On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech to over 250,000 civil rights supporters in Washington, D.C. Since then, King’s words have inspired generations of activists worldwide fighting to end racism and other forms of discrimination. In the spirit of this iconic speech, PGA’s SOGI Campaign would also like to express our hopes and dreams for equality in 2020 – a year that commemorates the 5th anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals and its vision of leaving no one behind, the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for Gender Equality and 75 years of United Nations’ multilateralism.

In 2020, we dream of a life with dignity and freedom from violence for each and every LGBTI person attacked, harassed, bullied and murdered for being who they are. We hope more Commonwealth countries follow the steps of Angola, Belize, India and Trinidad and Tobago striking down discriminatory laws that penalize the right to self-identity and to love freely. We dream of more countries taking steps to incorporate sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) as grounds of protection against discrimination in legal frameworks and of more elected representatives using their leadership positions to champion messages of inclusion, diversity and respect.

All of these dreams begin with a small action seeking change. In this New Year, PGA member parliamentarians from around the world will be working on a number of initiatives to advance the rights of LGBTI people. Among these are:

• MPs from Kiribati, Samoa and Tuvalu who held a Regional Dialogue with youth representatives from the Pacific region agreed on an Action Plan outlining concrete steps to engage more regularly and work together in reforming discriminatory provisions against women, girls and LGBTI people. PGA will assist them in this process.
• Board member Dip. Jorge Cálix from Honduras is planning to sponsor anti-discrimination legislation drafted by local LGBTI NGOs. He has also called for gender neutral language in laws that address domestic violence and access to inheritance (current legislation precludes same-sex partners to file claims for domestic violence as well as to have access to their loved ones’ inheritance) and for a quota to ensure political participation of LGBTI candidates in the democratic process.
• Board member Millie Odhiambo from Kenya is sponsoring two bills that defend and promote the rights of intersex persons – one regarding their registration and a Reproductive Health Care Bill that incorporates reproductive rights issues of intersex persons.
• Sir Richard Cheltenham, President of the Senate of Barbados, expressed his hopes to see a large acceptance of the LGBTI community soon in his country and for this community to celebrate their identity. Speaking at the SOGI panel in PGA’s 41st Annual Forum, Hon. Cheltenham referred to the case filed at the Inter-American Court for Human Rights on so-called ‘buggery’ laws and said these are discriminatory. He shared his belief that Barbados’ official position will be that all laws that discriminate against people in any way will be reviewed and updated and ventured he would not be surprised if Barbados’ ‘buggery’ laws were removed soon. We certainly hope for this too!

These are only a few examples of the work PGA members around the world are undertaking to guarantee that every individual has equal value, lives with dignity and is able to achieve their highest potential free from all forms of violence and discrimination, including on the basis of SOGIESC.

We hope you join us in this fight to achieve our ultimate goal – a society that lives up to the ideal that all human beings are equal.

Are you working on other initiatives? Are you interested to learn more about our work?
Contact monica.adame@pgaction.org at PGA’s Secretariat.