
   injustice and violence and will
   no longer allow their lives to be dominated
   by authoritarianism. An example
   of this citizens' determination is
   the march of more than a million and
   a half people from all over the world
   to the United Nations building in
   New York in June 1994 to demand
   the abolition of laws and other obstacles
   preventing lesbians and homosexuals
   from fully enjoying their
   rights--the most numerous demonstration
   in human history. [...]

   The movement for freedom of sexual
   orientation questions an essential
   but unexplored aspect of human
   life: sexuality. When sexuality is distorted
   by judgmental silence, repression
   and authoritarianism,
   openly questioning these attitudes
   can foment more democratic relationships
   and a climate of respect
   for differences (Sevilla, 1994, p. 1).

Lesbians in United Nations Summit Meetings

World Conferences on Women

The open processes of the United Nations have been important scenarios of participation and efforts by women, including lesbians, to promote improvements in the lives of women around the world. This has occurred mainly at the four world conferences on women and their five-year review processes such as the most recent review, Beijing+5. A number of advances can be observed from the time of the first conference in 1975 through the Beijing+5 meeting in 2000, a 25-year period of demonstrations, organizational strengthening and network-building.

Mexico 1975

As noted by Hinojosa, in the parallel Tribune held at the First World Conference on Women in 1975, the unplanned workshops on lesbianism were "the first time that lesbianism had been openly discussed in Mexico" (Bunch and Hinojosa, 2000, p. 6).

Copenhagen 1980

In Copenhagen, the discussion begun by lesbians continued. According to some, it remained low-profile. However, extremely important contacts were made and networks established at the Copenhagen conference. The 1980s coincides with the emergence of many specifically lesbian groups, both in the North and the South.

Nairobi 1985

In Nairobi, the lesbians of ILIS (International Lesbian Information Service) introduced lesbian materials by passing out packets among participants who had a stopover at the Schipol Airport in Holland. Further visibility was provided by an "illegal" table whose closure by police occasioned a scandal but also much solidarity and attention from the world news media. The workshops on education, health and work drew lesbians from the North and South. For the first time, an official delegation--the Dutch--mentioned lesbians in its presentation. During this period, a large network for international action began to develop which involved not only Northern Europe but also Latin America, the Asian-Pacific region and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Europe and Africa. These latter regions would begin to join in towards the end of the 1980s.

Beijing 1995

Unlike in Nairobi, lesbians arrived in Beijing with a series of achievements already won. Lesbians in nearly all regions participated in the process at the local, regional and international levels. In Latin America, we had the Satellite Meeting of Lesbians of Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by the Movimiento Homosexual de Lima (MHOL, Homosexual Movement of Lima) and the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) (Lima, May 1994), as well as the NGO Forum of Latin America and the Caribbean (Mar del Plata, Argentina, Sept 1994).

Shortly before the Beijing Conference, the historic gay and lesbian march at the United Nations in New York (June 1994) drew more than a million people. International pressure forced the inclusion of the issue on the agenda and a formal presence in the NGO Forum at Beijing. Lesbians from all over the world met in the lesbian tent and organized to present their demands in dozens of private and public activities of all sizes. For the first time, government representatives debated the issue in a working group. The controversy and lack of agreement on the issue drew uninterrupted media attention during the two weeks of debate. No explicit recommendation was achieved, but the participation of a South African lesbian in the governmental plenary session exploded one more myth. Overall, the extensive debate and publicity on the issue constituted a triumph. Beijing marked the highest point of participation and global action by lesbians in the 20th century.

Reflections on the WCW 

In all these lesbian struggles and achievements, adverse reactions were not long in coming, an expression of the tension between progressive and conservative forces regarding women's autonomy over their bodies. On the subject of the First World Conference on Women, an editorial writer in the Mexican newspaper Excelsior, supposedly the most progressive in Mexico at the time, wrote about the lesbian presence:

   We can only regret the way in which
   some feministoid groups have turned
   the Tribune [the non-governmental
   event that ran parallel to the official
   UN conference] into a cheap cabaret
   or an indecent carnival [...] What
   are these lesbians doing here?
   What can they ask for? Do they now
   want to inscribe their pathologic irregularity
   in the Charter of Human
   Rights? Are they claiming the pathetic
   'right' to boast about their
   sexual aberration? [...] They have
   discredited this Conference and distorted
   the true purposes of women's
   emancipation [...] (quoted in Bunch
   and Hinojosa, 2000, p. 4).

Similarly, in Copenhagen, despite the low profile maintained by lesbians, a photographer found a group of women sunbathing topless in a private garden. This picture went around the world under the caption "Lesbians in Copenhagen" and led to obstacles for lesbian participation at the next conference in Nairobi.

   The same story made the rounds
   again before the Beijing meeting.
   There were rumors that lesbians
   would be denied visas. Some newspapers
   said that the Chinese hosts
   were extremely worried about the
   possibility that lesbians would expose
   their torsos and kiss each
   other. Female police officers supposedly
   had received special training
   and were equipped with sheets
   to cover the lesbians in case they
   engaged in this type of demonstration
   (Sevilla, 1996, p. 169).

These ripples even reached the Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encounter held in San Salvador in 1993. There, organizers received threats and "accusations" of fronting for a meeting of lesbians. Immigration police retained dozens of passports in their attempt to keep people from leaving the airport upon arrival, and UN representatives had to negotiate for several hours to get them out. The tactic only resulted in an improvised opening ceremony in the airport waiting room which ridiculed the maneuvers of the Salvadoran right wing.

2nd World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993)

While networks and women's NGOs pushed to define women's rights as human rights, lesbians added: lesbian rights are also human rights. This campaign began to generate an increasingly broader consensus. At the Tribunal for Women's Human Rights, organized by the Center for Women's Global Leadership, witnesses and prominent jurists issued opinions about issues that had never been considered within the human rights field, such as domestic violence and the right to physical integrity proposed by lesbians.

Generally speaking, neither the Declaration nor the Programme of Action of this conference recognized any new rights, and few conceptual advances were achieved in the human rights field. Rather, existing rights were reaffirmed, as was their universality, indivisibility and interdependence. However, the paragraphs referring to women represent an unprecedented advance in the thinking about human rights. In the final documents of this conference, women's human rights are incorporated as an "inalienable, integral and indivisible part of fundamental human rights" (UN Document NCONF.157/23 at, paragraph 7).

International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994)

Sexual orientation was debated in the context of the issue of different types of families and of the broadening of the concepts of health and sexual and reproductive rights to include lesbians and gays. These two topics provoked the most opposition from governmental delegations representing different strands of Christian or Muslim fundamentalism, and advocates were unsuccessful in getting them included in the ICPD Programme of Action (Petchesky, 2000, p. 15). However, the discussions and formulae presented advanced the process of defining more specific rights for lesbians.

3rd World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance (Durban, 2001)

The NGO Forum and the 3rd World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance (WCRX) was the first world conference against racism which considered related forms of intolerance. This broader call opened the discussion to include forms of multiple or aggravated discrimination, such as racism aggravated by discrimination for sexual orientation.

The issue of sexual orientation generated controversy during the preliminary governmental negotiations leading up to the WCRX. In the third Preparatory Meeting, the Brazilian delegation, supported by various others, proposed the inclusion of a precedent-setting text in the conference's Programme of Action, which urged governments to recognize discrimination aggravated by discrimination for sexual orientation and to develop programs and policies to deal with this form of multiple discrimination (UN Document A/CONF.189/5, paragraph 68 bis).

Despite a number of precedents in the legal framework of the UN, this text and other paragraphs which mentioned discrimination for sexual orientation were omitted from the final WCRX documents. In the midst of this polemic, governmental delegations from Ecuador, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Guatemala issued a declaration on the need for more discussion on sexual orientation as an aggravated basis for discrimination. In their statement, they argued that "sexual orientation is an aspect of human reality which can no longer be ignored and requires greater analysis, discussion and debate to contribute to the development of a worldwide consensus on the issue" (Governments of Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Canada and Guatemala, 2001).

On balance, the world's minorities have come out losers in the ongoing confrontations between the progressive and conservative forces at these various world summits. However, we advanced in the perspectives based on rights.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

One achievement is the work undertaken by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who named six experts to research violations of human rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, among other causes.

Like every advance, the recognition of sexual orientation in the framework of the UN has stirred negative reactions from conservative and fundamentalist governments. During the governmental negotiations in the various conferences and international summit meetings, the delegates of these countries consistently rejected the inclusion of the issue.

The political and military period which began after September 11 has not affected the voting patterns of various "western" countries. Last April 30, the UN Economic and Social Council rejected ILGA's petition for consultative status by 29 to 17, with seven abstentions. The opposition was led by Egypt, whose government has committed extensive abuses against homosexuals throughout the year, including arbitrary arrests, torture and imprisonment. It was joined by Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Surinam, Spain and the complicity (by abstention) of Zimbabwe, Sudan, Nigeria, Libya, Iran, Pakistan and others.

One of the reasons used to reject the ILGA petition was doubt regarding its position with respect to pedophilia, despite ILGA's strong position on this issue, including the expulsion of three pedophile organizations in 1994. One could also ask what position these same States will take on the multiple revelations of pedophilia committed by clergy of the Catholic Church. Will the Holy See's current status as a Permanent Non-Member Observer be revoked? If justice is blind, laser surgery wouldn't be a bad idea.

In Latin America and the Caribbean

The 1970s was a fertile period of economic, social, political and cultural changes in Peru and many Latin American and Caribbean countries. Women's political participation burgeoned from a few basic demands to influence on party platforms and the emergence of collective proposals by organized women. The issues which formed part of the daily life of women, such as domestic violence and sexuality, as well as women's power and political position in society, were radically challenged. The call to see the personal as political, together with the demand for democracy both in the nation and in the home, marked the emergence of an autonomous, pluralist, feminist movement.

A debate began on the strategies of the movement from the perspective of women and the diverse struggles against exploitation, exclusion and subordination. Lesbian feminists participated in this process from the outset. However, their presence and the inclusion of lesbian issues in the agenda were not always acknowledged, often for fear of losing "legitimacy," of being "accused" of being lesbians or due to ignorance and prejudice.

The Second Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encounter, held in Lima (1983), served to illustrate this point. Since the issue of lesbianism had not been included on the agenda, some lesbians organized a mini-workshop. The session, which began in a bar after a meal, drew such interest that it had to be moved to the plenary hall where an estimated 400 to 600 participants spent an emotional afternoon in what Charlotte Bunch called the "largest coming out event in the region" (Bunch and Hinojosa, 2000, p.9). This tremendous public response of lesbians and the challenge to the hetero feminists to confront their own lesbophobia had an impact on all participants, especially the lesbians themselves. The "mini-workshop" at the Gathering was a direct stimulus for the emergence of lesbian feminist groups all over Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encounter gave us the opportunity to meet other lesbians, exchange experiences and compare processes in the region, as well as with Latin American lesbians who lived abroad and foreign delegates from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. The spirit and energy of the gatherings encouraged many lesbians to organize themselves--including us. In April 1984, we formed the Grupo de Autoconciencia de Lesbianas Feministas (GALE Lesbian Feminist Consciousness Group), which later became simply the Grupo de Lesbianas Feministas (GALF, Lesbian Feminist Group).

Individual and collective initiatives then began to multiply in Peru and elsewhere in Latin America. Since 1987, the need to share and define regional strategies led us to create the Latin American and Caribbean Lesbian Feminist Encounter. The first was held in Cuernavaca, Mexico (1987) with the participation of some 150 women from the region.

GALF was charged with the responsibility of organizing the second lesbian gathering in Peru in 1989. During that time, our country was in the midst of a serious economic crisis and a fight against terrorism modestly comparable to that now facing the country north of the Rio Grande, in terms of its impact on the civilian populace. The reflections and consultations of the Second Encounter, both internal as well as with the feminist movement, did not achieve a consensus, which prevented us fulfilling our mission. The Second Encounter finally was held in Costa Rica in 1990. The following lesbian meetings were held in Puerto Rico (1993), Argentina (1995) and Brazil (1999).

Inter-American Convention on Sexual Rights and Reproductive Rights

As Hinojosa notes, in the parallel Tribune to the First World Conferences on Women in 1975, the workshops planned on lesbianism "provided the only space at the Tribune for discussion by women of their own sexuality" (Bunch and Hinojosa, 2000, p. 6). Twenty-seven years later, many women's organizations in the region are uniting to campaign for the creation of an Inter-American Convention for Sexual Rights and Reproductive Rights.

This campaign seeks first to define these rights, explaining that: "We exercise these rights, of course. But when they are not clearly defined, to which tribunals can we apply for redress? How do we defend them? What laws mandate their protection?"

In order to reach a consensus definition which could serve as a basis for the proposal, the Regional Office of the Comite de America Latina y el Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer (CLADEM, Latin American and Caribbean Committee for Women's Rights) conducted a regional survey at the beginning of 2001 among organizations which defend women's rights. The results of this survey are very interesting. The 161 organizations which responded identified 22 rights linked to the exercise of sexuality: 47.2% of them mentioned the right to sexual autonomy or self-determination. The second right most mentioned (27.3%) was the right to sexual preference, orientation or option. Other related rights mentioned included: the right to sexual freedom (5.6%); the right to intimacy (5.6%); the right to diversity (1.2%) (Cedano, M.Y., 2001, p. 4, Eds. note: A preliminary analysis of the CLADEM survey is published in this issue of the Women's Health Collection, pp. 56-66).

The campaign objectives specifically express an intention to be open and inclusive, as well as coherent and organized. All proposals, ideas and strategies for this can be sent through the "mail" section of the campaign's webpage: www.convencion.org.uy

Constitutional Reform in Peru

In 2002, an important discussion on sexual orientation and human rights emerged during the constitutional reform process now underway in Peru. Our country faces a critical moment in reconstructing a democracy inclusive of diversities and based on respect for human rights. Peru's Congress has begun a constitutional reform process which will incorporate contributions from civil society, with the results submitted to a referendum for final approval. The process has come in for some criticism as the current Congress was not elected with this mandate. However, the levels of corruption of the previous regime and the existing legal vacuums give the reform process more credibility.

Seven Peruvian LGBTT organizations have pushed for the creation of a broad front--the Frente por el Derecho a ser Diferentes (FREDIE Front for the Right to be Different) comprised of women's, human rights and other organizations- to lobby for the explicit inclusion of protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The campaign launched by FREDIF also will educate authorities and the citizenry about respect for differences and alternatives to heterosexual orientation. In addition, it may open the debate on and eventual recognition of alternative forms of families and ways to experience human sexuality.

We know that this process is a rocky road where moralizing bandits roam, pardoning the sins of those involved in financial corruption but incapable of respecting diversity. Can you get blood out of a turnip? Independently of legal gains, we clearly are reconstructing the social fabric that was so seriously torn in the last decade.

Charity Begins at Home

All in all, participating in these events and regional and international campaigns has given us unique opportunities to establish and strengthen links with similar organizations and to develop ways to promote our diversities, as well to create solidarity networks with other organizations fighting other types of discrimination, intolerance and exclusion.

These meetings have helped us realize the extent of our fragmentation, the limited dialogue and exchange which exists among our different visions, struggles and proposals; at the same time, we see how they are intrinsically interrelated. It is impossible to deal with the human rights of lesbians without taking into account those of women, those of indigenous and African-descendant peoples, the handicapped and those who face discrimination due to age, socioeconomic conditions, health, education, or other factors. We believe that although it is sometimes appropriate to separate and emphasize a particular issue, the interrelationship and interdependence of these factors should inform and orient our work. In the life of each person, these different aspects, though in constant evolution, are indivisible.

Inclusion, respect and protection of our diversities is a key step towards the construction of more democratic, equitable, fair and peace-loving societies.

Yes, we should begin at home, with each individual. To explore ourselves and our own organizations is a difficult challenge, but not impossible. We must recognize our own exclusionary habits and take steps to transform them and to develop more ingenious strategies for change. There is much to transform, including in our own homes and lives. The construction of another world, more inclusive and respectful of diversities, implies making the planet livable for everyone. We believe and dream that this is still possible! We believe that we can work together toward specific goals without agreeing on everything, without the domination of a single, homogeneous model.

Bibliography

Amnesty International (2001). Crimes of hate, conspiracy of silence: Torture and ill-treatment based on sexual identity. London: Amnesty International.

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Cedano, M.Y. (2002). "Derechos sexuales y derechos reproductivos: Desafios para el feminismo contemporC, neo." On-line at the CLADEM webpage: http://www. derechos.org/cladem

CLADEM survey.CLADEM webpage, http://www.derechos.org/ cladem

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Jitsuya, N. (2001). "Interdependencia e indivisiblidad: Principios claves para erradicar toda forma de discriminacion." Paper presented at the roundtable "Racismo y discriminacion: La nueva agenda," Lima, Peru.

Meillon, C., ed. (2001). Holding on to the Promise--Women's human rights and the Beijing+5 review. New Jersey: Center for Women's Global Leadership.

Petchesky, R. (2000)* Reproductive and Sexual Rights: Charting the Course of Transnational Women's NGOs. Occasional Paper 8. Geneva: The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

Sevilla, R. (1994). "Blanca, machista y/o heterosexual." Paper presented at the Foro de ONG de Mujeres, Mar del Plata, Argentina.

--(1996). "Strategies from a lesbian perspective--the ethic of diversity" in Look at the World Through Women's Eyes. Plenary Speeches from the NGO Forum on Women, Beijing '95. Friedlander E., ed., New York: Women, Ink, pp. 157-158

United Nations. UN Document A/ CONF.157/23 at, paragraph 7.

--. UN Document NCONF. 189/5, paragraph 68 bis.

Nelly Jitsuya was co-founder of La Otra Cara de la Luna women's collective in 1983 and of the Grupo de Lesbianas Feministas (GALF, Lesbian Feminist Group) in 1984. She has co-edited various on-line publications.

Rebeca Sevilla is a lesbian and gay human rights activist. From 1984 to 1995, she was an active member of the Lesbian Feminist Group (GALF), the Movimiento Homosexual de Lima (MHOL, Homosexual Movement of Lima) and the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA). Ms. Sevilla currently works as consultant in Brussels.