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UN Human Rights Office Unveils Global Standards for Business to Tackle Discrimination Against LGBTI People

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein Thursday launched an unprecedented set of global standards to support the business community in tackling discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi, trans and intersex people.

Addressing an audience of business leaders, activists and journalists at Microsoft’s New York City headquarters, Zeid called on the private sector to play its part in promoting LGBTI inclusion in the workplace and beyond. “Social change requires the active involvement of all parts of society – including, critically, the business community,” he said. “The decisions that companies take – whether in respect of human resources, investment, supply chains, even marketing – can have a real and, in some cases, profound impact on human rights.”

Drawing on good practice from around the world, the new standards set out actions companies can take to protect the rights of LGBTI individuals. These include eliminating workplace discrimination, making sure business operations do not contribute to discrimination against customers, suppliers or members of the public, and working with business partners to address discriminatory practices up and down the supply chain. They also encourage companies to stand up for the rights of LGBTI people in the countries where they operate – including through advocacy and support for local organizations.

“There is growing evidence that, besides being the right thing to do, standing up for equal rights for LGBTI people is also in the private sector’s commercial interest,” the High Commissioner noted. “Excluding any group slows us all down. Eliminating discrimination is the key to unlocking talent and maximizing productivity.”

Welcoming the standards, Microsoft President Brad Smith said: “While important strides have been made to advance LGBTI rights, there are still gaps. Corporate standards, set by the private sector, can help companies articulate their values and stand up for the rights of LGBTI individuals in the workplace and communities in which they do business.”

Speaking at the launch, Accenture Products chief executive Sander van’t Noordende said: “These standards will be vital for companies that understand the importance of an inclusive workplace, marketplace and community and want to know how to make a start. I hope they will make it possible for more people to bring their authentic selves to work.”

The Standards of Conduct build on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011. They are the product of a year-long process of consultations facilitated by the UN Human Rights Office and the Institute for Human Rights and Business, including regional meetings with leading business representatives in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Among companies that have already indicated their support are Accenture, Baker McKenzie, BNP Paribas, The Coca-Cola Company, Deutsche Bank, EDF, EY, Gap Inc., Godrej, IKEA Group, Microsoft, Oath, Orange, SAP, and Spotify.

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ILGA-Europe Launches Appeal to Help the LGBTI Movement in Azerbaijan

ILGA-Europe have launched an urgent appeal to help organizations on the ground support victims of the crisis in Azerbaijan, where members of the LGBTI community are being targeted by police raids.

Members of the LGBTI community in Baku are being actively targeted by police raids, with those detained being assaulted, forcibly medically examined, fined or forced to reveal contact details from their mobile phones.

ILGA-Europe have launched an urgent appeal for donations to help organizations in the region to support these victims. Based on their experience in responding to the human rights crisis in Chechnya, they can provide grants to activists working with victims to meet their needs. This might be used to provide psychosocial support, medical assistance, help with rehousing, or legal fees when someone is under arrest, and for court hearings.

Funds will be re-granted to activists working directly with victims and used by ILGA-Europe to cover costs directly associated with working on the crisis in Azerbaijan in line with ILGA-Europe’s accountability standard.

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Trans Hockey Player Halts Hormone Treatment to Continue Playing Sport

Trans hockey player Harrison Browne has halted his hormone therapy so that he can continue to compete in the sport.

Browne rose to fame as a trans athlete after he made history when he became the first openly transgender athlete on a professional US sports team.

Competing in the National Women’s Hockey League, Browne often spoke openly about his transition and what it meant to him to hear his name announced on a loudspeaker.

“I’m still the same player, I’m still playing in the body that I did last year, I’m still the same exact person. I’m just a different name and different pronouns, that’s it. I’m still Brownie,” he told ESPN earlier this year.

Browne’s presence in the sport led to landmark changes in hockey, as the National Women’s Hockey League pledged to protect trans players and work towards a more accepting league.

In March, Browne announced that he would be retiring from hockey aged 23 after 15 years of playing the sport.

The Buffalo Beauts skater decided to retire so that he could focus on his transition.

“I want to start transitioning and seeing myself in the mirror the way I see on the inside,” he explained.

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“On the ice, when I put that equipment on, I’m a hockey player. I don’t think about who I’m playing with, I don’t think I’m playing with women. I don’t think I’m in the wrong body.

“Off the ice, I felt more comfortable having my friends call me what I wanted to be called, referring to me with the pronouns that I wanted. If anything, my product on the ice was let loose and I could be myself.”

Now, Browne has made the decision to halt his transition as he has been given the opportunity to sign with the New York Riveters, another NWHL team.

The league does not require players identify as female but states that they cannot be undergoing hormone therapy.

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(Getty)

Talking in a video on YouTube, Browne explained that he was “really excited to be playing again”.

“So when I announced my retirement I was wholeheartedly ready to give it up but I decided to delay my transition another year. The reasoning behind why I wanted to keep playing is that I feel I have more to give and my game is still good,” he said.

Browne added that he didn’t feel he performed as well last season despite winning a championship and his work for the LGBTQ community. He also feels he needs to boost trans representation in light of transphobia in the US right now.

“The LGBTQ community and trans community has reached out to me. Parents and kids have reached out to me to say how important it is for them to have an active athlete in the media.

“I think if I stepped away from that I wouldn’t be doing the job that I can for young teens that are struggling. I think I can help more people if I stay active.

“I’m really going to be active I’m going to be a lot of LGBTQ organisations, groups and centres and volunteer my time. I’m excited to really embrace the sport and bring people into hockey and show that they are wanted. I’m really excited to keep playing and come back,” he added.

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Forget About ‘Gun Control,’ Let’s Repeal the Second Amendment

So after suffering the effects of yet another mass shooting in our country, this time in Las Vegas, Nevada where currently  58 people have died and approximately 520 others were wounded, let’s look at the firearms laws in the state of Nevada.

  • No permit required to purchase a firearm;
  • No gun registration required;
  • No gun owners’ license required;
  • No permit required to carry concealed long guns;
  • No laws restricting the sale and ownership of assault weapons;
  • No restrictions on the capacity of firearms magazines
  • No restriction on the number of firearms an individual may own!

The suspected shooter had with him 23 firearms at the time of his attack on a crowd attending an outdoor country music concert in Las Vegas.

After each incident of mass shootings, we hear the obligatory “I send my thoughts and prayers to the survivors and to the loved ones of those who have died” coming from politicians and other officials. Well, I hate to break it to you, but “thoughts and prayers” simply aren’t cutting it! They aren’t helping to reduce the chances of another incident tomorrow or next week or next year.

Each time I hear of another incident of gun violence in a long and tragic chain, I think back to the very first thing that caught my eye as I entered the grounds of the Ames, Iowa Republican Party Presidential Straw Poll in the summer of 2011. Three young children, I would guess between the ages of 4 -7, sporting day-glo orange baseball caps with “NRA” imprinted atop, and round stickers on their small T-shirts announcing “GUNS SAVE LIVES.”

But, really, do these “guns save lives?” Do laws expanding gun possession, concealed or not, actually “save lives”?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gun-related violence has reached epidemic proportions in our country by snuffing out the lives of upwards of 30,000+ people and wounding many more annually. On average, guns end the lives of more than 80 people in the United States every day.  Each year, gun violence affects over 100,000 people in some way.

Many of the guns used in these killings reach military level weapons power, guns which currently remain legal. Today in the United States, there are 88.8 firearms per 100 people.

Of the increasing number mass murders in the United States since 1982, most of the shooters obtained their weapons legally. Demographically, the shooters in all but a very few cases involved males, usually white, with an average age of 35 years.

Should any limits be placed on the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, which reads: “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”?

We seem somehow only to spout the second clause in that sentence while forgetting the first, especially the term “well-regulated”!

I propose that we reevaluate the political right’s obsession with the so-called “freedom” to bear arms because it is not only “criminals who kill people” as Second Amendment advocates claim. Therefore,

  • We must ban and criminalize the possession of automatic and semi-automatic weapons.
  • We must close loopholes such as buying a weapon at a gun show.
  • We must ban the purchase of firearms and ammunition on the internet because some people are still doing this legally.
  • We must increase the waiting period and make background checks more rigorous and effective.
  • We must limit the number of firearms any individual can own.
  • We must limit the number of bullets any firearm clip can hold.
  • We must ban and criminalize the purchase and possession of armor piercing bullets, and also hollow-tip bullets.
  • We must rethink the “logic” of permitting concealed weapons, especially in places like houses of worship, colleges, bars, restaurants, and political rallies.
  • We must interface all databases monitoring firearm ownership to assess the firearm-owning population more accurately and effectively.

To be perfectly honest, though, I want the Second Amendment repealed! It is an Amendment for goodness sake. It is not some sort of divinely-inspired mandate from a superior being well beyond our comprehension. It was created, rather, by our intelligent but flawed “founding fathers” who probably did not want totally unlimited and unrestricted rights to bear arms.

Even if they did advocate for unrestricted firearms ownership, these are the same men who owned slaves, committed genocide against and expelled native peoples, withheld enfranchisement from women, engaged in and killed one another in duels, and so on. Actually, I’m really surprised the National Rifle Association hasn’t advocated for the return of lethal dueling matches. Maybe that’s next on their agenda. (Go see the Broadway show “Hamilton” to see how that turned out!)

As we all know, in the current political climate, the chances for comprehensive common sense gun control in the United States is only a pipe dream as long as the National Rifle Association controls Congress and state legislatures, for if they did not, we would have seen effective laws passed years ago resulting in countless lives saved.

Nevertheless, this utter stupidity in our system of firearms laws must end. Enough is enough is enough is enough already! Actually, it is far past that time.

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How You Can Help LGBTQ Hurricane Victims in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is reeling from the massive destruction brought by Hurricane Maria, but you can help.

Ricky Martin has launched a crowdfunding relief effort, raising at time of writing nearly $1 million, but it is a general fund for all victims. Another option to help those affected, and one that provides relief specifically to the LGBTQ community, comes courtesy of CenterLink.

CenterLink, the national association of LGBTQ community centers, has been in contact with Centro Comunitario LGBTT de Puerto Rico, to determine what help is needed and how best to provide assistance.

It has set up a fundraising page for those wishing to donate.

“Along with helping to purchase batteries, flashlights, a generator for the Center, non-perishable food, and other hard-to-come-by essentials for community members, funds will also go to assist those least likely to receive assistance from post-storm recovery efforts – the LGBTQ community,” CenterLink said in a statement.

People who wish to send needed items directly, including batteries, flashlights, toothbrushes, garbage bags, and non-perishable food items, can send small packages to:

Centro Comunitario LGBTT de Puerto Rico
Attn: Cecilia La Luz
P.O. Box 9501
San Juan, PR 00908

Amazon will also deliver to a post office box and the postal service is up and running in San Juan.

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AsylumConnect and One Degree join Forces to Take First Online Resource Database for LGBTQ Asylum Seekers

AsylumConnect, a fiscally sponsored nonprofit helping LGBTQ asylum seekers find verified human needs resources, and One Degree, a technology-driven nonprofit that helps low-income families access resources to achieve social and economic mobility, today announced a partnership to build a national version of the AsylumConnect catalog. The AsylumConnect catalog, currently available on web and mobile devices for Seattle and Philadelphia, is the first online resource database for LGBTQ asylum seekers in the U.S. This partnership will enable the rapid growth of the AsylumConnect catalog to New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco by November 2017.

“This partnership is a big step forward for the communities we both serve,” said Rey Faustino, founder and CEO of One Degree. “Together, our two organizations are breaking the mold of a nonprofit sector that is rife with fractured and duplicative solutions. By working together, we can scale our impact quickly and more efficiently.”

Thousands of LGBTQ immigrants and asylum seekers come to the U.S. every year fleeing persecution in their home countries based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Yet upon arrival in the U.S., many do not know where it is safe to go for help.

The AsylumConnect catalog fills this gap. This groundbreaking database empowers LGBTQ asylum seekers to safely integrate into the U.S. by providing a platform for them to access resource information and referrals to meet their needs in key areas, including: housing, legal, food, medical, mental health, social support, employment, and education. To-date, the catalog has garnered positive feedback from LGBTQ asylum seekers and service providers. Asylum seekers have called the catalog “highly recommended,” “easy to use,” and noted they eagerly await expansion to other “local [organizations] and regions.”

“My office is glad to learn that AsylumConnect exists,” commented an immigration and asylum attorney focusing on LGBT/SOGI-minority claims. “So many asylum-seekers don’t know where to turn and worry that ‘help’ will discriminate.”

Now, building upon One Degree’s powerful resource search and management platform, AsylumConnect will scale its service to all major U.S. cities.

“With One Degree’s support, the AsylumConnect catalog will be able to reach its full potential,” said Katie Sgarro, AsylumConnect Co-Founder and President. “Together, we can ensure that all LGBTQ asylum seekers in the U.S. have the information they need to finally live safe, healthy, and authentic lives.”

The new resource catalog powered by One Degree will introduce additional U.S. cities, new technical functionality, as well as an improved user experience for both LGBTQ asylum seekers and service providers in the U.S. The launch will commence AsylumConnect’s national expansion through opening up public resource suggestions to anywhere in the U.S. powered by One Degree’s community submission tools.

One Degree, a nonprofit organization founded in 2012, will provide access to its open API, as well as consultation on technology and resource information management, which will enable AsylumConnect to rapidly accelerate its goal of creating a comprehensive online resource database for LGBTQ asylum seekers in the U.S. In turn, AsylumConnect will contribute to One Degree’s resource database, which will become the new home of its catalog.

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UNAIDS Calls to Quicken the Pace of Action to End AIDS

The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, in collaboration with UNAIDS, brought together six heads of state or government to accelerate action and get countries on the Fast-Track to end AIDS. World leaders joined around 500 partners from government, the private sector and civil society on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to reinvigorate political leadership around HIV.

The Fast-Track approach is saving more and more lives. In 2016, 19.5 million people—more than half the 36.7 million people living with HIV—were accessing life-saving treatment. The number of people who died from AIDS-related illnesses has been reduced by nearly half since 2005, and the global number of new HIV infections has been reduced by 11% since 2010.

However, the pace of action is still not enough to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. In order to step up progress and achieve the global targets adopted in the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, all partners need to fully implement their country Fast-Track strategy. Ending AIDS requires steadfast political leadership, commitment to action and accountability towards shared responsibility and reaffirmed global solidarity. Increased effective and efficient investments are, and will continue to be, an essential prerequisite for success. Elimination of stigma and discrimination and full recognition of human rights are cornerstones of sustainable progress.

“Leadership, partnership and innovation will transform the epidemic,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé.

President Museveni was the first head of state in Africa to launch a presidential Fast-Track initiative on ending AIDS as a public health threat, known as “Kisanja Hakuna Mchezo”, or “no time for playing games”.

“I am confident that working together with you all, we shall attain an AIDS-free Africa. It is possible to end AIDS in our generation!” said President Museveni.

During the event, the speakers outlined the positive impact that the Fast-Track approach to ending AIDS is having on people, health systems and the broader Sustainable Development Goals in Africa and beyond. They noted that addressing HIV within the Sustainable Development Goals will pave the foundation of the AIDS response.

“We must build on the Fast-Track commitments. We cannot stop before we have reached the finish line,” said Jacquelyne Alesi, a civil society representative from Uganda.

Speakers made a strong call for political leadership, global solidarity and shared responsibility to build momentum and deliver on the goal of ending AIDS by 2030, highlighting the role that supporting strengthened health systems plays, not just in making progress towards the Fast-Track Targets, but also in addressing stigma and discrimination.

“I am not speaking of a vague hope, but of a willingness of the heart. I do not say “we could defeat AIDS,” but rather “we will end AIDS,” said Line Renaud, singer and AIDS activist.

Momentum is building, but has not yet reached a critical mass. When the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Political Declaration on Ending AIDS in June 2016, Member States committed to achieve global and regional Fast-Track Targets by 2020.

In 2016, UNAIDS estimated:

19.5 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy

36.7 million [30.8 million–42.9 million] people globally were living with HIV

1.8 million [1.6 million–2.1 million] people became newly infected with HIV

1.0 million [830 000–1.2 million] people died from AIDS-related illnesses

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GLAAD Launches Countdown to Spirit Day

GLAAD today launched the official countdown to Spirit Day, the largest and most visible anti-bullying campaign in the world accelerating acceptance of LGBTQ youth.

Spirit Day, taking place Oct. 19, inspires millions of people around the world to wear purple or ‘go purple’ online in a unified stand against bullying and to show their support for LGBTQ youth. Each year, Spirit Day draws the participation of celebrities, corporations, media outlets, sports leagues, schools, faith institutions, national landmarks, and individuals. Spirit Day is made possible by the generous support of its presenting partners Target, and Wells Fargo, as well official partners Johnson & Johnson, Liberty Mutual, and NBA/WNBA, and supporting partners Barilla, Kirland & Ellis, and NFL.

“Spirit Day is a vital initiative that highlights the serious issue of bullying and its disproportionate impact on LGBTQ youth,” said GLAAD CEO & President Sarah Kate Ellis. “It also sends powerful messages of support, letting LGBTQ and other marginalized youth know that they are not alone – something sorely needed in our increasingly polarized society.”

To mark the countdown to Spirit Day and the back-to-school season, GLAAD also launched crucial anti-bullying resources for educators and students.

Coinciding with National Bullying Prevention Month, Spirit Day began in 2010 after a high school student posted the idea to her Tumblr page following the suicide deaths of several LGBTQ and LGBTQ-perceived young people.

According to GLSEN’s most recent National School Climate Survey, 57.6% of LGBTQ students felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 43.3% because of their gender expression. GLSEN also reported that 85.2% of LGBTQ students experienced verbal harassment (e.g., called names or threatened) at school based on a personal characteristic.

Previous Spirit Day participants include The White House, The Empire State Building, Oprah Winfrey, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Shaquille O’Neal, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The View, The Talk, The Tonight Show, the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, WWE, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, the Las Vegas Strip, and more. For more information on Spirit Day and how GLAAD accelerates acceptance, visit http://glaad.org/spiritday

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Groundswell Fund Honored with 2017 NCRP Impact Award for ‘Smashing Silos’

The Groundswell Fund, largest funder of the reproductive justice movement in the United States and the nation’s primary movement engaging women of color, low-income women, and LGBT people as grassroots activists, won the first-ever “Smashing Silos Award” from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) 2017 IMPACT Awards.

The public foundation was specifically honored for its intersectional approach to supporting the reproductive justice movement. It was also recognized for its Liberation Fund, which expands support women of color- and transgender people of color-led work in other social justice sectors and elevates the organizing power of those groups to advance policy change.

The first round of Liberation Fund grantees will be announced in the coming months. Since its launch in May, that fund has:

  • Secured $500K for its first set of grants

  • Recruited 15 prominent advisors from across environmental, racial and economic justice, to immigrant, Native and transgender rights.

  • Plans to announce its first set of grantees this Fall 2017

“We dedicate this award to our grantees who transgress issue silos every day, the radical queers in Arizona working for health care and immigrant rights, the Black women in Pittsburgh fighting for environmental justice and abortion care, the Native women on the reservation demanding contraception access and birthing justice,” said Groundswell Fund’s executive director, Vanessa Daniel.

Groundswell was one of four recipients, including Foundation for Louisiana, Groundswell Fund, Meyer Memorial Trust and Solutions Project. Awardees were recognized in New Orleans during the CHANGE Unity Summit.

“Receiving the Smashing Silos award means the tides are turning and we couldn’t be prouder to stand with our grantees at the forefront of that groundswell,” said Daniel.  “The leaders and organizations we support are organizing on the front lines of every major issue we face right now. They bring the lived experience, the knowledge, the strategy and the vision our movements need to transform the systems and policies we need to change.”

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Nearly a Quarter of Americans Think Homosexuality Should Still be Illegal

A recent Gallup poll found that nearly a quarter of Americans still think gay sex should be illegal, two years after the legalization of same-sex marriage.

23 percent of respondents to the poll said “gay or lesbian relations between consenting adults” should not be legal.

sodomy poll Gallup

As you can see from the chart, the silver lining is that the numbers have been moving in the right direction overall. Gallup began asking the question back in 1978, when 43 percent of people said gay sex should be illegal, with the same number saying it should be legal.

Now a full 72 percent of people believe gay sex should be legal.

The numbers are also moving in our direction on marriage equality, with 64 percent saying same-sex marriages “should be recognized under the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages.” That is up from just 27 percent back in 1997.

gallup marriage equality 2017Gallup

The Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing consensual gay sex with Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, and legalized marriage equality with Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.

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