Sectoral Approaches to Parliamentary Action

Maharashtra has become the second state in India to set up a Welfare Board and the first to set up a cultural institute (in process) dedicated to the transgender community. These positive developments came after a 2013 public consultation, supported by UNDP, which brought thousands of transgender people to interact directly with the Chief Minister and other government representatives to discuss the specific welfare needs of the transgender community.

The transgender community, a visible gender minority in India, continues to remain on the fringes of development and welfare programmes, with little access to public goods and services. The Maharashtra state government is attempting to address these gaps through the Welfare Board, which will provide avenues for formal education, expand employment and self-employment opportunities, run health programmes and provide free legal help to the community.

Professor Varsha  Gaikwad, a sitting Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, played an important role by including sex workers and transgender people in the deliberations for the Women's Policy in Maharashtra. When Professor Gaikwad was the Women and Child Development Minister for the State, representatives of the transgender community prepared a detailed presentation for the minister that highlighted the lack of health and education facilities for the transgender community. She formed a committee that included members of parliament, the legislative assembly and non-governmental organizations to undertake a review exercise. Professor Gaikwad directed that the committee should include representatives from the transgender and sex worker community so their concerns would be fully reflected in the policy document. The Maharashtra Women’s Policy was finalized and approved by the state cabinet on International Women's Day on 8 March 2015.

A video documenting the process can be found here:

In 2011, the National Congress of the Dominican Republic approved a Law on HIV and AIDS which represented a milestone in the history of the country. The law created the National Council for HIV and AIDS (CONAVIHSIDA), a multisectoral body responsible for coordinating and conducting the national response to HIV. Civil society and representatives of key populations, in particular people living with HIV, had worked side by side with the standing committees of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies to realize this outcome. People living with HIV and vulnerable groups, such as women, youth and LGBTI persons, gained a voice and a vote via CONAVIHSIDA.

In 2012, a progressive politician, Víctor Terrero, was appointed Executive Director of CONAVIHSIDA. In June 2013, led by Terrero, CONAVIHSIDA held a National Dialogue on HIV and the Law, with support from UNDP and UNAIDS. One of the recommendations of the dialogue was to create an Equality and Non-discrimination Act.

Such a law would prevent social exclusion, stigma and discrimination in line with the Dominican Constitution, which recognizes the equality of all persons before the law, and international instruments.

Terrero coordinated the establishment of a multisectoral working committee for the preparation of the draft Equality and Anti-discrimination Act, which became a permanent group now called the National Group for the Elimination of All Forms of Stigma and Discrimination (or GRUNEED in the Spanish acronym). GRUNEED has a mission to promote, design and implement comprehensive policies and regulations to foster equality and non-discrimination. GRUNEED is representative of all stakeholders and sectors engaged in the national response to HIV and those actors working on stigma, discrimination and human rights in the country.

Following adoption of the Santo Domingo Plan of Action by legislators at a PGA seminar on “Protecting Human Rights, Combating Discrimination and Addressing HIV/AIDS of Persons with Diverse Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities,” and to create synergies with the Legislature, Terrero encouraged lawmakers known for their work on human rights and protection of the most vulnerable to participate in GRUNEED. PGA is also providing technical assistance to GRUNEED.

Public engagement and advocacy efforts surrounding the proposed Law on Equality and Non-discrimination have opened up space for representatives of the LGBTI community to be involved in decision-making. The proposed law is a goal of both the National Human Rights Plan 2015-2020 and the Government Plan for 2016-2020. This proposal for the first specific law in the Dominican Republic that includes articles on sexual orientation and gender identity marks a great national achievement.

The Time for Inclusive Education has published a booklet which compiles some of the evidence and advocacy materials used for the campaign. The booklet was delivered to all Members of the Scottish Parliament in 2015.

Scotland’s track record on LGBTI issues in education presents sobering statistics. Recent reports indicate that 54 percent of LGBTI pupils do not feel part of their school communities, with 71 percent regularly skipping school. 54 percent of those who experience direct homophobic bullying are self-harming and a shocking 26 percent have attempted suicide.

Riding a wave of political activism in the wake of the 2014 Scottish referendum, two activists, Jordan Daly and Liam Stevenson, launched the Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) Campaign that set out to make LGBTI education a requirement in the curriculum of Scottish schools. This would keep schools from opting out of LGBTI programmes, as they are currently free to do, and would establish a firm ground for more inclusive, safe and supportive environments for LGBTI pupils.

To secure nationwide political action, the TIE Campaign turned to parliament. It submitted an e-petition to Scotland’s Public Petitions Committee that called on the Scottish Parliament to “urge the Scottish Government to make the teaching of LGBTI+ issues and topics statutory in all schools, with the introduction of a diverse and fully inclusive education programme that addresses, acknowledges and highlights such matters relating to the LGBTI+ community in a positive and progressive manner.”

While the petition gained widespread public support and was warmly received by the Members of the Public Petitions Committee, it was ultimately rejected. The Committee explained its decision by stating that: “although there is a lot of sympathy for the petition, the petitioner is asking for something to be set in stone in the curriculum, and that does not happen. However, the issues were raised and the committee took forward the issue and asked for a comprehensive analysis of the situation.”

Realizing that curriculum changes were not possible at that time, the TIE Campaign shifted its approach. Building on the widespread grassroots support the TIE Campaign enjoyed – including the unanimous backing of public sector unions and Scotland’s biggest teachers’ union – TIE turned to political parties. It encouraged them to adopt LGBTI teacher training in their manifestos ahead of the 5 May 2014 elections, convincing candidates vying for parliamentary seats that this would resonate with the electorate. Today, the political party manifestos of Scotland’s leading parties have included the TIE Campaign’s LGBTI teacher training proposal in their campaign promises. Going forward, this secures a strong parliamentary platform for action on LGBTI issues in education.