Gender Policy LGBTI

Coahuila introduces same-sex marriage. A step forward, but there are more and more conservative voices in Mexico– the Heinrich Böll Foundation promotes human rights and equality for lesbian, gay and trans* individuals

Elisangela's story is one among many of women heads of families who live in favelas of Brazilian cities, and who are suffering with the forced removals being carried out give way to World Cup-related construction works. Marilene de Paula tells her story.

Despite South Africa’s Constitution of 1996 being considered one of the most advanced worldwide, the LGBTI community in South Africa faces violence, harassment, intimidation and hate crimes. With numerous projects, the Heinrich Böll Foundation seeks to improve the situation of the LGBTI community in South Africa.

Slovakia is about to change its constitution that limits diversity of family forms strictly. However, the results of the presidential election bring glimmers of hope to sexual minorities in Slovakia.

International Women's Day is celebrated in Ukraine to honour 'women's beauty'. Women of Maidan are now aiming to remind of the original meaning of the day and to draw attention to women’s issues in the country. Thus they organized a solidarity action “Women of Maidan – to Women of Crimea”.

On November 7, 2013, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that homosexual asylum seekers be granted asylum in EU Member States. An important judgment that is, however, a drop in the ocean in the light of the EU’s policy of closure with regard to asylum and refugee policy.

Being queer is still a stigma in Kenya and leads to social invisibility. With his Book "Invisible" the Kenyan author Kevin Mwachiro challenges the myths about alternative ways of love and living.

What is the situation with regard to the rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, trans* and inter* (LGBTI) worldwide? The Director of the German Institute for Human Rights, Prof. Dr. Beate Rudolf in an interview with Caroline Ausserer.

The Supreme Court of India overturned a historic ruling of 2009 by the Delhi High Court, which legalised homosexual intercourse for the first time in India. But there is still a glimpse of hope.

Those who advocate for the rights of sexual minorities in all three countries are confronted with staunchly conservative stereotypes and deep-seated resentment towards all those who challenge or could be seen to break up the traditional social and family structures. The weakly developed understanding of democratic values and minority rights is not just inherited from the Soviet Union.

2012 was a special year in terms of publicity of LGBTI community and LGBTI movement in all three South Caucasian countries. Several important steps have been made towards raising acute issues about sexual identity, differences/diversity and social constructs in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

This annual award was created to honor individuals who identify critical and unseen aspects of current political events and who are not afraid to enter the public realm by presenting their opinion in controversial political discussions.It is funded by both the state government and the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Bremen and awarded by an international jury. 

In the history of the fight for LBGTI rights in the South Caucasus, 17 May 2012 is a milestone. On this internationally recognized day, a group of activists took to the streets in the center of the capital Tbilisi for the first time to demonstrate for the rights of sexual minorities.

In May 2012, when the Euro Vision Song Contest took place in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital presented itself as open and liberal. But there is also a second reality: The Azerbaijani society is deeply conservative. In many families it is still a shame when sons or daughters come out as homosexual. Some of them are faced with violence from their own families.

The topic of sexual orientation is still a taboo in the Armenian society. Anyone who differs from the traditional beliefs must deal with social ostracism and violence. The gay singer Armine Oganezova, also known as Tsomak, fled from Armenia this summer, because she had to be afraid for her life.

Arts manager and a cultural activist Basma El Husseiny points out that art is one of the most essential assets during social change. Being creative enables people to feel and think beyond their immediate reality and outside their usual capacity.

The conference sought to analyse the challenges faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities in Africa. It provided a platform for the discussion of strategies aimed at creating an environment on the continent where sexual minorities can enjoy the full range of human rights and are recognised as full citizens.

This report focuses on the Namibian case study. Due to the fact that climate change and gender has strong links to poverty, and that the majority of rural poor are women engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture,  the research primarily examined rural communities of Namibia. Fieldwork was carried out in Epyeshona village located in northern-central Namibia and Daures Constituency in the Northwestern region.

Mozambique is considered one of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that has been hard hit by climate change due to its geographical location and the weak socioeconomic situation. The major anticipated impacts of climate change are increase in the frequency and severity of floods, droughts and cyclones. Thus, adaptation measures to cope with the impacts of climate change are urgently needed at different levels in the country. These must be gender-sensitive, considering the differentiated role women and men play in rural societies.

The general objective of this report was to analyse differentiated impacts of climate change and climate variability in Botswana. Furthermore, it was to examine the gendered dimension of climate change, its impacts and women and men’s responses. The central research question that the study sought to answer was ‘Are women and men in Botswana affected by climate change differently?’.