The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association — otherwise known as the ILGA — kicked off its weeklong world conference in Long Beach on Monday, May 2, gathering LGBTQ leaders and activists to discuss global advocacy efforts.
The It Gets Better Project, a nonprofit organization that aims to empower lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth via media outreach and educational resources, is the host of the ILGA World Conference 2022. This is the 30th ILGA conference — and the first in two years. The biennial event was postponed in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hundreds of leaders and other participants converged on The Westin Long Beach on Monday to begin the conference, which will include several identity-based group sessions and planning meetings to format the ILGA’s advocacy focus areas.
Since its inception in 1978, ILGA has amassed a worldwide network of more than 1,700 LGBTQ organizations from over 160 countries, according to its website. It’s also a certified consultant to the United Nations.
Jessica Stern, the second-ever person appointed as a U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons — and first queer woman — said at the conference’s opening session that although much progress has been made in protecting those on the LGBTQ spectrum, there’s more work to do.
Stern cited recent U.S. legislation — specifically, Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which bans any mention of sexuality or gender expression in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms — as a reminder of that.
“I am outraged every day by the levels of violence and that LGBTQIA+ persons face everywhere,” Stern said. “I think we have to use every tool at our disposal and invent new resources for change.”
Stern also referenced four attacks on LGBTQ-identifying people in Senegal that took place in May 2021 following a rally calling for the classification of homosexuality as a serious crime. Each attack was filmed and posted online — and in each incident, the police arrested the victims, Stern said.
“I think about those cases all the time. I think about what it means when you can’t depend on the rule of law,” Stern said. “But we know that Senegal is not unique — state and non-state actors target LGBTQ+ persons in every country around the world.”
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In America, for example, transgender people are four-times more likely than cisgender people — those whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth — to be victims of violent crime, according to a report from the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute.
Stern, along with several other speakers — including ILGA Executive Director Julia Ehrt, It Gets Better Project Executive Director Brian Wenke and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia — emphasized the importance of global collaboration to ensure the protection of those in the LGBTQ community.
“We need civil society advocates like every person here in this room today — and specialists within the government who are willing to meet you halfway,” Stern said. “Because when we collaborate, governments are better and LGBTQIA+ are safer.”
The ILGA conference will run until Friday, May 6.