Two steps forward, one step back: LGBT and sexual rights activism.

One night, not so long ago, a mother was beating her daughter. She was placed in a sack, hung from the ceiling, and beaten by a broom again and again. On other occasions, the daughter was made to kneel on painful rocks or dry mung beans, arms stretched out, both hands holding glasses of water, and told to hold that position for hours on end unless she wanted to be mercilessly beaten again. When she was not beaten, she was forced to do manual domestic labor, often doing "traditional" male chores like fixing broken pipes or standing near the front door all night long. All this, simply because she is a lesbian.

THIS STORY COMES FROM A 2004 report on violence against lesbians in the Philippines by Lesbian Advocates Philippines (LeAP!). It could have taken place in nearly any country of the world where countless women are discriminated against at work, tortured by the police and other state officials, raped by male family members and subject to other forms of violence and inhumane treatment because of their actual and/or perceived sexual orientation and gender expression. Yet, while on the one hand it captures the brutal reprisals for those whose sexuality and gender expression transgress social and cultural norms of appropriate femininity and masculinity--heteronormativity--it also represents an activist effort to demand accountability for such human rights violations. *

LeAP!'s report, Unmasked: Faces of Discrimination against Lesbians in the Philippines was part of an action-research project on violence against lesbians in the Philippines, initiated in 2001, the purpose of which was to develop the documentation that could be used to support policy advocacy and program-related interventions. Designed as a participatory action-research project on violence against lesbians, the project was built on the active participation of LEAP! members in the conceptualization, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the project. It sought to fill in several gaps. First, it attempted to document the role of both governmental authorities and members of families and communities in perpetrating violence against lesbians. Second, it sought to provide the evidence of the persistence of such abuse. As the authors noted:</p>

<pre> Such research was borne out of a realization that in LeAP!'s work in advancing human rights, one major stumbling block is the lack of supporting data or evidence. When asking for recognition or protection for lesbian rights, we are often asked to explain the rationale or present proof that there exists a need for such protection. To date, there has been no formal and systematic reporting of documentation of the realities faced by Filipino lesbians

and the day-to-day challenges they confront. Neither has there been documentation of acts of violence and discrimination committed against them, whether these acts are overt or subtle, whether committed in public or private, nor of the impact of these abuses. (p12) </pre> <p>Organizations working for the protection of people from discrimination and abuse because of their real or perceived sexual orientation, sexual or gender identity have been among the most vocal in insisting that sexuality is not simply a private matter. And, indeed, laws proscribing non-conforming sexual behavior throughout the world are testament to the view that sexuality is a public issue. How and why a state intervenes varies according to time and location. However, invariably, families and communities, along with state actors, perceive that matters of sexuality are appropriate for public regulation. Women's lives are particularly bounded by such regulation.

Often, those who engage in same-sex practices are the first to be targeted by governments seeking to consolidate or secure their power. In such cases, it may quickly become clear that the concept of "dangerous" or "non-conforming" sexuality can stretch to encompass any acts that the government sees as threatening to its power--single women, men who are not "masculine enough," unmarried opposite sex couples and others.

Since 1994, international human rights standards have called for an end to discrimination based on real or perceived sexual orientation. With increasing regularity, international human rights experts are calling for greater attention to the intersections of gender-based discrimination, heteronormativity, homophobia and other forms of racism and intolerance. Violence perpetrated and/or condoned by the state on the basis of trangressive sexual conduct and/or gender expression has been acknowledged by human rights experts as deserving the attention and recognition of the international community. In a 2002 report to the Commission on Human Rights, Radhika Coomaraswamy, the former Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women maintained that, Gender-based violence is also related to the social construct of what it means to be either male or female. When a person deviates from what is considered "normal" behavior they are targeted for violence."

And yet, as Radhika Chandiramani of Tarshi, a sexual and reproductive health and rights organization in Delhi, India, notes, realities are indeed more complex that the mythology of normality. "In our part of the world," she comments, "there is such a profusion of gender and sexual expression. But schooled in binary ways of thinking, we turn blind to our own experiences and what stares us in the face." Chandiramani gives the following example:</p> <pre> ... in India, when asked, how many genders there are, most people will say-two, man and woman. But if while crossing the street you come across a hijra, and ask who that is--even a child will say 'a hijra' meaning someone who is neither man nor woman, someone who occupies a 'third' gender. (1) </pre> <p>Any expression of identity or divergence from cultural norms that require the expression of gender neatly correspond to biological sex, causes fear and hatred leading to actual violence, threats of violence and psychic harm. Rooted in stereotypes stemming from rigid conceptions of masculinity and femininity, this violence occurs on many levels ranging from daily torment and harassment in schools to hate-driven murder. For example, the 2005 report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women included information about lesbian women "being targeted for rape, specifically because of their sexual orientation in order for the aggressor to 'prove the [victim's] womanhood.' "Men who refuse to conform to gender norms of masculinity may also find themselves targeted for violence, as indicated by the persistent harassment and abuse of metis (cross-dressing men) reported by the Blue Diamond Society in Kathmandu, Nepal.

And yet, despite stigma, discrimination, violence and persecution, individuals and groups throughout the world are mobilizing to demand their human rights. For example, at the recent ICASA (International Conference on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa) session held in Abuja, Nigeria, LGBT-identified organizations engaged in a series of collective activities to counter the persistent marginalization of HIV/AIDS issues among men who have sex with men and women who have sex with women throughout Africa. Issuing a statement in December 2005, African LGBT and sexual rights groups demanded "attention to the continuous discrimination and marginalization that we experience in the fight against swis and HIV in Africa," and called for "qualitative and quantitative research into the factors that place us at risk to STIS and HIV." The statement also called for more proactive steps, noting "[w]e want to engage in respectful and loving safer sex practices and therefore demand adequate provisions of appropriate prevention materials." It is especially important to note that the groups not only rejected the marginalization and stigma to which they are subject and took governments to task for their obligation to address such discrimination, but they also demanded their sexual rights as an affirmative claim, including the possibility of engaging in loving and safe sex.

Like their African counterparts, LGBT and sexual rights groups worldwide are demanding the right to exercise and enjoy their rights, as well as to be free from discrimination, violence and abuse. The fruits of creative and assertive advocacy can be found in the increasing recognition of these rights by governments. For example, on April 16, 2003, the Mexican parliament unanimously passed a "Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination" that includes "sexual preferences" as a protected category. The law creates the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CNP), a body with the power to investigate discriminatory acts committed by public officers. Ratified by President Vicente Fox on July 6, 2003, the law made Mexico the second country in Latin America (after Ecuador) to provide nationwide protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

In March 2005, the CNP with CENSIDA (Mexico's national HIV/AIDS agency) launched a campaign against homophobia with two radio spots. In response, the Catholic group Union Nacional de Padres de Familia (UNPF) sent a public letter to President Vicente Fox demanding that the spots not be aired--stating that homosexuality is a "deviation" that should be "treated" not "advertised." Both the CNP and CENSIDA resisted the pressure, but agreed to delay airing the spots until after Easter.

However, while some governments are taking action to end discrimination, other countries appear to be taking the opposite route. Such is the case in Poland where the new president, prime minister and head of the conservative Catholic party that controls a significant number of parliamentary votes put the "gay question" at the forefront of the recent election. As mayor of Warsaw, now President Lech Kaczynski, banned the 2004 and 2005 gay pride parades. Despite the ban, more than 2,500 people took part, including some well-known politicians.

In the US too, progress and continued abuse appear to go hand in hand. In April 2002, the New York City Council overwhelmingly voted to include transgender people in its Human Rights Law, thus becoming the 42nd jurisdiction in the country to provide explicit protection from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression. Yet, nearly three years later, Amnesty International issued a report documenting extensive police abuse and misconduct against transgender persons, as well as lesbians, gay and bisexual people in the US. Research for the report, "Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People in the US" (2005), focused on four cities, including New York City. (The other three were Chicago, Los Angeles and San Antonio.) The report, conducted with the participation of a wide range of local and national LGBT groups, found that:</p> <pre> The targeting of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people for discriminatory

enforcement of laws and their treatment in the hands of police needs to be understood in the larger context of identity-based discrimination, and the interplay between different forms of discrimination--such as racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia.... (p2) </pre> <p>The report documents both extreme and mundane forms of harassment, including the tendency of police officers to presume that all transgender persons are sex workers. The report emphasizes that "transgender people, particularly low-income transgender people of color experience some of the most egregious cases of police brutality...." In one interview, an African American transgender woman describes how she was harassed by a police officer in an incident that took place nearly two years after transgender rights were included in the city's Human Rights Law. The woman told AI that:</p> <pre> she was leaving a meeting at the Gay and Lesbian Center in the West Village when

she was stopped by a white male officer for 'prostitution' while walking down Christopher Street. The officer allegedly took her bag, emptied out the context and threatened to hit her with his stick if he saw her again. (p16) </pre> <p>Many similar cases of routine discrimination and harassment, along with other cases of violence, humiliation, extreme brutality and persecution have been documented worldwide. And yet, LGBT and sexual rights activists in every part of the world are taking action and demanding change. Such actions are taking place despite social stigma and legal sanction, as, for example, in northern Nigeria, where Dorothy Aken'Ova has organized meetings of Igonet (Increse Girls Only Network) in a hotel in Abuja. Even the manager of the hotel where the meetings take place supports the cause, noting, according to a BBC report that "the hotel could be set ablaze if the word got out, but I'm proud to be assisting Dorothy in her work," and that "[Dorothy] has seen things lacking in the Nigerian system and she's trying to change them." Dorothy's vision and courage is matched by many others. In some cases their work receives public acclaim. In many other situations, their crucial work remains quiet but effective, making change by taking small, but incremental steps.

Homophobia in Jamaica

At least 30 gay men are believed to have been murdered in Jamaica since 1997, according to the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians and Gays (J-Flag), including Brian Williamson, the co-founder of J-Flag, and Steve Harvey, a leading activist for the rights of people with HIV/AIDS.

Jamaican law criminalizes same-sex sexual activity. Advocates argue convincingly that, as a result of this law, much of the violence that occurs against gay Jamaicans is sanctioned by the state. An example of high-ranking officials dismissing anti-gay bigotry came in a recent statement from Lloyd Ellis, chair of the police Public Complaints Authority. He said, according to a report from Human Rights Watch, that if police were abusing homosexuals, they were not doing it as members of the police force, but as citizens. And if citizens were attacking gays, they were "doing it out of necessity."

Bigotry against gays and lesbians has spread into every walk of life. Jamaican dancehall artists like Buju Banton feature lyrics that promote the killing of gay men like "Boom, bye bye, in a battyboy head" (battyboy being slang for a gay man).

While there has long been intense pressure on the Jamaican government to both repeal its sodomy laws and implement effective HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, it is only recently that any progress has been made. In November 2005, Jamaica's health minister agreed that there is a need for a national debate regarding sexuality; however, he has so far been unwilling to come out in favor of legalizing homosexuality.

--Amy Hutchinson

* Heteronormativity refers to the normative social construction of gender, based on the pairing of male/female, man/women, husband/wife, among the series of oppositions taken to be "normal" and "natural" and includes a variety of forms of coercive and/or compulsory heterosexuality.

(1) Hijra is a term used in the Indian subcontinent and includes those who aspire to and/or undergo castration, as well as those who are intersexed. Though some hijras refer to themselves in the feminine, others of them say that they belong to a third gender and are neither men nor women. Tarshi, "in plainspeak: Talking about Sexuality in South and Southeast Asia," October 2005.

SUSANA T. FRIED is the Programs Director at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, www.iglhrc.org. She would like to thank Sangeeta Budhiraja and Alejandra Sarda for their work on the Philippines and Mexico respectively.