Sometimes you just need to ask the right person. On April 9,
1991, three Washington activists met with Tom Williams, then
director of the Country Human Rights Reports Team at State
Department headquarters in Washington's Foggy Bottom. Michael
Petrelis of ACT UP, Margaret Cantrell of Gay and Lesbian Watch, and
Barrett Brick of the World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish
Organizations wanted State to include anti-gay incidents in its
annual report to Congress on human rights abuses around the
world.
They had done their homework, and provided Williams with
evidence of incidents that should have been in the 1990 report.
Williams was persuaded, and the report has included gay-related
incidents ever since.
Petrelis, now a
blogger based in San Francisco, was still on the case when
State released its 2005 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices on March 8. Not only has
he stayed in touch with State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor as well as the desk officers for individual countries, he
worked with British activist Peter Tatchell last year to
declare December 4-10 "Report
Antigay Rights Abuses to U.S. State Dept. Week."
The success of Petrelis and his international network of
collaborators is evident in the report. It includes
numerous anti-gay incidents, some familiar from gay press
reports:
- In Poland, gay activists braved violent counter-demonstrators
to march in Warsaw and Poznan despite being denied permits; they
subsequently won a Warsaw court ruling.
- In Zimbabwe, thugs again harassed Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe
into withdrawing from an international book fair.
- In Jamaica, an AIDS activist was shot to death, and the gay
rights group J-FLAG reported abuses "including police harassment,
arbitrary detention, mob attacks, stabbings...."
- Under Shari'a law in many Muslim countries, homosexuality was
punished by death. In Iran, a number of men, including two
teenagers, were executed apparently for homosexuality though
charged with other crimes.
There were also some positive developments:
- In China, "Gay men and lesbians stated that official tolerance
had improved in recent years."
- In lowland areas of Laos, "there was wide and growing tolerance
of homosexual practice, although societal discrimination
persisted."
- In the Czech Republic, "the lower house of parliament passed a
law that recognizes the legal validity of gay civil
partnerships."
- In Brazil, a federal court ruling granted partner benefits to
same-sex couples.
Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay
and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC),
praised the report:
State Department officials who have worked to include
documentation of human rights violations against LGBT people are to
be commended, as are the many global activists who brought these
violations to light.
In contrast, the Human Rights Campaign used the report's release
mainly as an excuse to bash the U.S. government for its recent vote
against consultative status for gay organizations at the United
Nations. HRC President Joe Solmonese
said:
The State Department report is enlightening but it won't be
effective if the U.S. government keeps siding with abusers like
Iran in supporting silencing human rights watchers.
This is patently false, since the reports are used by lawyers
for asylum seekers to bolster their clients' cases.
Unfortunately, some people are so fixated on their opposition to
George W. Bush that they are reluctant to give credit to anyone in
the federal government who might be doing something worthwhile.
Last year, when Petrelis praised the 2004 report, some gays took
great offense that he would say anything nice about the Bush
Administration.
But the annual human rights report has value regardless of one's
views of Bush. The plight of gay people in so many countries is far
too dire to subordinate it to partisan political concerns. Indeed,
the 1991 breakthrough by Petrelis and his colleagues occurred
during the presidency of Bush's father.
I spoke with Petrelis the other day, and he wants to ensure that
activists in each country are made aware of the relevant contents
of the State Department report. My own local activist group is a
member of the International Lesbian
and Gay Association (ILGA), and I have pledged to make a
project out of contacting as many foreign gay organizations as I
can find and forwarding them the information.
When you get desperate e-mail pleas from gay people around the
globe, as I occasionally do (and I am not talking about scam
letters, which I also receive), it can make you feel pretty small
and helpless. When I read those pleas, such as one a few years back
from an Iranian in Indonesia who faced deportation back to his
native country, where he would likely have been killed, I can do
little more than refer the person to IGLHRC and the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and offer some words of
encouragement.
But small acts can help save lives. My Iranian correspondent
found asylum in Canada. Of course, he is a drop in the ocean given
the magnitude of the problem worldwide. Many cannot or do not wish
to leave their countries. For them, international visibility and
support are crucial.
You can play a part in helping oppressed gay people around the
world. The Internet is an invaluable tool. Organizations offering
online resources include IGLHRC, ILGA, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and UNHCR
As Michael Petrelis, Margaret Cantrell, Barrett Brick and Peter
Tatchell have proven, individual voices can and do make a
difference.