IDAHOT 2017: COME OUT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS!

Many thanks to Silvia Falcetta, for the following:

To mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, IDAHOT, the Council of Europe has launched a webpage – under the slogan COME OUT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - which gives an interactive overview of the legal and social conditions experienced by sexual minorities throughout the 47 Countries of the CoE.

Thanks to a user-friendly layout and clear keywords, it is easily accessible to the general public and it explains the origins and the importance of commemorating, every 17 May, the 1990 decision of the World Health Organisation to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. Under each thematic section, data and animations highlight the rates of discrimination and the incidence of hatred violence on LGBTI people, showing how prejudice still affects the everyday life of gay men, lesbians and transgender persons across the CoE. Further, detailed Reports and short interviews to Commissioners and Parliamentary members involved in specific projects illustrate the actions undertaken by the CoE against homophobia and transphobia.

The message conveyed throughout this webpage is as simple as powerful: LGBT rights are not special rights and, as the Secretary General of the CoE remarked yesterday “LGBTI people have the same rights as everyone else under the European Convention on Human Rights”.

A particular praise goes to the Secretary General for directly addressing the violent crackdown on gay men in Chechnya and for his firm condemn of hatred violence and irresponsible political speech: “I am particularly concerned about the recent allegations of mass persecutions of LGBTI people in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation. Discrimination and violence against LGBTI people is the worst kind of populism. Using minorities as scapegoats is unfortunately a growing trend. It is dangerous to democracy and governments must do all they can to stop it. Societies based on human rights, democracy and the rule of law need strong anti-discrimination laws, which are properly applied, and policies to integrate minorities and protect their rights. We also need to tackle irresponsible political dialogue inciting people to hatred and prejudice”.

It is to be hoped that such explicit stances will encourage the CoE institutions to actively urge the Russian Federation and all CoE countries to fully comply with their obligations under human rights law. Likewise, it is to be hoped that the clear reference to the European Convention of Human Rights as the crucial legal frame to tackle homophobic and transphobic discrimination will reinforce the ECHR willingness to act as a ‘sanctuary’ for people discriminated and prosecuted on the grounds of their sexual orientation and gender identity. 

Link to COME OUT FOR HUMAN RIGTHS page: 
http://www.coe.int/en/web/human-rights-channel/idahot

Link to the Secretary General speech: 


Comments