Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Beyond Iran: Gays, Human Rights & the State Dept.

Michael Petrelis | 04.08.2005 15:43

Documenting Antigay Human Rights Abuses

Dear Friends:

On a daily basis, antigay human rights abuses occur around the globe, and I believe the first way to combat the abuses is to have them documented by the U.S. State Department and included in its annual report on countries adhering to human rights treaties.

In April 1991, after I had learned that the most recent State human rights report included only a single gay-specific citation, I arranged a meeting at State with the analyst responsible for the actual writing of the report. He promised, on behalf of State, to include antigay violations, provided he received verifiable documentation from non-government agencies, U.S. embassies and human rights activists. (See Rex Wockner's story below.)

Fourteen years later, the 2004 yearly report positively bulges with references to homophobic violence and legislative prejudices in at least twenty countries. From Albania to Zimbabwe, we were bashed, brutalized and denied basic civil rights, according to the U.S. government, something that should receive more concern from U.S. gays. (Source:  http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2005_05_31_mpetrelis_archive.html )

When the latest report was issued back in February, as it is every year at that time, not one gay rights organization called attention to what was in the report. Here we had _our_ State department presenting evidence about the abuses suffered by gays beyond U.S. borders, and we didn't insist our groups make damn good use of the report to help our foreign brothers and sisters.

The question now, for me, is what will I do before the December 2005 State deadline for submission of records, news stories and other files about all human rights abuses abroad, to be considered for inclusion in next year's annual report?

A few answers come to mind.

1.
I will send all available information on each country's mistreatment of gays to the two people who will write the 2005 report. Here are their names and ways to you can also contact them.

Nadia Tongour, Director, Human Rights Report
Email:  tongournj@state.gov
Phone: (202) 261-8024

LeRoy Potts, Deputy Director, Human Rights Report
Email:  pottslg@state.gov
Phone: 202-261-8025

Postal:
State Department
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Please make sure when writing to either Tongour or Potts to put the name of the country in your subject or re: line to assist them in routing your letter and documentation to the proper regional desk.

2.
Throughout the year, I'll bring certain country's homophobic violations to the attention of the State analyst charged with monitoring that nation's human practices and principles.

If you also want to reach a country desk at State, go to this page on the agency's web site,  http://www.foia.state.gov/mms/CountryOffices/cntry_off.asp , then click on the letter for the country in question. You'll be linked to that letter's list of nations, along with the phone number. Call that number and inform the analyst of the antigay abuse, and be ready to provide State with news articles and other documentation.

3.
If an incident in a particular country concerns me, I will call the press office at State and speak with the media liaison for that country and ask what comments or statements the department has to offer about the given situation.

Of course, when possible and if deemed necessary by me, I'll post State's remarks on my blog.

The number for State's media center is (202) 647-2492.

Should you also have a blog, why not get in the habit of calling State for a comment when abuses of gays in other countries makes the news, and posting State's remarks on your blog?

In my heart, I hope that these activities will go a long way to help State prepare and issue the most comprehensive annual human rights report next year, one that's extremely inclusive of antigay violations.

And should you also be made aware of some trouble one of our gay brothers or sisters suffers somewhere around the globe, please share your evidence and concerns with State by using the contact information above.

As we move beyond Iran and its public hanging in July of two male teenagers who might have been gay, let's use the existing mechanisms of our State Department to document and combat abuses of gay people in foreign lands.

^^^

In a message dated 7/29/2005 7:00:36 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  wockner@panix.com writes:

STATE DEPARTMENT AGREES TO TRACK ABUSES OF GAYS
by Rex Wockner
 http://wockner.com

[story filed April 10, 1991]

The man who writes the State Department's report on human-rights abuses
around the world has agreed to include antigay incidents if activists
worldwide provide confirmable information.

The agreement by Tom Williams, director of the Country Human Rights
Reports Team, came at an April 9 meeting with three Washington activists
-- Michael Petrelis of ACT UP, Margaret Cantrell of Gay and Lesbian Watch,
and Barrett Brick of the World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish
Organizations.

Activists presented Williams with 14 months of Outlines, a Chicago
gay/lesbian newspaper with extensive coverage of international news, to
document the extent of gay/lesbian human-rights abuses around the globe.

"The only mention of gays and lesbians in the 1990 report was a paragraph
on Denmark's legalization of gay marriage," Petrelis said. "I want them to
improve this report as it relates to gay and AIDS issues.

"Williams was very receptive," Petrelis said. "He listened intently and
told us what to do to get this information included in the report."

Petrelis initially encountered opposition before locating Williams. "The
undersecretary for the division told me the report could not include gays
and lesbians without a Congressional mandate," Petrelis said.

But Williams said antigay incidents merely need to fit into existing
categories approved by Congress, such as disappearance, torture and
arbitrary arrest.

During the meeting, the three activists highlighted the reported mass
executions of gays in Iran, the extended police and judicial harassment of
the Comunidad Homosexual Argentina, and the reported murders of
transvestites and gays by Maoist guerrillas in Peru.

"I really feel we're going to get somewhere," Petrelis said, "if activists
around the world provide the information."

Reports should be filed with the political counselor at the U.S. embassy
in the nation where the antigay incident takes place and carbon-copied to
Williams and the Washington "desk officer" for that particular country.
The address is Bureau of Human Rights, Department of State, Washington,
D.C. 20520. Phone: (202) 647-1442.

The paragraph on Denmark in the "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 1990" reads: "In 1989, Denmark became the first nation ever to grant
homosexual partnerships a legal standing and to give homosexual partners
most the same legal rights as heterosexuals. The first case involving a
1987 law prohibiting discrimination due to sexual orientation was tried in
1990. In this case, the author of a published letter to a daily newspaper
was charged with 'inciting racism or hatred' after she wrote that
homosexuals deserve AIDS and cited the Bible for terming homosexuality
immoral. Though vigorously prosecuted, she was acquitted."

-end-

Michael Petrelis
- e-mail: mpetrelis@aol.com
- Homepage: http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech