Heartland Alliance welcomed activists from around the globe to its Chicago headquarters hosting its annual meeting of the Global Equality Network ( GEN ) Nov. 18-21.
Heartland Alliance's overall mission in "securing the rights and well-being of marginalized people and communities" stretches to the international level with its Global Initiative for Sexuality and Human Rights ( GISHR ), which is a comprehensive initiative supporting human rights associated with sexuality and gender identity.
"In this work, we partner with organizations and activists worldwide and the purpose of this meeting that we organized in the past days at Heartland Alliance, the Global Equality Network, was precisely to convene our main partners from all over the world to assess our work together," said Managing Director of GISHR Stefano Fabeni.
The conference brings together 15 representatives from organizations Heartland Alliance works closely with that work in dangerous areas globally to develop collaborative strategies to protect and strengthen LGBT rights nationally and abroad. During the conference week, representatives also had time to unwind and celebrate GEN at a reception welcoming approximately 80 people.
"This year our goal was to assess our work," said Fabeni. "At some point it's also important to look at ourselves and look how we are performing, but also look at ways in which with our partners globally we can share politics and look at the movement dynamics together."
This year's participants included Berry Dieder Nibogora of African Men for Sexual Health and Rights ( South Africa ), Stephane Simpore of the Queer Alliance Youth Network ( Burkina Faso ), Franz Mananga of Alternatives Cameroun ( Cameroun ), Star Rugori of Le Mouvement Pour les Libetés Individuelles ( Burundi ), Olumide Makanjuola of The Initiative for Equal Rights ( Nigeria ), Fernando D'Elio, AkahatÃ� ( Argentina ), Colin Robinson of Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities ( Trinidad ), Marcela Romero of Red de Personas Trans de Latinoamérica y el Caribe ( Argentina ), Joel Simpson of Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination ( Guyana ), Thilaga of Knowledge and Rights through Youth and Safer Spaces ( Malaysia ), Sibongile Ndashe an Independent Activist ( South Africa ), Rosa Posa Guinea an Independent Activist ( Paraguay ), Alh. Bashir of Coalition of Traditional Leaders ( Nigeria ) and Georges Azzi of The Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality ( Lebanon ).
"I will leave with new tools to take home," said Robinson. "The real important work for us is how to domesticate these issues, how to make sexual diversity and gender diversity part of the nations in which we live. That's the project. So whatever tools that we can leave with that strengthen the organizations that are doing that work, that strengthen the political strategies and the imaginative strategies that we're using to do that work are always welcome."
According to Fabeni, the conference, has been going on annually since 2009 and in past events has mostly involved organizations doing institutional strengthening at the domestic level or individual activists sharing their experiences.
This year, Fabeni said the meeting, which he calls an enriching experience, is unique because it's the first time partners with such diverse backgrounds, hailing from different regions that only have their work with Heartland Alliance as the only common denominator.
"I wanted our colleagues to be sure that the trust relationship and confidence and the common visions we've been building over the year is there and participants can actually strengthen these relationships, which often times is made on reciprocal trust, knowing that we can count on each other and that we can add value to each others' work," said Fabeni. "The relationship goes in two directions and I was hoping to be sure that this was the case."
According to Fabeni, the question of leadership and how to strengthen local activists was the key element in the conference. The main issues discussed, he explained, centered around funding the needs of sustaining movements locally and regionally, the importance of involving local groups in this work around funding opportunities, the importance of leadership.
"It is key to insure that the organization in local movements are solid enough not to have just one person, but really in how a hostile environment, it is possible to create a movement that can resist to the pressure, to the violence, to the threats to their security and be operative and sustainable on the long term," said Fabeni.
Robinson is on the executive board for the Caribbean Forum for Liberation & Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities ( CariFLAGS ), and is the executive director of the Trinidad and Tobago-based Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation ( CAISO ).
Being at the conference, he explained, is another opportunity to learn from other people from different parts of the world like Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, North America and Central America, which he added are amazing examples of groups doing work in organizing and strengthening domestic organizations in different places of the region that are beginning to provide service and support and build community.
"Part of what we're thinking about this weekend is how to build better partnerships and strengthening LGBTI movements and advocacy for greater inclusion and recognition of LGBTI persons' rights across the globe," said Robinson.
According to Robinson's account, the Caribbean is a relatively diverse place, with 16 independent states and around 19 dependencies. Life for a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person can look very different based on whether you were born a transgender in the Caribbean. While he said there is quite a bit of diversity across the region, the independent states in the region trail the rest of the Americas in terms of inclusion, structural inclusion, legal framework and attitude toward LGBTI issues.
"It's hard for people to be visible without paying a cost," said Robinson. "It's hard for young people to imagine a future where their sexuality is something that's just another part of them and where they're seen as valuable people. The Caribbean has become a primary export market for homophobic ideologies coming out of the U.S.—religious homophobic ideologies."
He stated that, very often, incidences involving homophobic violence go improperly investigated and do not go to trial, resulting in the issue being more than just about the violence, but also the weak response to the violence. He recalled the Jamaican justice minister said nice things after the gruesome murder of a teen in Trinidad who "dressed up"—a term used in Trinidad for trans* people—and killed by the mob, but more investigation needed to be done for the crime.
"The question is how do our nations, how do our societies, how do our families have the resources or the will to respond to homophobia and homophobic violence," said Robinson. "Those may be the starkest differences. There's not enough funding to support it, but in almost every independent territory in the region, there's some kind of group that's responding to LGBTI needs."
Robinson suggested people can support the leadership of people in many places to make change and to make a better life for themselves, but it has to be an engagement of respect. Researching organizations on the ground and asking 'how can I best support the work that you're doing?' is the most critical piece, he said.
"To listen and to be guided by what folks, who are living the reality, who are figuring out the strategy for making change, I think might be the best way that you can be involved," said Robinson. "In most places in the world, there are fewer resources for doing this work than there are in the US. Helping transfer those resources is another important way. There's ways of giving."
For more information, visit www.heartlandalliance.org .
