The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission works to promote equal rights for LGBT individuals around the world and end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The organization focuses on emergency response and advocacy efforts in places like Iran and Iraq where homosexuality may be punishable by death. One key program involves setting up safe houses in the Middle East to protect persecuted gay men and lesbians from harm. The organization is seeking additional funding to expand this life-saving work and increase awareness of human rights violations facing LGBT individuals globally.

1. The International gay and lesbian human rights
commission.
By Jennifer Bayard

2.  Our mission is advancing human rights for
everyone, everywhere to end discrimination
based on sexual orientation, gender identity or
gender expression.
 We are guided by our values of integrity,
equality, respect, diversity and partnership, we
work to improve the lives of those who experience
discrimination and abuse because of their sexual
orientation , gender identity or expression , and
to achieve a world with human rights for
everyone

3.  I grew up believing that everyone deserves to be
treated equally. It was during the 2008 elections
when prop 8 ( the proposition that would make
gay marriage illegal.) was on the ballot, that it
became clear that not all people shared this view.
I saw a lot hatred that I just could not
understand. People were being discriminated
against just because of their sexual orientation. I
decided that I wanted to do something about it.
This how I become involved with this
organization.

4.  Our Middle East project focuses mostly on Iran
and Iraq where homosexuality is considered a
crime that is punishable by death.
 The Iraqi penal code does not prohibit
homosexuality , however the chaos cased by
ongoing war has enabled death squads to
persecute gay men and lesbians.

5.  Most of our work in the Middle East has revolved
around Emergency response to arrest and executions.
 For example we joined with human rights activist to
demand a halt to the execution of Makvan
Mouloodzadeh an Iranian who was convicted of
sodomy allegedly committed when he was 13.
 This program has also made contributions towards
setting up safe houses for gay Iraqis who have been
persecuted by the militia.

6.  We have also worked closely with international
refugee organizations to help gay Iranian
refugees in Turkey

7.  The goal of all our projects is to promote equal
rights for gay and lesbians and to fight injustice
and violations of human rights.
 This specific program was designed to protect the
rights of gay Iranians and Iraquis, to help save
their lives and to keep them safe from
persecution by setting up safe houses.

8.  We want to spread the word about this program.
We need funding to increase advertisement for
our organization and to increase awareness of the
human rights violations occurring in the middle
East.
 It is imperative that we receive funding so that
we can continue renting safe houses for
persecuted gay Iranians and Iraqis. We can’t help
everyone but with an increase in funding we
could help a lot more people.

9.  We seeks to help all those being persecuted
because of their sexual orientation. We have
helped a lot of people through our safe houses.
However we would love to increase this number
and to help as many people as we possibly can.

10.  We monitor human rights violations in the
Middle East our staff partners work closely with
other human rights activist and organizations to
stop these human right violations.
 We work to set up safe houses where Gay Middle
Easterners can hide away and stay safe from
persecution.

11. FILLING A NEED IN THE COMMUNITY
 Empirical evidence suggest 5-10% of almost
every country’s population is made up of gay and
lesbian people.
 Only 10 countries have countrywide recognition
of same sex marriages
 In many countries around the world being gay is
illegal and offenders can be sent to prison for a
few months, for a decade or for life.

12. FILLING A NEED IN THE COMMUNITY
 Of course there are countries where being gay is a
crime punishable by death.
 In The United States homosexuality has only been
legal nationwide since 2003.
 There are organizations all over the world who are
dedicated towards promoting anti Gay sentiments.
 The Middle East is one of the areas where gays are
treated the worst. In Iraq gay are being persecuted
and killed and in most Middle Eastern countries
being gay is illegal. Our Middle East program fills the
community need to fight for equality and improve the
lives of gay Middle Easterners. We cannot let
injustice flourish anywhere in the world.

13.  You might be asking yourself why you should us
a grant to us
 Well I believe that the Shuttle worth foundation
is very compatible with IGLHRC, It is my belief
that our organization embodies the salient
values that your organization has set forth.

14. SHUTTLE WORTH + IGLHRC = HARMONY
Shuttle worth foundation IGLHRC
 Our organization fights for
equal rights for homosexuals.
This is often done in countries
You your organization such as the Middle East where
they have little rights. By doing
values individuals this we are constantly
who Challenges the challenging the status quo
status quo and takes  We pride our self in taking
initiative initiative to help prevent
wrongful persecution and
execution and discrimination of
all homosexuals. We do this by
teaming up with other human
rights organizations and
activist.

15. HOW WE EMBODY CRITICAL THINKING
 A Critical thinker is someone that Is Open
minded, someone that can combine their skills
and who seeks the truth
 The IGLHRC embodies and promotes all of these
skills.
 Our organization was created by open minded
people and when we work with governments and
other organization to promote gay rights we are
at same time promoting open mindedness It is
only when all minds are open that we can achieve
greater equality.

16. HOW WE EMBODY CRITICAL THINKING
 We always seek the truth, we want to know how
Homosexual around the world are being treated. It is
not always apparent on the surface exactly how deep
injustice runs. We seek truth about the quality of life
of all homosexuals in order to find the most effective
ways to increase their right
 In order to promote equality we have to combine all
our skills, we need to be innovative in our thinking,
and we also need to think creatively. We are often in
hostile environments promoting gay rights, and in
order to halt executions or change laws we need to be
both innovative and creative. Not all situations are
the same and not all methods work all the time, this
is why its important to be constantly thinking and
finding new and creative ways to promote equality.

17.  Critical action means to take informed action, to be skeptical without
being cynical and to make progress.
 Before we speak out against any injustice, we make sure that we
have all the information and that we always think before we act so
that all our actions are informed actions.
 Its equally important to the success of our organization that we know
what we are going to do before we do it.
 Everything we do is aimed towards progress with the ultimate goal
being equality. The laws we work to change, the lives we safe are all
counted as progress.
 we have to be skeptical about everything, someone might say one
thing and do another. We can’t just accept something as true with out
first looking into it. For example the Iraqi government may say that
persecuting gays is not in their penal code which is true, However
this does not mean that persecution does not occur. Everything we
learn we take with a grain of salt. We want to be informed, skeptical
and make progress without ever being cynical.

18.  There are many ways to get involved in this organization.
 If you think a law, policy, practice or incident violates
someone’s rights, you can email us. We want to collect as
much information as possible about human rights
violations affecting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered
and intersex people
 We have a lot of volunteer options at our official website.
Just click on take actions and there will be links for
funding opportunities, other LGBT sexual rights
organizations, and a place to report human rights
violations.
 You could also host a house party or leadership event, this
is the primary way in which we introduce our work to new
members, make personal contact with our supporters and
increase our visibility nationally and internationally . For
more information contact the development department at
212-430-6057

19. THE END