International Lesbian and Gay Association
Encyclopedia
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) is an international organization bringing together more than 750 LGBTI groups from around the world. It continues to be active in campaigning for LGBT rights on the international human rights
and civil rights
scene and regularly petitions the United Nations
and governments. ILGA is represented in 110+ countries across the world. ILGA is accredited by the United Nations and has been granted Ecosoc consultative status.
ILGA is divided into the following regions:
in Coventry, England, at a meeting attended by 30 men representing 17 organisations from 14 countries. It changed its name to the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) in 1986.
The Coventry conference also called upon Amnesty International
(AI) to take up the issue of persecution of lesbians and gays. After a campaign that lasted 13 years AI in 1991 made the human rights of lesbians and gays part of its mandate and today is a passionate advocate for LGBT rights on the international level.
ILGA was also instrumental in getting the World Health Organisation to drop homosexuality from its list of illnesses.
ILGA was the first lesbian and gay rights organisation to gain "consultative status" as a non-governmental organisation at the United Nations
. Statements were made in the name of ILGA in the 1993 and 1994 sessions of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and in the 1994 session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
. ILGA’s NGO status was suspended in September 1994. However, in July 2011 ILGA regained its ECOSOC consultative status with the United Nations allowing ILGA to attend UN conferences and events, submit written statements, make oral interventions, and host panels in UN buildings.
The United Nations Aids Program, UNAIDS, indicated that it would not give funding to any project linked to ILGA because of the controversy.
The Council of Europe
responded to ILGA's long standing request for consultative status with an inquiry about the reasons for the suspension by the United Nations. The Council of Europe granted consultative status in late 1997. ILGA's European section is also accredited at and partially financed by the European Commission
.
Since its founding years, ILGA has evolved from a loose organisation of volunteers and an emphasis on the conferences as the main platform for information exchange, inspiration and co-operation initiatives into a more professional lobby organisation with (some) paid staff members. Of all the ILGA regions, ILGA Europe is most developed as a professional organisation; even more than the World ILGA organisation.
In 2005, it issued a press release stating that the election of Benedict XVI as Pope caused hurt and pain among LGBT people.
focussing on NAMBLA's membership of ILGA.
Following this ILGA, by a vote of 214-30 expelled North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA)
and two other groups (Vereniging MARTIJN
and Project Truth) in early 1994 because they were judged to be "groups whose predominant aim is to support or promote pedophilia." In October 1994, the executive committee of ILGA suspended the membership of VSG (Association for Sexual Equality), a gay group in Munich
, Germany
, due to its vocal solidarity with NAMBLA and its refusal to purge pedophile members. Its membership was suspended until the next Annual Conference of ILGA in June 1995 when the matter could be dealt with in accordance to ILGA's constitution, namely, expulsion. VSG left ILGA in April 1995 and in 1998 dissolved itself.
ILGA applied to have its consultative status reinstated in 2000, but on 30 April 2002 the United Nations' Economic & Social Council voted 29-17 not to grant this application,
"based on concerns raised about its member organizations or subsidiaries that promoted or condoned paedophilia".
One of the issues of concern was whether it was possible to verify that links with NAMBLA had effectively been severed due to ILGA not publishing its organisation membership list given fears for the safety of members living in countries where homosexuality is still criminalised.
On 3 May 2003, ECOSOC voted to again decline consultative status to ILGA. ILGA submitted another application, along with another LGBT rights organisation but it was rejected on 23 January 2006 at the Committee of NGOs. ILGA keeps the view that the summary dismissal of LGBT rights organisations' applications was influenced by Egypt
and OIC.
However in the subsequent vote on the candidature of ILGA-Europe
, the U.S.
reversed its position, though the proposal was still defeated, with:
ILGA continued to state its opposition to pedophilia and continued to seek ECOSOC Consultative status with the UN, applying once more in May 2009. The UN NGO Committee discussed ILGA's most recent application during its sessions in May 2010 and February 2011. During this session, the Belgian Mission at the UN asked for a vote on ILGA's application, because "The organization had applied for over ten years and met all prerequisites under the resolution. While aware of the divergent views on the organization, he asked that, given the NGO’s lengthy history, the Committee make a decision during the current session."
A "no-action" motion, presented by the Sudanese Representative to counter Belgium's request for a vote, passed with nine Committee members voting in favour (Burundi, China, Morocco, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan and Venezuela), seven voting against (Belgium, Bulgaria, India, Israel, Turkey, Peru and United States), with Kyrgyzstan abstaining and Mozambique and Cuba not present.
On December 11 2006, ILGA-Europe
(along with LSVD
and LBL
) were successful in being granted ECOSOC consultative status.
On July 25 2011, ILGA as a whole were successful in being granted ECOSOC consultative status, with a vote of 30 in favour, 13 against and 5 abstentions.
Protests often made the conferences that the organization held more dramatic and having more negative attention then would've been wanted. A problem encountered was financial in nature which recently came to a head when an ILGA conference actually had to be postponed because of lack of funding
.
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
scene and regularly petitions the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and governments. ILGA is represented in 110+ countries across the world. ILGA is accredited by the United Nations and has been granted Ecosoc consultative status.
Organization
According to its constitution ILGA Has various administrative positions:- Secretary General (2 positions): currently held by Renato Sabbadini (Italy), Gloria Careaga (Mexico)
- Women's Secretariat: currently held by Minority Women in Action (Kenya)
- Trans Secretariat: currently held by Transsa Dominicana (Dominican Republic)
- Executive Director: Sebastian Rocca
ILGA is divided into the following regions:
- ILGA-Africa
- ILGA-Asia
- ILGA-ANZAPI (Australia, New Zealand, Aotearoa and Pacific Islands)
- ILGA-EuropeILGA-EuropeILGA-Europe is the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.ILGA-Europe is a non-governmental umbrella organisation which represents its members, principally organisations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, at the European level.Its...
- ILGA-North America
- ILGA-LAC (Latin America and Caribbean)
History
ILGA was founded as the International Gay Association (IGA) on 8 August 1978 during the conference of the Campaign for Homosexual EqualityCampaign for Homosexual Equality
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality is one of the oldest gay rights organisations in the United Kingdom. It is a membership organisation which aims to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales...
in Coventry, England, at a meeting attended by 30 men representing 17 organisations from 14 countries. It changed its name to the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) in 1986.
The Coventry conference also called upon Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
(AI) to take up the issue of persecution of lesbians and gays. After a campaign that lasted 13 years AI in 1991 made the human rights of lesbians and gays part of its mandate and today is a passionate advocate for LGBT rights on the international level.
ILGA was also instrumental in getting the World Health Organisation to drop homosexuality from its list of illnesses.
ILGA was the first lesbian and gay rights organisation to gain "consultative status" as a non-governmental organisation at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. Statements were made in the name of ILGA in the 1993 and 1994 sessions of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and in the 1994 session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006...
. ILGA’s NGO status was suspended in September 1994. However, in July 2011 ILGA regained its ECOSOC consultative status with the United Nations allowing ILGA to attend UN conferences and events, submit written statements, make oral interventions, and host panels in UN buildings.
The United Nations Aids Program, UNAIDS, indicated that it would not give funding to any project linked to ILGA because of the controversy.
The Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
responded to ILGA's long standing request for consultative status with an inquiry about the reasons for the suspension by the United Nations. The Council of Europe granted consultative status in late 1997. ILGA's European section is also accredited at and partially financed by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
.
Since its founding years, ILGA has evolved from a loose organisation of volunteers and an emphasis on the conferences as the main platform for information exchange, inspiration and co-operation initiatives into a more professional lobby organisation with (some) paid staff members. Of all the ILGA regions, ILGA Europe is most developed as a professional organisation; even more than the World ILGA organisation.
In 2005, it issued a press release stating that the election of Benedict XVI as Pope caused hurt and pain among LGBT people.
Controversy and loss of UN consultative status
In the summer of 1993 the ILGA gained consultative status on the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) as a Non-Governmental-Organization, joining 3,000 organisations throughout the world. However, that status was suspended in 1994 after a campaign led by Jesse HelmsJesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
focussing on NAMBLA's membership of ILGA.
Following this ILGA, by a vote of 214-30 expelled North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA)
North American Man/Boy Love Association
The North American Man/Boy Love Association is a pedophile and pederasty advocacy organization in the United States that works to abolish age of consent laws criminalizing adult sexual involvement with minors, and for the release of all men who have been jailed for sexual contacts with minors that...
and two other groups (Vereniging MARTIJN
Vereniging MARTIJN
Vereniging MARTIJN is a Dutch association that advocates the acceptance of pedophilia and legalization of sexual relationships between adults and children. The group is widely reviled but not outlawed...
and Project Truth) in early 1994 because they were judged to be "groups whose predominant aim is to support or promote pedophilia." In October 1994, the executive committee of ILGA suspended the membership of VSG (Association for Sexual Equality), a gay group in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, due to its vocal solidarity with NAMBLA and its refusal to purge pedophile members. Its membership was suspended until the next Annual Conference of ILGA in June 1995 when the matter could be dealt with in accordance to ILGA's constitution, namely, expulsion. VSG left ILGA in April 1995 and in 1998 dissolved itself.
ILGA applied to have its consultative status reinstated in 2000, but on 30 April 2002 the United Nations' Economic & Social Council voted 29-17 not to grant this application,
"based on concerns raised about its member organizations or subsidiaries that promoted or condoned paedophilia".
One of the issues of concern was whether it was possible to verify that links with NAMBLA had effectively been severed due to ILGA not publishing its organisation membership list given fears for the safety of members living in countries where homosexuality is still criminalised.
On 3 May 2003, ECOSOC voted to again decline consultative status to ILGA. ILGA submitted another application, along with another LGBT rights organisation but it was rejected on 23 January 2006 at the Committee of NGOs. ILGA keeps the view that the summary dismissal of LGBT rights organisations' applications was influenced by Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and OIC.
- Ten countries voting against ILGA's application for ECOSOC included those that have the most negative evaluation by ILGA in its yearly report against discriminations of people living with HIV/AIDS: Cameroon, China, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, United States of America, Zimbabwe;
- Supportive states included: Chile, France, Germany, Peru, Romania;
- Colombia, India, Turkey abstained;
- Ivory Coast representative was not present.
However in the subsequent vote on the candidature of ILGA-Europe
ILGA-Europe
ILGA-Europe is the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.ILGA-Europe is a non-governmental umbrella organisation which represents its members, principally organisations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, at the European level.Its...
, the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reversed its position, though the proposal was still defeated, with:
- 9 countries opposing ECOSOC consultative status (Cameroon, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Iran, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, Zimbabwe) and
- 7 in support (Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Peru, Romania, United States);
- 2 abstentions (India, Turkey).
ILGA continued to state its opposition to pedophilia and continued to seek ECOSOC Consultative status with the UN, applying once more in May 2009. The UN NGO Committee discussed ILGA's most recent application during its sessions in May 2010 and February 2011. During this session, the Belgian Mission at the UN asked for a vote on ILGA's application, because "The organization had applied for over ten years and met all prerequisites under the resolution. While aware of the divergent views on the organization, he asked that, given the NGO’s lengthy history, the Committee make a decision during the current session."
A "no-action" motion, presented by the Sudanese Representative to counter Belgium's request for a vote, passed with nine Committee members voting in favour (Burundi, China, Morocco, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan and Venezuela), seven voting against (Belgium, Bulgaria, India, Israel, Turkey, Peru and United States), with Kyrgyzstan abstaining and Mozambique and Cuba not present.
On December 11 2006, ILGA-Europe
ILGA-Europe
ILGA-Europe is the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.ILGA-Europe is a non-governmental umbrella organisation which represents its members, principally organisations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, at the European level.Its...
(along with LSVD
LSVD
Lesben und Schwulenverband in Deutschland is the largest civil rights organisation of homosexuals in Germany....
and LBL
Danish National Association of Gays and Lesbians
LGBT Danmark – Landsforeningen for bøsser, lesbiske, biseksuelle og transpersoner is a lobby for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals. The association was founded in 1948 as Circle of 1948...
) were successful in being granted ECOSOC consultative status.
On July 25 2011, ILGA as a whole were successful in being granted ECOSOC consultative status, with a vote of 30 in favour, 13 against and 5 abstentions.
World conference
According to its constitution ILGA has a world conference in which all of its member organisations can attend. The world conference normally sets the time and place for the next conference. However, the Executive Board has used its power under the constitution to set an alternative venue, in the event the venue originally set becomes unviable, as was the case in 2008, when the originally chosen venue of Quebec had to be abandoned due to difficulties encountered by the local organizing committee in raising the necessary funds and the conference had to be held in Vienna instead. The 2010 ILGA world conference took place in São Paulo, Brazil, and the 2012 Conference will take place in Stockholm.Protests often made the conferences that the organization held more dramatic and having more negative attention then would've been wanted. A problem encountered was financial in nature which recently came to a head when an ILGA conference actually had to be postponed because of lack of funding
Funding
Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money , or other values such as effort or time , for a project, a person, a business or any other private or public institutions...
.
2011 State Sponsored Homophobia Report
In 2011, ILGA released its State Sponsored Homophobia Report and map that brings to light 76 countries that still criminalize same-sex relationships between two consenting adults. These countries are namely in Africa and in Asia. The report is currently available in English and French. Translations of the report in Spanish and Portuguese are expected to be released.Bibliographic references
- Johansson, Warren & Percy, William A. Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence. Harrington Park Press, 1994. pp. 192–193