Samuel Ludovici

4/19/2016
Analysis of the Persecution of LGBT Individuals and Amnesty International

The persecution of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual individuals and

the denial of their basic human rights is currently a huge issue affecting millions of
people all across the globe. Whether it be in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, or even the
United States, people are being denied their basic human rights by governments on
the grounds of their sexual orientation. This is an issue, because human rights by
nature are inherent in everyone, and should not ever be denied to anyone under
any circumstance. That is what makes them human rights: they are unalienable and
equally provided to everyone. So obviously, the worldwide occurrences of
individuals being imprisoned or executed due to their sexual orientation knocks a
serious blow to the idea of inalienable human rights. As a consultant for Amnesty
International, it is important to highlight the relevance of the LGBT rights movement
to the organizations core mission of fighting for human rights across the world.
To better understand the plight of the LGBT, is first necessary to understand
the origination of the movement and how it relates to the human rights movement
as defined by the United Nations. Sodomy, or deviation from any deviation for
heterosexual, was criminalized worldwide for a majority of the 19 th and 20th
centuries. The punishment for being convicted as a sodomite or homosexual varied
in harshness from mandated fines all the way to execution. There were instances
where homosexuality was decriminalized, but the actual creation of a full-fledged
global movement did not occur until 1969 in response to the Stonewall Riots. The
Stonewall Inn was a bar located in Greenwich Village, a bloc in Manhattan, New York
City. It was run by the mafia, and catered to undesirables, namely gay and

transsexual men. On June 28th, 1969, the police raided the crowded gay bar, and
began rounding people up and taking them outside to wait for the police cars to
show up to take them away. Bar raids of this kind were a relatively common
occurrence during this period of history, so to many patrons, this was not too much
of a surprise. But something different happened that night: something that served
as catalyst for the LGBT and civil rights movement. The disenfranchised youth
stood up for their rights, and fought back against the police. At some point, a crowd
of well over 200 people had amassed in front of the bar, and began throwing
garbage and coins at the police, who had barricaded themselves in the bar while
waiting for reinforcements. Eventually more police showed up, but the frenzied bar
patrons had had enough and continued to riot well into the night. As the dust had
settled, several people had arrested, and the Stonewall Inn had been trashed. The
publicity around the riot was such that the following couple of nights, even more
supporters showed up outside of the now defunct bar to protest.
Across the United States, people assembled to show their solidarity with
those involved in the Stonewall Riots exactly a year after the first one. These
assemblies, often referred to as pride parades, become symbolic of the new active
movement attempting to procure basic rights for gay and lesbian individuals across
the country, and subsequently spawned similar movements across the world. While
bisexual and transsexual individuals were originally excluded from the movement,
they have since been included. The movement for LGBT rights has not been a single
world event, but an ongoing string of events across the world that can all be tied
back to Stonewall Riots. Movements for the decriminalization of homosexuality and
the attempt to gain the right for same-sex movement exploded in the following

decades. As of now, various international organizations have aided in dozens of

countries across the world have legalized same-sex marriage.
The LGBT movement mirrored the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in that
their platforms revolved around the idea of equality for all. This stems from the idea
of human rights. In 1948, the United Nations drafted a document known as the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in response to the atrocities witnessed
during World War II. This Declaration contained thirty articles outlining a new
societal norm: everyone is born free and equal, and everyone has the right to life,
liberty, and security of person, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, political
opinion, national origin, property, or other status. People were granted freedom and
equality purely based on their humanity. While this concept was not exactly novel,
the passing of this Declaration was a huge step for the normalization of the concept
of human rights for many member states of the United Nations.

Despite the growing success of the movement for securing basic human
rights for LGBT individuals, many of the countries in the world are still behind the
curve. Homosexuality is still a crime in over 70 countries, and punishable by death
in eight countries. The United States itself did not even legalize same-sex marriage
until 2015. This global denial of human rights has been in the spotlight of the global
stage since various international organizations focused on the issue have arose.
Amnesty International being one of the most important and influential international
organizations in regards to human rights, has had a part to play in the issue of LGBT
rights.
Amnesty International, as a global movement for the protection of human
rights, is obviously very connected to the discrimination of LGBT individuals. Our
mission statement perfectly outlines why the issue of the discrimination of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transsexual people is important to the organization: ensuring that
everyone across the world enjoys all of the basic human rights listed in the United
Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Governments denials of these rights to
people purely based on their sexuality contrary to what Amnesty International
stands for, so the organization has been working across the world to attempt to
grant justice to those that are being unfairly persecuted.
The issue of LGBT discrimination is a fundamental problem that Amnesty
International seeks to correct through research and action. While it is an important
issue, it does not necessarily prove to be a direct threat to Amnesty International.
As a global movement that is not tied to any one state government, Amnesty
International is not threatened by discrimination. Rather, the people across the

globe that Amnesty International is trying to help are threatened. Millions of people
around the world are threatened by their governments every day for their sexuality.
As previously mentioned, there are still eight countries in the world where
homosexuality is punishable by execution. Those people are the ones that are
threatened by the issue of LGBT discrimination. Amnesty International itself is only
threatened in that the denial of these human rights goes against what they stand
for, and are in turn fighting to help those being persecuted. Of course, avoiding the
topic could serve as a threat the organization as well. If Amnesty International were
to state that its goal was to secure human rights for all, but to totally ignore those
LGBT individuals who are having their rights taken from them would be contrary to
their goal. The organization would be regarded as hypocritical, and would not be as
large and successful as it has been today. Any human rights organization should
truly attempt to secure human rights for everyone, not just those that it sees fit.
In general, the issue of LGBT discrimination proves itself to be more of an
opportunity to Amnesty International than a threat. More specifically, an opportunity
to prove itself as a true advocate for the human rights of all. Amnesty International
stands to prove that it is true to its mission statement, and is effective in carrying
out of that mission. It stands to earn the respect of people and governments around
the world, which could aid in any further initiatives they undertake. The biggest
opportunity that both Amnesty International and the world as a whole face in
regards to the LGBT rights movement is the intrinsic humanitarian value that goes
along with the procurement of global civil liberties. By bringing more freedoms and
liberties to those millions of people that had been previously denied them, Amnesty
International stands to make the world a better place.
Nature of the Issue and Recommended Action

As with other similar issues, the issue of LGBT rights is one that branches off
of society itself. Sexuality and gender has been defined differently both throughout
history and across the world. How people view sexuality in any society is largely
dependent on the mores, norms, and customs of that society. Thus is the nature of
society: values, beliefs, and ideas are passed down through the socialization process
such as schooling or through adherence of government laws or religious laws.
Therefore, it is also important to accept that every society and culture is specific
and applicable only to that instance. The views of that society are only comparable
can only be accurately viewed in the context of that society. As it pertains to human
rights, specifically the rights of LGBT people, it is important to understand those
aspects of the society that influence the way that people view sexuality. For
example, a majority of the countries that have deemed homosexuality as a crime
worthy of capital punishment have governments and cultures deeply influenced by
the conservative teachings of the Islamic faith. Religion has served as an efficient
tool for the passing down of morality for thousands of years, so it is entirely
reasonable that there are still countries in the world today that have inherited a lot
of their beliefs from religion. The need for intervention in these kind of societies
really only presents itself when the human rights of its citizens are being abused.
This is where humanitarian organizations like Amnesty International step in. It
is the mission of several international organizations to work from within the society
to assist in the furthering of the concept of human rights. In order to change how an
entire society thinks, it is necessary for some aspect of that society to shift in a
direction. Amnesty International works to help guide countries as they gradually
shift their attitudes on various subject, as well as aiding individuals in those
countries that refuse to adapt. As a consultant tasked with recommending a better

way for Amnesty International to deal with the issue of the persecution of millions of
LGBT individuals across the world, I came to the conclusion that the best way to
secure human rights is to influence the way that societys derive and inherit their
beliefs: socialization. This is a multi-faceted plan that addresses the issue of the
denial of basic rights at its core, and attempts to work both internally and externally
to gradually change the views of different cultures.
Specifically, it is recommended that Amnesty International work with the
governments of the world to establish new norms and mores that are conducive to
the guarantee of human rights. Naturally, it is not as simple as having world leaders
come together and sitting down and talking about it. Rather, Amnesty International
should coordinate with the different governments of the world in such a way to
establish regional conventions that work together to establish and expand on their
customs and norms. The pressure from entering into regional conventions should
gradually influence the values of the states within them, and allow a forum for
naming-and-shaming of the most egregious violators of LGBT Rights. The
integration that comes with the formation of regional organizations will allow for
new values and beliefs as the societies that comprise the organization slowly
consolidate their laws in order to facilitate inter-organizational dealings more
smoothly.
The ultimate goal of Amnesty International working with these regional
organizations is to gradually shift the worlds views on gender and sexuality to the
point where LGBT people are truly regarded as equal. We essentially are functioning
as a normative organization, in that we are attempting to assist in the defining of
standards of behavior for states. The slow change in what influences a cultures
views on sexuality will allow for a peaceful guarantee of the rights of millions of

LGBT people across the world. This would solve the issue at its core, by directly
tackling the establishment of such inhumane norms and mores in cultures, rather
than attempting to protest against some of the most fundamental defining aspects
of a culture. The establishment of organizations in regions like the Americas,
Eastern Europe, South-Eastern Asia, Oceania, Western Europe, the Arabian
Peninsula, and Africa would be beneficial in eventually refining the views of
sexuality to a point where homosexuality is tolerated across the globe. If the
process is taking longer than expected, Amnesty International has the benefit of
working with governments that able to levy sanctions against particularly
oppressive regions and countries, whereas normally the non-governmental
organization would not have the power to do that. This appeals to the aspect of
realism, where each sovereign state actor makes decision based on its own interest.
Avoiding sanctions is obviously in the interest of a government, so it is then
obligated to conform. These regional organizations would be encouraged to come
about in the first place by Amnesty International, who would seek to start the
process in regions where they are already more tolerant of homosexuality, and
would work on expanding to the more close-minded regions of the world.
It is also recommended that while the regional organizations are coming
together, that Amnesty International continue its own humanitarian agenda, and
help provide immediate relief across the world to those that are being denied their
human rights. I recommend that Amnesty International create a program within its
organization specifically focused on LGBT rights in order to centralize the efforts of
establishing regional organizations and helping those regions form new educated
and universal norms that are in line with the United Nations Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. The members of the programs would be the people interacting with

governments across the world, and informing and advising them on the updating of
more human laws and customs. This new program, paired with the regional
organizations, provides Amnesty International the chance to make a huge difference
in the world, and to better the lives of millions of people living right now, as well as
those in the future.
This plan provides Amnesty International with a way to dutifully fulfill its
mission statement in a peaceful way, without receiving condemnation for directly
attacking different cultures way of life. It is designed to address the issue of the
persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people in a way that will
eventually guarantee these people the rights and liberties to which they are
entitled. While this process is ongoing, Amnesty International is still free to continue
their day-to-day efforts of working on the securement of human rights for all by
shifting some of the responsibility to the regional organizations. This plan perfectly
complements Amnesty Internationals vision of human rights for all.
In conclusion, the trampling of LGBT peoples human rights by governments
across the world has reached a point where it is no longer ignorable. With Western
countries and various humanitarian international organizations being so interested
in the betterment of humanity, it is impossible to reconcile that with the thought of
millions of people across the world being persecuted for the gender to which they
are attracted or identify as. I think that Amnesty International currently has the
infrastructure necessary to address this issue, and with the implementation of the
new program and facilitation of new regional organizations, we have the potential to
make a real, observable difference in the world. If not for us, then for the next
generation to come. Amnesty International, while already an extremely benevolent
force in the world, can improve the entirety of humanity by aiming to work with

world governments to establish new customs and laws regarding sexuality, and
prove to the world that it is truly for betterment of society.