Welcome to PGA’s LGBTI Inclusion Site

New York, NY, April 1, 2017

Welcome to PGA’s LGBTI Inclusion Site, an online resource to better understand the unique role you have as a parliamentarian in ensuring equality and non-discrimination of all individuals regardless of who they are or whom they love.

We will use this space regularly to write about recent developments, key results of PGA’s actions, interesting news from fellow parliamentarians, activists and human rights practitioners working on the issue, and important facts about the human rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Persons.  (These terms can be confusing so we have prepared a guide to terminology.)

In October 2013, with the launch of PGA’s Global Campaign against Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI Campaign) in the Chamber of Deputies of Dominican Republic, we also began an effort to connect parliamentarians around the world working on this issue through peer-to-peer networking and sharing of best practices. Sometimes a real-life example of parliamentary action tells the clearest story. Learn about initiatives your peers have taken to promote equality.

Almost four years later, we gave shape to that original idea and transformed it into an online resource to accompany the publication Advancing the Human Rights and Inclusion of LGBTI People: a Handbook for Parliamentarians (SOGI Handbook), jointly produced by PGA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The SOGI Handbook sets out relevant human rights frameworks and highlights the role of parliamentarians in implementing Agenda 2030 (the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by world leaders in 2015) to ensure no one is left behind. It offers practical tips, tools and resources designed to support parliamentarians to undertake legislative, representational and oversight activities that advance the rights and inclusion of LGBTI people.

We invite you to visit the different sections of the SOGI Handbook, either by clicking on the tabs above or by printing the whole document as a pdf and taking it with you. We particularly like the section on practical steps and actions that parliamentarians can take and hope it motivates you to introduce a discussion in your Parliamentary Committee, pose a question to other decision-makers and/or reach out to LGBTI civil society.

Thank you for stopping by and please do not hesitate to contact PGA colleagues with comments, ideas or requests for technical assistance at monica.adame@pgaction.org and info@pgaction.org 

We will be delighted to learn about your initiatives in Parliament and with civil society!

All the best,
Dip. Ronny Monge, Costa Rica (Co-Convenor of PGA’s Gender, Equality and Population Programme),
Mónica Adame (Director of PGA’s Gender, Equality and Population Programme)
and Alex Roche (Programme Officer of PGA’s SOGI Campaign)