The proposal launched in May by the LAC 5 countries for the creation of a Special Mandate on Human Rights and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (reported by SPW) has taken its course. On June 30th at the 32 Session of the UN Human Rights Council a resolution was adopted that establishes the mandate of an Independent Expert to monitor these violations. This decision was commemorated, appraised but also criticized by international LGBT rights networks, human rights bodies as well as civil society voices, as it can be seen the compilation of statements and analyses that SPW was able to collect in the last few days. We will continue reporting on further developments of this important decision.
But this month of June — when each year memories of the Stonewall rebellion are revived by LGBT Pride Parades around the world – was also stained by the bloody mass killing at nightclub Pulse, in Orlando, in which 49 LGBT people died and several have been injured, many of them Latinos. SPW joins the global waves of solidarity, indignation and mourning and shares a series of remarkable analyses, which were produced all over the world and that engage with the complex and contradictory political intersections underlaying this tragic episode.
Also in relation to this year June pride parades, a troubling incident is to be reported from Hungary: the organizers of the Budapest event excluded sex workers. The International Committee for the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe has organized a collective protest against this decision, which can be viewed when you read the article Pride and Prejudice: Sex Workers excluded from the Budapest Pride.
When moving the lenses to Europe, it is inevitable to address BREXIT. The referendum has multiple dimensions that can not be fully examined here. Very briefly, we call attention to an insightful article by Will Davies on the long term and classed based factors that explain the voting and the The Guardian’s analysis on how young people have voted to Stay and feel alienated by the result of the referendum. Finally, although we have not been able to identify any systematic analyses on what BREXIT may mean for gender and sexual politics in the UK, it is already clear that it will affect the lives of migrant sex workers, as reported by the English Collective of Prostitutes.
In the abortion rights front, there are, at last, good news to report. The US Supreme Court struck down a Texas’ law hindering abortion access, delivering a major victory for women’s reproductive rights. The antecedents and effects of this decision were subject to a number of reports and analyses here compiled.
Last but least, Sonia Corrêa provides an update SPW monthly analysis on the Brazilian conservative restoration and its effects and connections with gender and sexual politics.
SPW Activities
In Durban, South Africa, SPW will hold on July 13-15th, the seminar/workshop ‘SexPolitics: Mapping Key Trends and Tensions in the Early 21st Century’, in which thirty-five researchers and activists from all over the world will present and discuss their analyses and views on how sexuality politics landscapes have been reconfigured since 2002, when SPW was established.
We recommend
Papers and articles
Science and Sexuality in Plainspeak
A Glimpse Into Arab Studies Journal’s Newly Released Issue: Spring 2016
A Development Agenda for Sexual and Gender Minorities – by Andrew Park
On the rights of trans persons
A newly released research by The Williams Institute (UCLA) informs that in the US the number of self-identified transgender person has increased to 1.4 million since 2011.
Clinical Teaching for LGBT Health at the Point of Care – by Sarah E. Stumbar
How did bathrooms get to be separated by gender in the first place? – The Guardian
The Politics of Bathrooms – The New Yorker
Publications and resources
Gloria Careaga interview that critically examines the LGBT rights policy launched in March by the Presidency of Mexico.
A Izwi Lethu publication and newsletter
East Asia Forum Quarterly (EAFQ)’s new issue – Gender and sexuality in Asia today
New GenderIT edition: three key issues for a feminist internet: Access, agency and movements
Research Study in Canada Shows Needs of Rural Sex Workers
Sexuality & Art
Women artists: Maria Teresa Hincapié
Women artists: Njideka Akunyili Crosby