2. Human Rights Don't Discriminate
Amnesty International believes that all people, regardless of their
sexual orientation or gender identity, should be able to enjoy the
full range of human rights, without exception.
However, every day, across the globe, sexual orientation or gender identity leads to
abuse in the form of discrimination, violence, imprisonment, torture, or even execution.
Persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity can take a variety of
forms and these contravene the basic tenets of international human rights law.
By highlighting instances of abuse against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) individuals, Amnesty's activists work to protect the basic dignity of LGBT people
- AIUSA website
4. LGBTQ+ IN AMERICA
• Same-sex unions legal in 36 states and DC, and 22 Native
American Communities
• 60% of Americans in support of same-sex marriage
• California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois,
Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey,
New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington
and the District of Columbia have laws that protect
transgender citizens from discrimination, in varying realms.
• Nothing in constitution (250 years old)
• Struggling with the dismantling of the gender binary, though
inter-sex activism is alive and well in America
• More likely than any other group in America to be a victim of
hate crimes, according to Southern Poverty Law Center
5.
6. ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY LAWS
• The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, or ILGA,
lists 78 countries with criminal laws against sexual activity by lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender or intersex people
• Nearly half (35) are countries in Africa
• In Mauritania, Sudan and northern Nigeria, homosexuality is punishable by death. In
Uganda, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone, offenders can receive life imprisonment for
homosexual acts.
• “Many African leaders feel that gay rights are against their cultural and religious value
systems and believe they have a sovereign right to reject what they see as an
imposition by mainly Western nations”
• South Africa is the most legally progressive country, with a constitution that has
legalized same-sex unions and protects the rights of LGBT+ people
• However, LGBTQ+ people are still subject to social persecution, social stigma and
“corrective rape”
7.
8. UGANDA “KILL THE GAYS”
BILL• Proposed on 13 October 2009
• “[S]trengthening the nation’s capacity to deal with emerging internal and external threats
to the traditional heterosexual family”
• “Homosexuals are at least 12 times more likely to molest children than heterosexuals;
homosexual teachers are at least 7 times more likely to molest a pupil; homosexual
teachers are estimated to have committed at least 25 percent of pupil molestation; 40
percent of molestation assaults were made by those who engage in homosexuality.”
• "Aggravated homosexuality" is defined to include homosexual acts committed by a
person who is HIV-positive, is a parent or authority figure, or who administers intoxicating
substances, homosexual acts committed on minors or people with disabilities, and repeat
offenders :: Received Death Penalty
• "The offence of homosexuality" is defined to include same-sex sexual acts, involvement
in a same-sex marriage, or an attempt to commit aggravated homosexuality :: Received
Life in Prison
• Amnesty determined that arrests were arbitrary and suspects were subjected to torture
by Ugandan police
9. LGBTQ+ ACTIVISTS
• David Kato Kisule - “Uganda’s first gay man”
• Williams Rashidi, Nigeria
• Jabulani Chen Pereira, South Africa
• Aba Taylor, Ghana
• Paul Kasonkomona, Zambia
• Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, Uganda
• Clare Byarugaba, Uganda
“Amnesty International is like a Big Sister to me. She makes me feel safe, lets me know someone has my back, adds value
to the work I do. She checked on me every day after the Anti- Homosexuality Bill was passed, just to know if I was safe and
okay. I know that it I was sent to jail for my work and for my sexuality. I know that someone out there would demand that I am
released -someone would come to my rescue. I wouldn't ask more for a more practical ally than Amnesty International.”
10.
11. 24 year old LGBT activist from South Africa
Ekurhuleni Pride Organising Committee
She was raped, then stoned and stabbed to death. Classified as
“corrective rape”
31 women had been murdered during corrective rape in South Africa over
the previous decade
At least 10 lesbians per week were raped in the Cape Town area
170,000 people worldwide signed a petition for authorities to crack down
on corrective rape.
NOXOLO NOGWAZA
