Parliamentarians Opposing Regressive Law Reform that Targets LGBTI People

In 2014, when amendments to the Russian Federal Law “against propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors” were discussed, although her party supported the law, parliamentarian Maria Maksakova proposed that the discriminatory term ‘non-traditional’ be removed. Maksakova, who is also a well-known opera singer, delivered a speech at a meeting of the ruling party which was widely televised, reprinted and shared through social media.

“From now on,” said Maksakova, “‘homosexual propaganda’ will mean mentioning non-straight people in any context, other than negative. The intolerable situation leads to an increase in the number of suicides among people who find they have gay inclinations, especially teenagers…They can neither receive counselling, nor share experiences – as this is considered ‘propaganda.’ But the law does not deprive their persecutors from their ‘right’ to oppress, abuse and make human lives miserable.”

In 2014, a campaign spreading homophobic messages and sentiments was organized in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The campaign focused on efforts to introduce a law similar to the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act that was passed by the Ugandan Parliament in December 2013.

As an MP from the opposition party was about to introduce an anti-homosexuality bill, members of civil society sprang into action, including representatives from LGBTI organizations. Civil society actors identified members of government – who were also part of the Social and Cultural Commission of the Congolese Parliament under which the SOGI portfolio falls – to work with to stop the proposed bill.

To sensitize parliamentarians and others, an advocacy tool called Argumentaire Technique Contre la Criminalisation de Certaines Poulations Clés (Technical Set of Arguments against Criminalization of Certain Key Populations) was developed with the support of UNDP. It gave like-minded parliamentarians and their supporters the technical arguments and terminology they needed to argue against the rationale behind the proposed bill. The Argumentaire was circulated among many parliamentarians.

The strength of the technical document, the capacity building provided to members of parliament on ‘sensitive’ issues and the identification of key decision makers, such as the President of the parliament, all had the desired impacts and the bill was not introduced. The Argumentaire Technique Contre la Criminalisation de Certaines Poulations Clés continues to be circulated beyond the parliament and is widely used by civil society, government representatives and other public institutions.