Pride 2021

Every year celebrate Pride with LGBTQI+ activists around the world– celebrating our pride and standing for our rights! This year as the world opens back up, let us show our PRIDE and build a better “normal” where everyone’s rights are fully protected, respected, and fulfilled. 

On this page you’ll find actions you can take, ideas for organizing, and resources to learn more about LGBTI rights. Take Action!

FOCUS CASE

Ensuring global health and rights for LGBTI people globally

The Global Gag Rule is a disastrous and deadly U.S. foreign policy that violates the basic rights of millions of people globally to health, information, free speech and even to life by blocking global funding for non-profits and clinics around the world that so much as provide education about safe abortion. LGBTQI+ communities are disproportionately impacted by the Global Gag, which cuts off lifesaving care and health. While President Biden repealed the Global Gag rule, this policy can and will be put back into place by future presidents, disrupting global health, violating LGBTI rights, and costing lives. The Global Heath, Rights and Empowerment (HER) Act would permanently repeal this harmful policy. Let’s end Global Gag once and for all and pass the Global HER Act!

TAKE ACTION

Sign up for our virtual lobby visits for June 21-25 to tell your Senators: ending Gag is an LGBTI rights priority. Email [email protected]
Call your Senators to tell them: ending Global Gag must be a priority
Email your elected official to ensure they are co-sponsors of the Global HER Act

LEARN MORE

Learn more about the Global Gag rule
Read about the impact of Global Gag on LGBTQI+ people
Read about the Global HER Act

FOCUS CASE

Prosecuted for celebrating LGBTI Rights: Melike and Özgür (Turkey)

From day one, biology students Melike Balkan and Özgür Gür dedicated themselves to defending lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI+) rights at their university. As members of the LGBTI+ Solidarity Group, they have organized campus Pride marches successfully for years. But in May 2019, the university banned the planned march and called the police to disperse the peaceful sit-in. Despite simply exercising their right to peaceful protest, 18 students and an academic are now on trial.

Take Action and demand Turkey acquit protesters of all charges!

TAKE ACTION

Sign the petition for Melike & Özgür
Mail a letter to the Turkish ambassador
Write a solidarity note to the METU LGBTI+ Group

learn more

Learn more about Melike & Özgür

FOCUS CASE

Awaiting justice for hate crime: Vitalina Koval (Ukraine)

Meet Vitalina, a woman human rights defender and an LGBTI activist. In March 2018, Vitalina was attacked for speaking up for her and other’s rights at a protest held on International Women’s Day in Ukraine. Six people from a radical group called “Karpatska Sich” doused her with red paint while she was participating in the event. The paint got into her eyes and caused chemical burns. On 5 March, the court ordered to free her attackers from criminal liability since the statute of limitations for the charges against them (“causing minor bodily harm”) has expired. While the decision is lawful, it demonstrates that the Ukrainian justice system is failing the survivors of hate crimes in their pursuit of justice.

We must make sure this investigation isn’t getting shelved! Take action today and tweet your support! 

TAKE ACTION

Email Ukraine’s Minister of the Interior to publicly recognize the vital role of Vitalina and other activists, and protect them from attacks by far-right groups
Right now in Vitlana’s case is a critical moment to show global support. Please tweet your message of support:
  1. The attack against LGBTI activist Vitalina Koval in 2018 must be investigated as a hate crime. After more than three years, justice must finally be served.  @NPU_GOV_UA @AvakovArsen #IStandWithVitalina
  2. We are concerned with the lack of progress in the investigation of the 2018 attack against LGBTI activist Vitalina Koval. Ukraine must end impunity for hate crimes against LGBTI people. @NPU_GOV_UA @AvakovArsen #IStandWithVitalina
  3. This #Pride2021 I am calling on #Ukraine to protect LGBTI people like Vitalina Koval who was violently attacked in 2018 and still waits for justice. @NPU_GOV_UA @AvakovArsen make sure justice is served. #IStandWithVitalina

learn more

Learn more about Vitlana
Watch a short video on Vitlana

focus case

Free Maura, trans woman seeking protection and detained by ICE for two years

Originally from Nicaragua, Maura fled from relentless gender-based violence in Mexico and rebuilt her life here: she attended high school in San Diego, worked in hospitality, and was part of a community who accept her as a trans woman. But for over two years, she’s been locked up by ICE at the Otay Mesa Detention Center where she suffers from abuse and inadequate medical care, taking a heavy toll on her mental health and wellbeing. She faces significant risk if returned to Nicaragua, a country she hasn’t known for decades that is not safe for LGBTI individuals.

Maura’s favorite singer is Celia Cruz and favorite song is La Vida es Un Carnaval. In the past, she used to create and produce performance shows, and she wishes to be free to sing and dance at shows like she used to.

Amnesty has partnered with [email protected] Coalition, National Immigrant Justice Center, and American Friends Service Committee Colorado to call for her freedom!

take action

Email the ICE San Diego Field Office Director demanding he release her
Reach out to [email protected] (for student groups) or [email protected] (for local groups) if your group is interested in sending ICE a letter of community support for Maura
Send Maura a solidarity card or letter

10 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SHOW YOUR PRIDE ALL MONTH LONG

Just because we’re physically distant doesn’t mean we can’t do activism together! Check out the below for ideas to stay engaged with Pride all month long!

  1. Take the actions on Maura’s case– then share them out!
  2. Include your pronouns when you introduce yourself (and in your email signature, etc). Read more about why pronouns matter for creating a trans-inclusive space.
  3. During Coronavirus, check-in on all your people, but especially with transgender friends and family, who may be experiencing disruptions in critical healthcare, or who may be isolated and facing unwelcome or even unsafe situations.
  4. If appropriate, share this resource with friends who might need it.
  5. Host a movie-watching party on an LGBTQI+ topic. You could stream Major! (Amazon Prime); Kiki (Hulu); or The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (Netflix) to learn more about trans rights. Or you could stream the episodes of Stonewall 50 (NBC) to learn more about the Stonewall Riots, or State of Pride (YouTube) about what Pride in the US 50 years on from Stonewall.
  6. Read some of our “Learn more” resources below to educate yourself– then share these resources with friends and family.
  7. Send a private note to LGBTQI+ friends and fam to let them know that especially during Pride, you love and support them. Remember that not all folks are “out” to friends, family, or work communities, so it’s best to send a private note.
  8. Visit Stonewall from home! You can visit the Stonewall National Historic Park virtually and learn more about its significance in the US LGBTQI+ rights movement.
  9. Plan a virtual “Pride Happy Hour” discussion where folks gather their own snacks–and maybe even dress up!– and you all celebrate Pride together and discuss a LGBTQI+ rights topic.
  10. Reach out to your campus LGBTQI+ center or local LGBTQI+ youth centers and shelters and ask to be added to their list of volunteers. You can’t volunteer in person now, but there may be at-home tasks that can support their work–and you’ll be on their list post-pandemic and able to support LGBTQI+ youth in your community afterwards.

LEARN MORE

Throughout Pride month, commit to learning more about LGBTI rights and what you can do to support LGBTQI+ people!

  • If you misgender someone, don’t panic. Read this to practice how best to respond.
  • Know the difference between gender identity, gender expression, sex assigned at birth, sexuality, and emotional attraction (be sure to notice the explanations below the awesome gender unicorn graph).
  • Read more about using inclusive language and why it matters.
  • Find out more about how you can be a good ally for LGBTQI+ people in your life.
  • Ever wonder about the LGBTQI+* acronyms? Read more here about some of the acronyms and terms you see. At Amnesty, you may notice we use different acronyms at different times. LGBTI rights describes the body of human rights law and practices, but we tend to use LGBTQI+ when speaking about the movement itself to include queer-identifying people.
  • Read Amnesty’s 2017 report about the dangers LGBTI asylum seekers from Central America face on their journey to safety.
  • Learn more about what LGBTQI+ people face globally with these maps on sexual orientation and gender identity around the world.

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