MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Buenos Aires hosting meeting on LGBTI+ rights, co-chaired with UK

“We stand ready to support Germany and Mexico in their role as the next co-chairs of the ERC,” Herbert said

Argentina and the United Kingdom are to chair for the second time in a row an Equal Rights Coalition meeting where the global backlash against LGBTI+ rights and freedoms, particularly the “global anti-gender movements” matter, are to be discussed.

Buenos Aires will host the Equal Rights Coalition (ERC) on Sept. 8 and 9 in which 42 States and more than 140 civil society organizations will commit to defending the human rights of LGBTI+ people. In a previous report, they drew attention to the growing global backlash against the rights and freedoms of LGBTI+ people, at a time when there are increasing signs of movements that undermine the freedoms and human rights of people who are part of the collective.

“It will be a unique opportunity for governments and grassroots human rights defenders to work together and share best practices,” the organizers said.

The current ERC co-chairs will also present a progress monitoring report on the Coalition's Strategy and Five-Year Implementation Plan, published in July 2021 to guide and ensure that the organization can live up to its enormous potential.

The ERC meeting will feature four basic topics: The development of inclusive national laws and policies; The progress of the Sustainable Development Goals; Supporting civil society's response to the global anti-gender movement; Mapping progress towards decriminalization around the world.

Argentina's Special Representative on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Alba Rueda said that her country was strong “in human rights and diversity” as a “result of the social and political movement of lesbians, gays, transvestites, trans, non-binaries, and all activisms that run away from the patriarchal and binary system.”

“We value the ERC in that same line: as a space in which social organizations can express themselves so that the States can listen to them and commit to turning their demands into public policies,” she stressed.

Nick Herbert, the UK Prime Minister's Special Envoy for LGBT+ Rights, said: “The UK stands for freedom, and that means freedom for all. We are proud of the work of the Equal Rights Coalition to defend these freedoms, but more needs to be done, everywhere in the world, to achieve our goals.”

Following previous conventions in Montevideo in 2016, Vancouver in 2018, and an event in 2021 held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic chaired by the United Kingdom and Argentina thanks to an extended mandate from 2019, Mexico and Germany are due to take over as new co-chairs this Friday.

“We stand ready to support Germany and Mexico in their role as the next co-chairs of the ERC. Together we can send the clear message that LGBTI+ rights are human rights,” Herbert pointed out.