Writer: Siena Iwasaki Milbauer
In this final instalment of our month-long “Make Your Pride Intersectional” series, we’re turning our gaze out into the big, wide world.
For many good reasons, Pride is often a highly localized celebration, grounded in our immediate communities and locations. As we join together with our neighbors, it is also important that we uplift our global LGBTQ+ siblings. All of us are engaged in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, dignity, and joy, and none of us will be free until all of us are free.
As we fend off anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes and legislation in the United States, we can and should also stand with global LGBTQ+ communities as we all collectively march towards a more liberated and loving world.
One of the simplest ways to make your Pride global is to learn about global movements for LGBTQ+ rights. In nearly every country and culture in the world, folks are joining together to create safer and freer communities. But every struggle has its own set of challenges and opportunities.
For example, LGBTQ+ folks in Myanmar have stepped into prominent positions as protesters during the ongoing resistance to military rule by the Myanmarese people. This has reportedly led to a mainstream change in attitudes towards LGBTQ+ communities, especially among fellow protesters, in a country that has historically suffered from anti-LGBTQ+ discriminatory laws and widespread prejudice. When democracy is restored in Myanmar, folks are hopeful that the changing perspectives will stick and flourish, leading to permanently better conditions for LGBTQ+ folks in Myanmar.
In Vietnam, despite pledges by the government to better support LGBTQ+ folks, misinformation and discrimination continue, especially affecting Vietnamese LBGTQ+ youth. But in India, LGBTQ+ advocates celebrated a major victory in 2018 when India’s Supreme Court struck down a law that had criminalized same-sex relations (the law was originally put into place under British colonial oppression), although much progress remains to be achieved.
There is cause for concern due to growing anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment in Indonesia and Malaysia, yet some reason for optimism thanks to shifting public and political attitudes in Japan, Nepal, Singapore, and Taiwan. And that is to name just a handful of countries in Asia, much less the entire world! All this is to say that there are crucial fights for LGBTQ+ rights happening all around the globe. There is so much we can learn from global advocates about how to push for progress, and what barriers to prepare to face in our individual and collective journeys to liberation.
A great way to show up in solidarity with global LGBTQ+ communities is to help spread awareness of their movements, and to include global struggles in our conversations around LGBTQ+ rights. It is easy to confine our discussions about progress (or lack thereof) to just our local communities and our country of residence. It is so important to ground our organizing in our local communities, but it is also crucial that we understand the larger context of our work. All of our struggles are interconnected, and we are the most powerful when we care for and show up for each other.
Not only can expanding our perspectives on LGBTQ+ advocacy help us become better organizers ourselves, it is also a powerful reminder of how not alone we are. LGBTQ+ folks are everywhere, in every corner of the globe, and we are living joyfully, courageously, and brilliantly. So this Pride, and every Pride, and every day, let’s celebrate our local, national, and global LGBTQ+ communities with enthusiasm and intersectionality.
Sources
Banerji, Annie, “One year after landmark ruling for LGBT+ rights in India, challenges persist”, Reuters, 6 Sept 2019. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-lgbt/one-year-after-landmark-ruling-for-lgbt-rights-in-india-challenges-persist-idUSKCN1VR256. Accessed 23 June 2021.
Choy, Gigi, “Explained: gay rights, LGBTQ and same-sex marriage in Asia”, South China Morning Post, 12 Mar 2019. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3001296/explained-gay-rights-lgbtq-and-same-sex-marriage-asia. Accessed 23 June 2021.
Doshi, Vidhi, Slater, Joanna, “India’s Supreme Court decriminalizes gay sex in historic ruling”, Washington Post, 6 Sept 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indias-supreme-court-decriminalizes-gay-sex-in-historic-ruling/2018/09/06/d15467b6-b111-11e8-8b53-50116768e499_story.html. Accessed 23 June 2021.
Gruberg Sharita, Halpin, John, and Mahowald, Lindsay “The State of the LGBTQ Community in 2020”, Center for American Progress, 6 Oct 2020. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/reports/2020/10/06/491052/state-lgbtq-community-2020/. Accessed 22 June 2021.
Hsan Hlaing, Kyaw, Fishbein, Emily, “’We Are Like One Group.’ How Myanmar’s Pro-Democracy Protests Are Giving a Voice to LGBTQ+ People”, Time, 5 Mar 2021. https://time.com/5944407/myanmar-democracy-protests-lgbtq/. Accessed 23 June 2021.
Human Rights Watch, “Vietnam: LGBT Youth Unprotected”, Human Rights Watch, 12 Feb 2020. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/12/vietnam-lgbt-youth-unprotected#. Accessed 23 June 2021.
Ronan, Wyatt, “2021 Officially Becomes Worst Year in Recent History for LGBTQ State Legislative Attacks as Unprecedented Number of States Enact Record-Shattering Number of Anti-LGBTQ Measures Into Law”, Human Rights Campaign, 7 May 2021. https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/2021-officially-becomes-worst-year-in-recent-history-for-lgbtq-state-legislative-attacks-as-unprecedented-number-of-states-enact-record-shattering-number-of-anti-lgbtq-measures-into-law. Accessed 22 June 2021.