OutRight is a co-organiser of “The Economic Cost of LGBT Exclusion” event as a member of the LGBT Core Group, a cross-regional organisation of 18 countries, NGOs, and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Speakers will include Dr. James Heinz, economics professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Dan Bross, senior director, Business and Corporate Responsibility at Microsoft, and Ugandan human rights defender Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera. Marcus Mabry, head of U.S. curation for Twitter “Moments” will moderate the discussion.
Every year OutRight hosts an international delegation of human rights defenders for the week around Human Rights Day for meetings with governments and UN agencies to advocate progress on human rights for LGBTIQ people. Fifty advocates are participating this year, from across all regions.
“The economic exclusion of marginalised communities like LGBTIQ people deserves top priority as UN member states work to reduce poverty and drive progress on equality and justice under the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Jessica Stern, OutRight executive director. “We must strive to make sure all people—with no exceptions– can freely and fully participate in the economies of their countries.”
In OutRight’s video on the cost of exclusion, Pierre Brouard, co-director for the Center for the Study of Aids at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, cites data that showed a link between more progressive climates for LGBTI people and other economic indicators in society. “As those societies became more accepting of minorities, the economies were doing better…it suggests to me that when people are included in the society and they are healthy, they can be productive and contribute to the GDP of their countries,” concludes Brouard.
The “Cost of Exclusion” series features prominent African LGBTIQ activists and others, including Chesterfield Samba, director of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe; Justice Edwin Cameron of the South African Constitutional Court; and Zakhele Mbhele, South Africa’s first openly gay Member of Parliament.
Watch the first two videos here
In producing the videos it became quite evident how little reliable research and data there is on the economic lives of LGBT Africans. Information is virtually non-existent on their livelihoods- where they work, in what fields and in what capacities.
“If LGBTIQ Africans are nearly totally excluded from analysis and research, how can we know what they need?” asked Stern.
In response to these critical gaps in data and evidence base surrounding the inequalities and exclusion faced by LGBTIQ people worldwide, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched an initiative to be announced on Thursday that will focus on measuring LGBTI inclusion through the creation of an LGBTI Inclusion Index. OutRight is a civil society partner in this project.
