LGBT: Moving Towards Equality

Human Rights Watch monitors all governments for abuse in the world. It has 90 members. Kenneth Roth was an attorney before joining Human Rights Watch as Executive Director in 1987. He oversaw the creation 10 years ago of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGBT) rights program. Here, he reflects on how LGBT rights have changed throughout that period.

Nearly 2.8 billion people live in countries where homosexuality could result in death, imprisonment, or corporal punishment. Only 780million people live in countries that allow same-sex marriages and civil unions.

These numbers were released by the International Lesbian and Gay Association in Mai 2014. They show that there are still many steps to go in achieving universal LGBT rights worldwide. However, there have been some significant achievements over the last 10 years. This too deserves to be recognized. The Outlook on the Global Agenda examines the achievements and highlights the challenges ahead.

What has been the progress in LGBT rights advocacy since Human Rights Watch launched its LGBT rights programme,

Both locally and globally, there has been a lot of progress. It is important that LGBT rights have not been a Western issue. Many of those leading the defense of LGBT rights are coming from the developing countries. The historic LGBT resolution at UN Human Rights Council, adopted September 2014, was led primarily by Latin American governments and supported by other governments around the world, including South Africa. Even governments such as Vietnam, Venezuela, Cuba, and Venezuela were supportive of the resolution.

What are the differences in LGBT rights across the globe

Despite this worldwide support, we are seeing an increase in backlash. This is in large measure due to greater visibility of LGBT individuals in societies who have started to recognize them. However, LGBT people can also be used as scapegoats by embattled leaders who want to attract support from conservativeer sections of society. Whether it is Uganda, Nigeria, Russia or elsewhere, the decision of making the LGBT community the victim of a corrupt regime is a result serious challenges.

Because of its vulnerability, the LGBT community’s status is a good indicator for society’s overall human rights status. It is possible to be certain that the rights for LGBT people will soon be under threat.

What was the most important driver of change in regulation or people’s mindsets over the past decade?
Some of the more prominent LGBT rights have been recognized by society’s larger changes, including the equality between the genders, the rights revolution in general and a greater respect for individual autonomy. You saw that the LGBT population was gradually coming out. So people discovered they had a homosexual brother, son, neighbor, or close friend. This started to influence public perceptions and strengthened social change.

It is easy for bigotry and ignorance to exist. However, when you see someone being prejudiced against you, you realize that they are not just any people. Maybe I should acknowledge their rights. Why can’t LGBT people love their chosen ones as much as I do? The fear of the “other” can still be felt in certain other trends, such as increased nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment.

It also ties back to the scapegoating comment. Leaders can use the LGBT community’s lower visibility and relatability to their political advantage.

Yes. In Uganda, homosexuality is falsely portrayed as something that is not part of the traditional culture but is instead a foreign concept. This has led to the LGBT community being unfairly blamed for societal issues. This is ironic because much homophobia stems from interventions by well-funded US evangelical movements. Also, the existing prohibitions on homosexual relations are a continuation British colonial bans. It’s also not like the West has been secretly sending gays to other countries. There has been a LGBT population in all societies since the beginning of time. This is simply a matter of political mentality and politics.

We need to know who we should be focusing on to fight the backlash.
Begin to talk with those who are the scapegoats and the policies they promote. International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently released new rules for selecting host cities. This includes a requirement that there be no discrimination. It implicitly means that Sochi would have been rejected if Russia fostered homophobic environments at the time Sochi was selected. This is a crucial signal.

However, it is important to coordinate a wider education effort. Any effort that makes LGBT people more visible, moves past prejudices and ignorance, and shows that gays hold the same positions as all other citizens, will be a catalyst for societal change.

What pressures are they facing?

The younger generation is often more open-minded than their elders in many ways. My positive view is that young people are more accepting of sexual orientation differences than their elders. The younger generation, however, is a major battleground. Many leaders who support homophobia insist that their views aren’t anti-gay. They just want to protect young people from “gay propaganda”. They are trying to defend LGBT rights with younger generations.

What role might non-governmental stakeholders like businesses play?

This debate is important for business. A large percentage of consumers insist that LGBT rights be respected. Corporate giants worldwide cannot ignore the need to prevent discrimination at work and the acceptance of homophobia. These companies can be considered oases of LGBT rights in other countries, even if the government is not on board.

Business is currently failing to embrace role models. Lord Browne was regretful about not being more openly gay while he was CEO, BP. Unfortunately, many corporate leaders still believe they need to be closed off. This will encourage societal changes faster if corporations highlight LGBT leaders. However, there is good progress in the area of LGBT leadership, as seen by the increase in gay business leaders compared to a ten-year ago.

Do you believe that the international LGBT community is a powerful driver?

Positive actions can be taken at many levels: local and national as well as global. The UN’s actions are important in the legitimization of LGBT rights. A large majority of votes were positive, which is a significant rebuke against governments that claim homophobia or bigotry is consistent with international human-rights standards. They’re not.

International institutions can also gather information about the treatment and rights of the LGBT community around the world to find out if governments are not recognizing their rights. The most important thing is to protect the political space where LGBT activists and local rights activists can operate.

This debate could be led by multistakeholder international organisations like the World Economic Forum. Sessions could be held on topics related to LGBT rights. A session on best business practices in respect of LGBT rights could be an example. It would allow participants to discuss not only the formal steps to non-discrimination but also the personal leadership roles that corporations may play.

What challenges have civil rights organizations faced in the last decade?

Because LGBT rights are essential to the human rights agenda, we established a formal LGBT programme in Human Rights Watch ten year ago. One of our first interventions was in Egypt. There was a raid and crackdown on the Queen Boat, which was literally a boat in Egypt that was a gay bar. The occupants were then brutally beaten and arrested by the police.

Human Rights Watch protested but a few Egyptian colleagues objected. These Egyptian colleagues claimed that homosexuality and the repression or abuse of gays were not human rights issues. They feared that the LGBT rights issue would undermine their work on human rights. Nowadays, this argument is not common. The Egyptian government has embraced LGBT rights as an integral part of their broader human rights program. This shows the challenges that civil society groups face when they try to tackle an area that is dominated by homophobia or regressive views.

We have been doing this for a long time.
I have witnessed tension between religious movements, LGBT communities, and other religions. Are you concerned that this trend will persist? Is there a role religions can play to help people feel more comfortable?

Religion is not a force that I consider to be a bad thing, even though it has been in some cases. All religions can have enlightened leaders, I believe. Every tradition is dynamic, and every tradition can be reinterpreted as many times as necessary.

Take a look at Christianity. The right-wing evangelical movement is a very powerful and well-funded homophobic group. On the flip side, you have the Catholic Church, which has, even before current leadership, taken positions against violence or discrimination in relation to the LGBT community. Pope Francis went further, expressing an open-minded attitude in both his doctrinal statements and personal positions. He is a shining example of what an enlightened leader could do even in a conservative institution.

What are your greatest hopes and concerns for LGBT rights’ future?

This backlash is evidently my greatest concern right now. I hope that homophobia will be eradicated from some areas.