ResolutionNumber: 11
Year: 2003
Title:   LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER RECOGNITION IN DISCRIMINATION CAMPAIGN THEME
Resolved:


WHEREAS, effective 2004, under the new Integrated Strategic Plan (ISP), and in accordance with Decision 10 of the 2001 International Council Meeting (ICM), Amnesty International's campaign work will be fundamentally restructured around 4-7 major themes that are agreed upon as an organization, and

WHEREAS, campaigning on these themes will be long term and ongoing until the campaign goals have been achieved or at least through the period of each ISP, and

WHEREAS, one of the expected themes of the next ISP is a focus on combating discrimination and human rights violations that stem from discrimination, and

WHEREAS, each of the permanent theme campaigns is to run about 3 carefully selected and focused "campaigning projects" lasting 12 to 24 months

WHEREAS, AI for over 20 years has documented human rights violations that people who are or who are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) face throughout the world, and

WHEREAS, Amnesty has incorporated work on LGBT human rights issues as part of its overall work on discrimination mostly on a case by case, or campaign by campaign basis,


THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT if "discrimination" is chosen as one of the 4 to 7 permanent campaign themes, human rights violations related to discrimination against people who are or who are perceived to be LGBT will be consistently understood as incorporated into the institutional understanding of work on that theme.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT if "discrimination" is chosen as a theme, a campaigning project focusing on LGBT human rights issues will be strongly considered by AIUSA as one of the 12 to 24 month projects.


Implementation: With the exception of the Violence Against Women campaign, the themes of the one or two additional campaigns that will be introduced in 2004 and 2005 had not yet been proposed for consultation at the time of this writing (although the International Secretariat was expected to present a list of possible campaign themes at the International Council Meeting in mid-August 2003), so we do not yet know whether discrimination will be proposed as a long-term theme campaign, or even how it might factor into other proposed themes. We have therefore not yet had an opportunity to advocate for work on the rights of those who are or who are perceived to be LGBT to be incorporated in a theme campaign on discrimination.

To provide some background, global theme campaigns will be phased in over the 6-year span of the Integrated Strategic Plan, with two or possibly three to be agreed during 2003 for introduction in late 2004 and 2005. Subsequent theme campaigns will be decided annually, allowing a year for them to be developed. This means that processes to ensure ongoing consultation both across the movement and within sections will need to be established. Decision 11 will inform our deliberations, responses and planning once such processes have been established in the section.


Update: This decision adopted at the 2003 AGM was the result of a resolution initiated by members of AIUSA’s OUTfront Steering Committee. At the time of the 2003 AGM Sections throughout the Amnesty movement where involved in discussing and providing input to the Integrated Strategic Planning Committee on the 2nd draft of the Integrated Strategic Plan (ISP) proposed for adoption at the August 2003 ICM. In addition to forwarding this resolution, the OUTfront Steering Committee had also provided written input to the AIUSA ICM delegation on the ISP and had been involved in drafting comments submitted by AI’s 36 LGBT Networks directly to the ISP Committee.

In forwarding this resolution, members of the OUTfront Steering Committee were seeking to ensure that AIUSA played a leadership role in promoting the inclusion of LGBT human rights in the ISP’s proposed human rights priority of opposing discrimination. In particular, the members of the OUTfront Steering Committee sought support for the full integration of LGBT issues within any campaign developed under the human rights priority of opposing discrimination and for one of the 12 – 24 month projects under such a campaign to have a specific focus on LGBT human rights.

At the 2003 ICM the AIUSA delegation did play a leadership role in supporting the clear inclusion of LGBT human rights under the opposing discrimination human rights priority. This resulted in a clearer inclusion of LGBT rights within the implementation points under the opposing discrimination human rights priority. The US Section also supported a resolution by AI UK that mandated the IS to develop a clear strategy in the next operational plan for research and campaigning on LGBT human rights cases/issues. This resolution included creating a task force to ensure the development of research and campaigning strategies on LGBT human rights cases/issues.

At the ICM, delegates where consulted on the possible 4-7 campaign themes but a final decision on the themes was not made. During the consultation, AIUSA representatives again supported the clear inclusion of LGBT human rights issues under any campaign connected to the human rights priority of opposing discrimination.

Following the 2003 ICM there was an international meeting in November of 2003 to discuss possible long-term global campaign themes. The AIUSA representative strongly supported a campaign opposing discrimination and the inclusion of LGBT human rights within such a campaign. The original idea was that this meeting would propose to the IEC one or two possible long-term global campaign themes. However, during the course of the meeting the purpose evolved or changed to instead focus on coming to agreement on key areas of social change AI should try to affect over the long term, with the idea that identifying these key areas would set the stage for selection of campaign themes. Among the key areas identified for AI involvement were reducing inequality and ensuring that those who are marginalized/face discrimination have access to justice. AIUSA’s representative strongly advocated in favor of the inclusion of these key areas and for an understanding that LGBT human rights concerns must be fully integrated into AI’s work in these key areas.

At the time of the writing of this implementation report a final decision on long-term global campaign themes has still not been made. The US Section should continue to be involved in consultation on campaign themes and should advocate that any campaign connected to the human rights goal of opposing discrimination fully integrate LGBT human rights concerns.

At the section level, one of the four key projects to be carried out as part of our own two-year Campaign Against Discrimination does have an LGBT focus. That project will include a report and campaigning on the topic of police misconduct and brutality as impacts LGBT people in the US.

On a related topic, it should be noted that although the IS had committed to integration of lesbian human rights concerns in the Stop Violence Against Women Campaign, and this issue is covered in the text of the launch report, there are no lesbian cases featured for action at the time of the launch. The OUTfront Steering Committee and larger AI global LGBT Network have expressed deep concern about this exclusion of action on lesbian cases/issues for the launch of the campaign. Comments on the action strategy have been submitted by the AI global LGBT Network to the Stop VAW Campaign Team. The US Section has supported the OUTfront Program and LGBT Network on this issue and is pushing for the development of actions on lesbian cases/issues for the Stop VAW Campaign.