Over 700 gender-diverse leaders and activists from 60 countries congregated in Barcelona last month for the first-ever International Congress on Gender Identity and Human Rights.
Forming a collective voice for this minority, the conference toiled away on establishing their common hurdles, present demands and future solutions.
The three-day event also worked towards developing a basic document for States, NGOs and international organisations on legislative policy and human rights protections for gender-diverse people.
The Declaration of Barcelona was close to completion after the conference but WA Gender Project’s Aram Hosie was at the conference and said the networks established were as significant.
‘I think that sharing of our experiences, the wins and losses … [to] use all that information to help each other to work towards our common goals was probably the most significant thing to come out of the conference,’ Hosie said.
‘It attracted a lot of attention in Europe, particularly from the European Council, and I think it’s wonderful to see government agencies starting to seriously pay attention to the kinds of rights issues faced by trans and intersex folk,’
Hosie said he was truly inspired by the courage of some activists who risked life and limb defending the rights of the gender-diverse community.
‘Some of them come from places where it really is a life and death struggle for them just to exist, let alone be an outspoken activist,’ Hosie said.
A plethora of issues were raised relating to violence; access to health services; social services’ inequalities and the legal requirements regarding sex change and documentation.
A global gender identity network was also implemented with a series of working groups formed to foster more communication between groups.
To make gender diversity issues more public, two committees were formed to organise resources and topics.
Renowned New Zealand activist Jack Byrne joined the international committee as the representative for Oceania.
Gender diverse groups eagerly await the Declaration of Barcelona although no dates have been set for its release.
While no document has ever been established to specifically recognise the rights of LGBT community, the Yogyakarta Principles were drafted in 2007 addressing the explicit international human rights of LGBT people.
Benn Dorrington
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