International Association of Pride Organizers 2012 PrideRadar Report by InterPride‘s Human Rights Committee 2012 Pride Radar InterPride Inc. – International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Pride Organizers Founded in 1982 InterPride is the worlds largest organization for organizers of Pride events. InterPride is incorporated in the State of Texas in the USA and is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organiza- tion under US law. It is funded by membership dues, sponsorship, merchandise sales and donations from individuals and organi- zations. Our mission It’s InterPride’s mission to promote Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans- gender and Intersex (LGBTI) Pride on an international level and to encourage diverse com munities to hold and attend Pride Events. InterPride increases networking, communication and education among Pride Organizations. InterPride works together with other LGBTI and Human Rights organizations. International LGBTI Human Rights InterPride believes that all people are born free and equal with dignity and rights. InterPride supports the Yogyakarta Principles, a set of principles applying international human rights law to ensure protection against the violations experienced by lesbians, gay men, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. Around the world, there remain many incidents where an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity can lead them to face dis- crimination, violence, imprisonment, torture or execution. InterPride and Human Rights InterPride raises attention and educates people about the exist- ing difficulties around the world through our member Pride events. We encourage our members to include a Human Rights element in their Pride festivities expressly for the purpose of sharing the plight of others. We participate in Human Rights con- ferences and partner with other LGBTI organizations around the www.interpride.org world to promote safety, equality and tolerance for all people everywhere. Through our members, partners, colleagues and © March 20, 2012 InterPride Inc. communities, InterPride reaches millions of people around the Information given in this Report is known to be correct at the world. time of publication. 2 © InterPride Inc. | www.interpride.org 2012 Pride Radar It’s InterPride’s mission to promote Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans- gender and Intersex (LGBTI) Pride on an international level and to encourage diverse communities to hold and attend Pride events. From large festivals in excess of a million people, to small activist marches and gatherings, the spectrum of events our members organize is diverse - not all happening in peaceful environments however. This year InterPride is celebrating its 30th Anniversary and to mark this occasion we have produced this inaugural PrideRadar. The intention of this publication is to collect all information about Pride events around the world and to monitor the “climate” in which they are taking place. Are they so-called Happy Prides or are they being held in hostile environments? We want to create awareness in the wider community about how large OUR com- munity, OUR friends and OUR supporters are and how seriously OUR rights should be taken. Although not all events happening may be listed we believe the PrideRadar is a good start. If you know of Pride events (or are a Pride organizer) that are not listed let us know and we’ll make sure that you are added to the list. It’s our goal to have a more Let’s take a closer look. comprehensive and updated publication by next year. It all started in the late sixties/early seventies in the United States Pride events are an integral part of our socio-cultural fabric – of America when gay and lesbian citizens, in the wake of the meaning and colorful in every conceivable fashion – and an civil rights movement, started to protest against discrimination. asset to every society. We hope that the future will see Pride In remembrance of the beginnings, marches of Pride evolved in events happening in all countries around the world without big cities in the USA sparking a plethora of similar events around incident or government intervention. the world. Mark Frederick Chapman Caryl Dolinko We have come a long way since those early days of our move- Co-President Co-President ment. In many cities around the world, Prides have become celebratory events establishing themselves as regular dates in InterPride Inc. the city’s calendar and generating the support of the local population, government, businesses and the promotion of their Tourist boards. Although this is true of most Western countries, sadly in many other countries Pride marches or other forms of manifestations for equal rights and anti-discrimination of LGBTI people are still obstructed, attacked or simply forbidden. © InterPride Inc. | www.interpride.org 3 2012 Pride Radar “First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they fight you. Then you win.” Mahatma Gandhi growing interest in Pride activism throughout Eastern Europe stemming from the collapse of totalitarian regimes in the latter part of the previous century despite ongoing cultural chal- lenges. However, throughout most of the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, our visibility, indeed, our very exis- tence, is constantly under attack from municipal, national and religious leaders. Additionally, nationalist, fascist, neo-nazi, religious fundamentalist and other right-wing groups, homo- phobes all, are on the rise throughout the global theater. A common, often uniting factor for all these groups and more is a driven determination to prevent Pride activity of any kind. This makes Pride organizing, and LGBTI human rights activism, for What Does YOUR Pride look like? that matter, difficult, dangerous, and all too often … deadly. Since before the Compton Riots and most notably, 4 years later Prides are a powerful albeit vastly under-utilized tool for edu- at the Stonewall Riots, LGBTI people have been struggling for cating literally millions and millions of people. We should be an acceptance of their rights as citizens in every corner of teaching our communities about what goes on beyond our re- the world. With this birth of a burgeoning Pride movement, spective borders and our Pride events are the perfect vehicle for Marches, Festivals, Fairs and manifestations of every kind have this. While some organizations like Atlanta Pride, San Francisco been occurring around the globe. The intent of these celebra- Pride, Stockholm Pride, Pride Toronto, Pride London, Sao Paulo, tions and protests is to show our visibility as an oppressed Northampton, Connecticut and Boston Prides, just to name minority and each event, where ever it is held, is a profound a few, have indeed been providing outreach and education political statement of our being: We’re here; we’re Queer; and regarding the Pride/Human Rights equation, most Prides, par- we will no longer continue to be invisible and accept second- ticularly in North America, do not. In other ”Happy Pride” areas class citizenship. Increasingly, we, as a world-wide community it is common practice, much to their credit. of LGBTI people, are growing in our determination to not simply go away or be legislated out of existence. With great We accept as a given truth that Pride cannot occur without the fortune and fortitude, we have seen much success. But … recognition and acceptance of basic human rights. Our inten- not everywhere. tion for Pride Radar is to compare and contrast the Pride/ Human Rights Equation on a planetary scale. While we recog- As the Co-Presidents point out, this trend has been popular nize that many more “Pride” events take place all over the in Western-thinking nations in North America, West Europe, world, we have listed those that are known to us at the time Australia and South America. Furthermore, there has been a of publication. There are more … MANY more, and our goal is 4 © InterPride Inc. | www.interpride.org 2012 Pride Radar InterPrides regional representatives InterPride has representation in twenty world regions. For more information and contact with our Regional Directors please referre to our website: www.interpride.org Region 1 Frank Rubio / Shannon Lank / Matthew Cox Region 2 Frank Leonzal / Johnathan Jones Region 3 Doña Hatch / Tony Ross / Brisa Apodaca Region 4 Matt Crawford Region 5 James Sheffield to eventually list them all. Ideally, we would like to welcome ALL Region 6 Pride events, whatever and where ever they may be, into the Keri Aulita / Sherri Rase global InterPride family. There is safety in numbers, and the Region 7 larger our number and combined voice, the greater our strength Mark Singh / Marion Steele / Paul Scarth and power will be to effect necessary change around the world. Region 8 The single most important task we can commit to is grater edu- Kaspars Zalitis / Tomasz Baczkowski cation. We herewith charge and challenge all organizations in Region 9 free and democratic societies tasked with the responsibility of Herminio Ortego producing LGBTI Pride events, whatever their nature and scope, to increase their educational component. We must inform our Region 10 communities of the horrors our brothers and sisters in hostile Sahran Abeysundara environments face in their daily lives and of the denial of their Region 11 basic human rights to peacefully organize, assemble and BE. Andreas Nilsson Only then can Prides take place ALL around the world. Dr. Mar- tin Luther King said it with simple eloquence: “No one is free Region 12 until we are ALL free.” Stefan Baier / Robert Kasll Region