Arcigay Nazionale joins the Genoa Social Forum, for the globalization of human and civil rights and the fight against the criminalization of gays, lesbians, and transgender people worldwide.
Arcigay Nazionale announces its membership in the Genoa Social Forum, sharing its general objectives: environmental protection, international cooperation, promotion of citizenship rights, development of multicultural and multiethnic coexistence, peace, and social justice.
In its collective commitment to the globalization of human and civil rights, Arcigay (which is a member of ILGA, the International Gay & Lesbian Organization) highlights two fundamental programmatic points:
- The increased fight against human rights violations against gays, lesbians, and transgender people. Amnesty International's recently published report confirms that in more than 70 countries, homosexuality is considered a crime, punishable by death in Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. In another 30, human rights violations against gays and lesbians are ongoing.
- the assumption of a central role by the UN in the fight against AIDS.
We ask the Italian government to support UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's request that the UN, and not the G8, manage the UN AIDS Fund, and that the fund be sufficient to address the plight of the 36 million AIDS patients worldwide, 25 of whom are in Africa.
We demand that the United Nations overcome the anachronistic resistance of those Arab countries that would like to exclude Tumi Mpetwa, president of ILGA, the International Gay and Lesbian Association, accredited as a non-governmental organization at the UN, from the UN Conference because she is a lesbian.
“"The globalization of the economy and communications has had a positive effect on the international gay and lesbian community," declared Arcigay national president Sergio Lo Giudice, "facilitating its expansion and strengthening, forcing changes in otherwise static realities in terms of the defense of human rights.
Only a few steps have been taken in this direction, but it is the path we must follow. This is the globalization we want: an effective globalization of human rights, through greater participation in decision-making processes by citizens, non-governmental organizations, and liberation movements around the world.
Arcigay Nazionale – Press Office
