LGBTQI Movement Building in Middle East and North Africa

FRIDAY FILE - On August 1, 2014, the constitutional court of Uganda overturned the discriminatory anti-gay law passed through parliament on December 20, 2013. However, the decision was based on procedural technicalities rather than on the substance of the law, which goes against freedom of sexual orientation and gender identity.

By Mégane Ghorbani

Feminist Roma Women Defending their Rights in Spain

FRIDAY FILE - “When we speak of Roma women, discrimination becomes three-fold: for being women, for being Roma and for belonging to an ethnic minority”, say Maria José Jiménez Cortiñas and Aurora Fernández, President and Secretary of Asociación Gitanas Feministas por la Diversidad (AGFD)[i] , who AWID interviewed to learn how Roma feminist women work to tackle the discrimination they face on a daily basis.

By Gabby De Cicco

CSW58 – Too Much Time Spent Pushing Back

FRIDAY FILE – This year’s negotiations at the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) saw women’s rights advocates, organisations and movements working extremely hard to retain existing human rights language, obligations and commitments, and attempting to push forward language that contained clear commitments for gender equality and women’s human rights; but present also, were strong fundamentalist forces pushing back on any, and all, advancement of rights language.

Vienna +20: Feminist Movement and Solidarity Building in Central and Eastern Europe

FRIDAY FILE – In the latest interview forming part of AWID’s commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, AWID speaks to radical feminist activist and an anti-war lesbian, Lepa Mladjenovic, about how the conference helped to advance feminist anti-war work and LGBT rights; and how it shaped and strengthened the women’s movement and solidarity building in Central and Eastern Europe/ Commonwealth of Independent States

The Transnational Ex-Gay Movement

FRIDAY FILE - AWID interviewed feminist researcher, Annie Wilkinson[i], about her research on sexual orientation change efforts in Ecuador and the transnational ‘ex-gay’ movement she describes as a multi-million dollar industry.

By Rochelle Jones

Vienna+20: 20 Years of Collective Work Reaffirming Women’s Human Rights

FRIDAY FILE: In the latest interview forming part of AWID’s commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, AWID speaks to feminist lawyer Alda Facio[i] about some of the advances and challenges to women’s human rights in Latin America, especially related to violence against women in all its forms.

By Gabriela De Cicco

“I name myself as an identity that this oppressive State refuses to acknowledge”

FRIDAY FILE: AWID spoke to Sara Álvarez Medrano, a young Mayan lesbian feminist about her experiences living as a lesbian in her community, the discrimination she has faced and her feminist and spiritual journey.

By Gabriela De Cicco

Landmark Case Against Christian Fundamentalist Affirms LGBTI Rights as Internationally Recognised Human Rights

FRIDAY FILE: A lawsuit filed against Scott Lively on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) over Lively’s role in inciting persecution against Ugandan citizens’ sexual orientation and gender identity will soon go to trial in the U.S.

By Rochelle Jones

AWID interviewed Frank Mugisha from SMUG, about what this means for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights in Uganda and worldwide.

Her Yer Taksim! Feminist and LGBTQI Engagement in the Gezi Park Protests

FRIDAY FILE - News of the lower court decision[1] at the beginning of July that a construction project in Istanbul’s Gezi Park be halted was overshadowed by the police crackdown on what had started as a small demonstration against the park’s destruction.

The ICPD Global Youth Forum – A Multi-Stakeholder Meeting Led By Young People

FRIDAY FILE: The Global Youth Forum (GYF) held in Bali, Indonesia, from 4-6 December 2012, was a process mandated by the United Nations (UN) as part of the review of the implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action beyond 2014.