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The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and also asexual (LGBTQIA+) rights movement has made many significant progress in the recent decades. However, LGBTQIA+ people still face a lot of discrimination, violence, and also lack of legal protections in many parts of the world. Building solidarity across the national borders has been an important strategy to advance the cause of LGBTQIA+ rights globally. International alliances allow the activists to share knowledge and tactics, bring attention to the issues affecting the local communities, and promote policy changes at the institutional level.
Origins of International LGBTQIA+ Activism.
While the modern LGBTQIA+ rights movement traces its origins to the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969, international coordination began in the early 1990s. Groups responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic were among the first to create global networks to disseminate health information and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ inclusion in policymaking. These organizations laid the groundwork for the future global campaigns.
Annual international conferences have also played a very pivotal role in connecting LGBTQIA+ activists worldwide. Since 1978, the International Conference on the LGBTQIA+ Human Rights has provided a space for activists, artists, and academics to build relationships, share ideas, and develop initiatives to advance the LGBTQIA+ justice globally. Regional conferences like the Latin American and Caribbean LGBTI Conference have similar aims of connecting the local, national, and also regional movements across the borders.
Major International LGBTQIA+ Organizations
Several major organizations work specifically on the international LGBTQIA+ advocacy within the United Nations (UN) and also regional blocs. For example, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World) lobbies the UN, publicizes the rights violations, and offers financial and also technical aid to LGBTQIA+ groups globally. Similarly, Pan Africa ILGA advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights specifically within the African Union and also regional bodies like the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Transnational organizations also focus on region-specific work while building the global solidarity. The Campaign for Southern Equality, based in the southern United States, collaborates with LGBTQIA+ groups across the Latin America on faith-based organizing and transgender rights. OutRight Action International operates across the Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East and also North Africa with context-specific programs. Maintaining local ties while connecting to international resources allows these groups to balance the global ideals with regional realities.
International Policy Efforts
Introducing legal protections and recognition of the LGBTQIA+ rights at the institutional level has been a major focus of the international activism. For example, activists coordinated advocacy across almost 20 countries to include the sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in the 2008 United Nations Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. This represented the first time LGBTQIA+ identities were positively recognized in an official UN document.
Similarly, the 2013 Free and Equal campaign launched internationally to promote the LGBTQIA+ anti-discrimination legislation. Aimed at the local governments worldwide, the campaign provided toolkits with practical policy and messaging guidance. Backed by the United Nations, the campaign gained support from the key global leaders, significantly boosting its diplomatic weight and impact.
Advocacy groups also lobby regional governing bodies to enshrine SOGI rights in the legally binding conventions. In the Americas, activists pressured the Organization of American States to adopt many resolutions on protecting LGBTQIA+ rights in 2008, 2011, and also 2014 despite objections from Caribbean and Central American member states. In total, over 1,300 NGOs from across the Americas backed the resolutions, demonstrating the power of the mobilized transnational activism networks. Success came in June 2021 when the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ruling recognized marriage rights regardless of the SOGI.
Culture as Solidarity
In addition to policy change, cultural influence also creates a lot of pressure for social acceptance of LGBTQIA+ people worldwide. Groups like All Out and the Pouvoir d’Agir work with global advertising agencies and brands to feature many LGBTQIA+ stories in the international media. Recent major campaigns—including Adidas’ 2017 Supercolor video by Pharrell Williams or Apple’s 2022 film Omar & His Two Moms—positively portrayed the LGBTQIA+ lives to millions worldwide. Representation in the global culture can sometimes prepare the public for the policy shifts as well.
Further, the solidarity protests abroad in reaction to incidents of LGBTQIA+ oppression within the individual nations demonstrate global condemnation. After reports of anti-LGBTQIA+ detention camps in the Russian region of Chechnya emerged in 2017, activists organized coordinated protests at Russian embassies in over 30 cities including Buenos Aries, New York, London, and Tel Aviv. These protests aimed both to pressure Vladimir Putin and also boost the morale of the local Russian groups fighting the camps. Global attention likely prevented further atrocities through their deterrent effects on the escalating violence.
Challenges Facing the International LGBTQIA+ Solidarity
Despite these successes, significant barriers continue to obstruct the global LGBTQIA+ solidarity movements. Anti-LGBTQIA+ groups have also begun coordinating across the borders, working within both the national governments and also regional bodies. In Africa, conservative evangelical Christian groups backed by the American churches directly influenced the policymakers to implement harsh anti-LGBTQIA+ restrictions across several nations including Uganda, Nigeria, and Zambia. Pushback to Latin American marriage equality gains also emerged across the Catholic-majority Central American states. Reactions grow stronger whenever the LGBTQIA+ movements achieve any wins.
There are also many critiques emerging from within the LGBTQIA+ activist circles. Western groups have been accused of imposing their frames, goals, and tactics on the Southern hemisphere movements without fully grasping the local contexts. Power imbalances allow the well-funded Northern groups to overpower Southern voices within the conferences and coalitions meant to foster inclusion. The demand across Africa, Asia, and Latin America is therefore to decolonize the international LGBTQIA+ organizing. Calls persist for funders to support more Southern-led groups tailoring localized initiatives connected through, rather than dominated by, global networks.
The Path Forwards: Intersectionality, Decolonization, and also Solidarity
Despite delays wrought by anti-rights activism and coronavirus across the past five years, recent progress indicates that LGBTQIA+ equality sentiments persist worldwide. To achieve lasting change, the central challenges surround building intersectional, decolonized solidarity networks across the diverse constituent groups spanning both national boundaries and movement priorities. This entails intentional power-sharing, cascading resources to grassroots levels worldwide, and regularly evaluating whether the frameworks imposed are empowering across local contexts. Done meaningfully, solidarity across the borders can accelerate the LGBTQIA+ justice globally.
