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Human rights defenders are the vanguard in advancing LGBT rights but securing progress necessitates building broader coalitions beyond just the frontline

The Salzburg Global LGBT Forum has sought to establish a truly global space to reflect upon and advance LGBT and human rights discussions around the world. The Forum brings together leaders from diverse fields – including human rights, legal, artistic and religious backgrounds. An important voice (and ear) in those discussions is that of governments.

As the inaugural Salzburg Global LGBT Forum gathered at Schloss Leopoldskron in June 2013, the United States Supreme Court was hearing cases for and against the Defense of Marriage Act; in Hong Kong, the Court of Final Appeal had ruled in favor of a trans-woman seeking the right to marry her boyfriend, ending her three-year long legal battle; and France had just signed both gay adoption and gay marriage into law.

Conversely however, many regressive laws were also being considered, most noticeably Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which originally proposed the death penalty for anyone found to be having same-sex relations, and Russia’s LGBT propaganda law, which made distribution of (extremely loosely defined) “propaganda” among minors in support of  “non-traditional sexual relationships,” a criminal offence. Both pieces of legislation were blamed for increased violence towards the countries’ LGBT communities.

Even in the European Union, where homosexuality is fully decriminalized and many, but not all countries have enacted gender identity laws, an EU report published on May 17, 2013 – IDAHOT, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia – found that nearly half of the 93,000+ respondents in the 28 EU member states had “felt personally discriminated against or harassed on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.” A month later, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency presented this largest survey of LGBT discrimination ever undertaken at the Forum’s inaugural session. The survey revealed that 91 percent of the respondents had witnessed homo- and transphobia in schools and that 43 percent of transgender persons reported having been attacked more than three times in the past year.

It is against this backdrop of growing rights, yet persistent persecution that the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum seeks to convene a broad coalition of LGBT human rights defenders to advance the global conversation on LGBT rights.

Stigma and discrimination are widespread in key aspects of LGBT lives including employment, education, housing and health care. While there has been significant progress, LGBT people continue to face both legal and social barriers to equality and inclusion, and consequently are marginalized. Attention to their needs, especially by governments, are essential if countries are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, as set by the United Nations.

Representatives from multiple levels and sectors of governments, including parliamentarians, public servants and diplomats, working on the local, national or international stage, have taken part in all of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum’s sessions since 2013. Two of these gatherings have been held at the behest of German Federal Ministries. In 2014, the Forum was invited to advise the Foreign Office on how its embassies can better engage LGBT organizations. In 2017, the Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, invited Fellows of the Forum to present their learnings from the three-year long “Family is…” project that the ministry supported at a dedicated event in Berlin.

Since 2013, the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum has seen participation from current and former elected officials in Bhutan, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Serbia and Venezuela; public servants and diplomats from Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Korea, Sweden, the UK, the US, Ukraine and the European Union; and representatives from multilateral organizations including the UNDP, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the Council of Europe.

All sessions have hosted panel discussions with diplomats and legislators. In Chiang Rai in 2016, a panel of ambassadors and lawmakers from the UK, Sweden, Canada, Venezuela and Bhutan ultimately declared that government and civil society from across the globe must work together to identify strategic opportunities and leverage each other’s strengths to further advance the human rights and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.

That panel agreed on the importance of building coalitions  —  be they within the LGBT community; between the LGBT community, governments and development partners; or with other civil society organizations that deal with other marginalized populations. Building these bridges, particularly with governments and state structures, can contribute greatly towards turning advocacy into much-needed legal reform and policy change.

“In Bhutan, we are currently reviewing the legal provisions in Bhutanese law which discriminate and criminalize LGBTI people and will be making the necessary recommendations for amendments,” said Ugyen Wangdi, Member of Parliament from Bhutan. “This opportunity [the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum in Asia] gives us a unique chance to learn about the needs and issues concerning the LGBT community, and how us, as lawmakers, can make a difference to improve their well-being.”

The challenges confronting LGBT persons are not only national or regional, but also global. Developing an understanding of how countries’ and regions’ successes and challenges relate to and influence issues at a global level is essential. The lessons that different cultures and experiences provide should be harnessed to advance LGBT inclusion on the global stage.

As Klaus Mueller underscored following the 2016 session, held in partnership with the UNDP’s Being LGBTI in Asia program, in Chaing Rai, Thailand: “Continuously bringing LGBT human rights groups and government agencies together is vital for a better understanding of how both can collaboratively and independently advance equality and inclusion of LGBT people and communities.”