Tunisia: A Collective Fight for Individual Rights and Freedoms

Five years following the forced resignation of dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, on 14 January 2011, Tunisians continue to face countless violations of their rights and freedoms. At a time of repression of human rights activists, and increasing violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity, a number of civil society organizations decided to mobilize as an informal group for individual freedoms.

Emerging LGBTQ Identity in West Africa: Aspirations and challenges of Francophone movements

AWID spoke with Pierre Meyer author of the report “Do Not Wake up a Sleeping Lion: Mapping the legal environment of LGBTQ persons in Francophone West Africa”.

Governments Must Respect, Protect and Fulfill Human Rights of All People, Regardless of Sexual Orientation, Gender Expression, and Gender Identity

The 29th session of the UN Human Rights Council in June 2015 saw the introduction of the second ever Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on ‘Discrimination & Violence against Individuals Based on their Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity’. AWID spoke with Cynthia Rothschild, feminist, human rights and sexual rights activist, about the significance of the report and outcomes of the June 2015 Human Rights Council session.

After Years of Activism CAL Attains Observer Status at ACHPR

On Saturday, 25th April 2015, the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) was granted Observer Status at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACPHR). AWID interviewed Fikile Vilakazi, founding Executive Director of CAL, and Fadzai Muparusta, Regional Advocacy Officer for CAL to hear more about the decision to seek observer status at the ACHPR and the movement building that led to the final success.

IDAHOT – LGBTIQ Activists Imagine a Queer-Positive World

What would a truly inclusive and egalitarian world look like? AWID invited LGBTIQ activists to answer these two questions - What would a queer-positive world be like? What is needed to achieve it?  Read their responses, and tell us what YOU think a queer positive world would look like.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Activists Challenge Regressions In Croatia

In this section, we invite readers of Facing Fundamentalisms to share a brief summary of recent events relating to religion, tradition, culture and rights-based organizing in your contexts. 

Thank you to Jay Postić, a founding member of Zagreb Pride in Croatia, for this issue's Voices from the Roots submission.

Invisibility is not a shield to save us from lesbophobia

FRIDAY FILE: The first Lesbian March in Rosario, Argentina, to commemorate the Lesbian Visibility and Fight Against Lesbophobia Day, took place on March 7, and gathered more than a hundred people. AWID spoke to activists about the relevance of this day

By Gabby De Cicco

Proposed reparations make violence against trans* people visible in Argentina

FRIDAY FILE: A bill making provisions to economically compensate victims of gender identity-based institutional violence was submitted past November in Argentina. AWID interviewed trans activist, and one of the bill’s authors, Marlene Wayar[1], on its scope and some of the pending debates in the country on discrimination and criminalization.

By Gabby De Cicco

Progressive laws on LGBTIQ in Argentina

WSF 2015: Feminists Overcoming Challenges

FRIDAY FILE: Tens of thousands from around the world[1] gathered in Tunis, Tunisia from March 24th to 28th for the World Social Forum. It brought together social movements, civil society organizations, formal and informal networks and activists to oppose neo-liberalism, capitalism and imperialism, debating, exchanging, sharing experiences and developing proposals.

Fighting Fundamentalisms Through Faith

In the field of gender and sexuality rights, representations of religion tend to be dominated by fundamentalisms, with dogma being used to justify discrimination, stigma and abuse against those who transgress the narrow confines of patriarchal and heterosexist norms.