International activist fights for global decriminalization of homosexuality
24th November 2008
Relatively progressive countries such as Canada can't be complacent about how homosexuals are treated, an international gay rights activist says.
"On the international stage, it is argued that Canada is one of the leading countries as far as gays and lesbians are concerned," said Louis-George Tin, a French scholar on a crusade to decriminalize homosexuality across the world.
"But what about all the youngsters that commit suicide here, because they live in a heterosexist world?"
Tin, who was in Vancouver last week promoting a new translation of his book, The Dictionary of Homophobia, is preparing for his latest battle.
In December, he will bring a declaration to the United Nations General Assembly for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality.
He said it's the first time the body has addressed gay and lesbian rights.
Countries will be asked to sign the declaration, and once more than half are on board, he says, a resolution can be voted on to make it international law.
He admits that's a long way off -- a decade is optimistic.
About 80 countries now criminalize homosexuality in one way or another, mostly in Africa and the Arab world.
For some countries, like Iran and Saudi Arabia, Tin holds out little hope of immediate change. But he hopes a UN declaration could sway more democratic countries, such as India and Lebanon, that still outlaw such relationships.
"On those counties, we can have a significant impact in the coming years," he said.
However, Tin warns against the conception that gay rights are on the rise internationally.
Rather, he said, while countries such as Nicaragua and South Africa are making significant strides on the issues, things are getting worse in some African countries.
And recent votes in three U.S. states to ban gay marriage shows that "any right is fragile," he said.
Though we're miles ahead of the "barbaric" treatment of homosexuals in countries like Iran, Canada still has a lot of work to be done to prevent gay bashing, suicide and transphobia (discrimination against trans-sexuals), Tin said.
"People die of homophobia in both countries," he said.
Source: Canada.com