Mind the gap promoting lgbtqia* rights in the euro med area

MIND THE GAP PROMOTING LGBTQIA* RIGHTS IN THE EURO-MED AREA

organized by:

Edited by:

South Europe Youth Forum

with the support of:

MIND THE GAP Promoting LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med Area

with the support of:

in cooperation with:

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

SEYF - South Europe Youth Forum www.seyf.eu Edited by: VINCENZO LOTITO (vincenzo.lotito@seyf.eu) and SANDRO SALVATORE ACCOGLI (sandro.accogli@seyf.eu) MARIJA BORG MIFSUD (marija.borg@seyf.eu) All rights reserved

“MIND THE GAP - Promoting LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med Area” by South Europe Youth Forum is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.seyf.eu.

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Index ZERO INTRODUCTION, of South Europe Youth Forum, 5 ONE THE PROJECT, 9 TWO THE GLOSSARY: THE PROPER WAY, 23 THREE LGBTQIA* RIGHTS IN THE EURO-MED AREA, 36 FOUR A COMPARISON OF LGBTQIA* RIGTHS IN THE EURO-MED AREA, 47 FIVE TOOLS FOR ACTIVISM, 55

The Campaigns, 57

The Tools, 65

The Right to provoke: an example of activism, 71

The Salento Rainbow Film Fest, 74 SIX FOLLOW UP AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, 76

CONTACTS, 78

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Zero

INTRODUCTION

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Introduction

INTRODUCTION SEYF

South Europe Youth Forum

Mind The Gap was born as a result of opportunities of comparison between youth workers in Euro-Med countries and European organizations, at the end of projects dedicated to awareness and promotion of the values of tolerance and equality between Mediterranean countries.

It has been organized by SEYF with the support of the Italian National Agency for Youth within the frame of the Erasmus Plus Programme and in cooperation with: UNAR (the Italian National Office against Racial Discrimination managed by the Department for Equal Opportunities of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers), and the local NGOs LeA - Liberamente E Apertamente, LINK Lecce and LILA Lecce).

During several brainstormings to trace future collaborations, common interests of deepening have emerged concerning the need of programming an event during which was possible to gain awareness about the difficult situation lived by the LGBT* community in Mediterranean countries and to programme specific focus on fundamental human rights and the violent degeneration of prejudice.

This project started and developed with the goal of better understanding the LGBT* world, mapping the situation in Mediterranean different countries, sharing useful methods and techniques, putting a stop to discrimination and stereotypes, promoting active citizenship to claim LGBT* rights standard-

7

Introduction

ization, raising awareness to dissemination of knowledge and increase of activism.

In order to fully reach these goals, Mind The Gap has been structured with a form of multi-action; 1: Training Course useful to share non-formal methodologies, methods and techniques between the operators of the partner organizations.

2: Youth Exchange useful to test and verify the validity of the techniques acquired during the Training Course action over a very important local event of civic activism, the Salento Rainbow Film Fest.

The project aimed to pursue the following objectives: - to promote European democratic values, active citizenship, non-formal education and human rights over the fight against prejudices and the behavior that leads to exclusion and marginalization; - to promote the knowledge of human rights defending legal equality of the LGBT* community members; - to promote awareness on the subject of LGBT* and to map stereotypes and ideologies about the issue relating to sexual orientation; - to face the problem of prejudices related to sexual orientation in different geosocial backgrounds; -to professionalize Youth Workers and make them aware of LGBT* issues and of non-formal methodologies to approach this theme; - to give tools necessary to a campaign in the field of LGBT* people’s rights that use instruments of communication and creativity; -to give tools useful to young people to identify, raise awareness and report different kinds of discrimination based on sexual orientation in their respective local communities; -to experience activism through the participation in the programme of Salento Rainbow Film Fest activities.

8

Introduction

The project met the goals of the programme because: -it fought homophobia and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender orientation in the European Union as cornerstone of Europe 2020 strategy; -it promoted the improvement of quality in youth work, in particular through a bigger cooperation between the organizations working in the field of youth and/ or other parties concerned; -it increased the international dimension of the activities in the field of youth and the role of entertainers and youth organizations as Youth Support Systems, in a complementary way to Union’s external action, in particular through the promotion of mobility and cooperation between the programme countries and third countries, thanks to the capacity building support of third countries.

The project met the goals of the action because: - it supported the professional development of youth workers in order to renew and improve the quality of youth work; - it increased awareness and understanding of participants in relation to other cultures and countries, giving them the opportunity to build international networks to participate actively in society and develop a sense of European citizenship and identity.

The project endorsed the 2016 priority of the Erasmus Plus Programme because through its actions it reached marginalized youth, it promoted diversity, intercultural dialogue, common values of freedom and it offered young people and youth workers necessary methodologies for transferring basic society values in order to prevent violent radicalization of young people. Indirect beneficiaries of the action were asylum-seekers because of sex discrimination from Morocco and Tunisia; this helped stimulate the need for consideration of migratory flows.

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One

THE PROJECT

10

The project

THE PROJECT

As a multi-action project, the project Mind the Gap took take place in Lecce (Italy), and involved participants from 10 countries of the Euro-Med Area: Italy, France, Malta, Spain, Greece, Tunisia, Israel, Morocco, Jordan and Lebanon).

Specifically: - A Training Course implemented from 25th to 29th October 2016 which involved 2 trainers + 3 participant from each partner. A total of 30 youth leaders, youth workers and social workers) have been involved; - A Youth Exchange implemented from 2nd to 10th December 2016 which involved 4 participants with fewer Social opportunities +1 leader group for each partner: A total of 50 young people have been involved; Mind the Gap followed the following specific objectives: - in the Training Course phase: to develop the competences and knowledge of people working with youngsters in order to act as advocates of greater gender equality in their communities by using non-formal learning approach and tools; - in the Youth Exchange phase: to test the effectiveness of the tools and metodologies acquired during the Training Course phase during the cooperation and the participation to Salento Rainbow Film Festival.

Coherently with the programme Erasmus+, during the Training Course and the

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The project

Youth Exchange, all methodologies promoted active participation and active learning of participants.

The Training Course was based on learning by doing methodology: participants learnt about non formal education by experiencing it directly and not by just by receiving information. Anyway, information sessions have also been integrated during the whole project in an interactive way. The main methodological approaches used were: Reciprocal Maieutic Approach, experiential learning, cooperative learning, participation and peer learning. The main methods we implemented were: brainstorming, team building and energizers, presentations, world cafĂŠ, Open Space Technology.

The Youth Exchange was based on specific and targeted activities based on learning by doing methodologies. During the Youth Exchange, participants create different kinds of communication material on the topic that have been tested and disseminated during the Salento Rainbow Film Festival. In order to produce this material the project foresaw the following activities: workshops of mutual dialogue, exchange of personal realities in terms of discrimination against LGBT* people, group discussion, thematic workshops for the creation of the campaign, role plays, simulation games, problem solving, visit to LGBT* Realities working in Lecce, specific activities used as a group dynamic in order to find common points about the violation of the rights of LGBT* people and to stimulate the creation of new ideas and follow ups.

The result of the Training Course phase were the current Training Hand-Book which includes the most crucial theoretical inputs on the topic, information about the gender issues in our 10 countries and also tools that could be used for promoting gender equality at the local level. We hope that the results of our project could be used also in other youth-work contexts and in different communities, as we tried create it in a simple language and to design it in a youthfriendly way.

The result of the Youth Exchange have been a campaign against the Homophobic Speech that is integrating all our daily campaigns, in line with the international campaign of the No Hate Speech Movement.

In a longer-term perspective we expect the young people and youth workers involved to be more gender-aware and sensitive, in order to be able to detect

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The project

situations and contexts where gender-based discrimination and violence occur and to take proper action for promote gender equality both locally, nationally as well as in European and in South Mediterranean contexts.

By increasing knowledge, changing attitudes, developing skills and acquiring innovative tools, we expect the partner organizations and participants from European and South Mediterranean Countries to be able to involve young people in being change-makers.

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The project

1

Training Course Communication

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The project

2

Youth Exchange Communication

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The project

Moments from the Training Course

3 Warm up activities

4 Set of activities for building trust among the international team

5 Set of activities for building trust among the international team

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The project

6 Initial evaluation: hopes, fears and contributions

7 Workshop on identity

8 Sharing of knowledge and experience

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The project

9 Project Presentation

10 Workshops

11 Workshops

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The project

12 Meeting the local LGBT NGO “LeA - Liberamente e Apertamente”

13 Meeting the local LGBT NGO “Agedo”

14 Participating as special guests to a local Civil Union in Lecce, one of the first celebrated in Italy

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The project

Moments from the Youth Exchange

15 Warm up activities: Speed date

16 Team Building activities

17 Energizers

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The project

18 Warm up activities

19 Salento Rainbow Film fest: exhibition

20 Salento Rainbow Film fest: Opening

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The project

21 Salento Rainbow Film fest: workshop between participants and movie- directors

22 Salento Rainbow Film fest: workshop between participants and activists

23 Salento Rainbow Film fest: movie presentations

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The project

24 Workshop on identity and intercultural dialogue

25 Discussion moments

26 Intercultural moments

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Two

THE GLOSSARY: THE PROPER WAY

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The Glossary: the proper way

27 Image taken from www.portalenazionalelgbt.it

“The secret of being boring is to say everything.� Voltaire

THE GLOSSARY The glossary is a guide through a list of the most commonly used phrases and acronyms. By defining how and when we use particular terms, the aim is to clear away any misunderstandings and make the jobs of LGBTI activists, youth workers, and young people easier.

METHODOLOGICAL NOTE AND SOURCES Language is a living thing and its usage changes over time. The following definition are mainly taken by the ILGA EUROPE official glossary (2015). As this work is mainly based on participatory approach, we asked the participants to our projects to feel free to add more information and/or and to provide an alternative definition. Thus, this glossary became a representation of the various universe of people that participate to our project.

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The Glossary: the proper way

ASEXUAL A person who feels little or no sexual attraction towards people of any gender (Definition provided by a participant).

BIPHOBIA The fear, unreasonable anger, intolerance or/and hatred toward bisexuality and bisexual people (ILGA Europe) integrated as “Negative cultural and personal beliefs, opinions, attitudes and behaviours based on fear, disgust, intolerance or/and hatred towards bisexuality that often results in stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination and/or violence towards bisexuals and others who display attraction to more than one gender� (Integration provided by a participant).

BISEXUAL When a person is emotionally and/or sexually attracted to persons of more than one gender (ILGA Europe).

CISNORMATIVITY The assumption, in individuals or in institutions, that everyone is cisgender, and that cisgender identities are superior to trans* identities or people. Leads to invisibility of non-cisgender identities (Definition provided by a participant).

CISSEXISM A social structure operating through the presumption that everyone is, or should be, cisgender, a structure that privileges cisgenderism and cisgender people, and that systematically punishes people who are not cisgender (Defini-

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The Glossary: the proper way

tion provided by a participant).

COHABITATION RIGHTS Two persons living together at the same physical address can, in some European countries (and regions), make a legal agreement on some practical matters (which vary from country to country). The rights emanating out of cohabitation are limited (ILGA Europe).

COMING-OUT The process of revealing the identification of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or intersex person (ILGA EUROPE).

DEMISEXUAL A person who only feels sexual attraction to people with whom they have a strong emotional attraction (Definition provided by a participant).

DIFFERENT-SEX RELATIONSHIP A relationship containing people of two different sexes. This term is preferred instead of opposite-sex, as ‘opposite’ is based on the incorrect assumption that there are only two possible sexes and that they are immutable” (ILGA EUROPE) also integrated as It would me more appropriate to use “different-gender relationship”. Usually biological sex is not used to differentiate between relationships as it can lead to transphobic categorizations (Integration provided by a participant).

GAY

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The Glossary: the proper way

A man who is sexually and/or emotionally attracted to men. Gay is sometimes also used as a blanket term to cover lesbian women and bisexual people as well as gay men. However, this usage has been disputed by a large part of the LGBTI community and gay is therefore only used here when referring to men who are emotionally and/or sexually attracted to men (ILGA EUROPE). also integrated as attracted exclusively to men (Integration provided by a participant).

GENDER Refers to people’s internal perception and experience of maleness and femaleness, and the social construction that allocates certain behaviours into male and female roles” (ILGA EUROPE). also integrated as male and female usually refer to sex categories. Gender categories should be “man” and “woman” (Integration provided by a participant).

GENDER EXPRESSION Refers to people’s manifestation of their gender identity. Typically, people seek to make their gender expression or presentation match their gender identity/ identities, irrespective of the sex that they were assigned at birth (ILGA EUROPE).

GENDER IDENTITY Refers to each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth.”

(ILGA EUROPE). also integrated as It may or may not correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth (Inte-

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The Glossary: the proper way

gration provided by a participant).

GENDER QUEER (also termed as non-binary) Genderqueer (GQ), also termed non-binary, is a catch-all category for gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine‍—‌identities which are thus outside of the gender binary and cisnormativity. Genderqueer people may identify as one or more of the following:having an overlap of, or indefinite lines between, gender identity; having two or more genders (being bigender, trigender, or pangender); having no gender (being agender, nongendered, genderless, genderfree or neutrois);moving between genders or having a fluctuating gender identity (genderfluid); orbeing third gender or other-gendered, a category which includes those who do not place a name to their gender (Usher, Raven, ed. 2006.

North American Lexicon of Transgender Terms. San Francisco).

GENDER REASSIGNMENT Refers to the process through which people re-define the gender in which they live in order to better express their gender identity. This process may, but does not have to, involve medical assistance including hormone therapies and any surgical procedures that trans people undergo to align their body with their gender (ILGA EUROPE).

GENDER RECOGNITION A process whereby a trans person’s preferred gender is recognised in law, or the achievement of the process (ILGA EUROPE).

GENDER VARIANT Can refer to someone whose gender identity differs from normative gender identity and the gender roles/norms assigned at birth (ILGA EUROPE).

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The Glossary: the proper way

HETERONORMATIVITY Refers cultural and social practices where men and women are led to believe that heterosexuality is the only conceivable sexuality. It implies that heterosexuality is the only way of being “normal” (ILGA EUROPE) also integrated as the assumption, in individuals or in institutions, that everyone is heterosexual, and that heterosexuality is superior to all other sexualities (Integration provided by a participant).

CISGENDER A person whose gender identity and biological sex assigned at birth align. The term, “cisgender” means having a biological sex that matches your gender identity and expression, resulting in other people accurately perceiving your gender.

If you identify as cisgender, there’s a good chance you’ve never thought about these things. Try and be more cognizant, and you’ll start to realize how much work we have to do in order to make things better for the transgender folks who don’t have access to these privileges (Definition provided by a participant).

HETEROSEXISM A social structure operating through the presumption that everyone is, or should be, heterosexual, a structure that privileges heterosexuality and heterosexual people, and that systematically punishes people who are not heterosexual (Definition provided by a participant).

HOMOPHOBIA Fear, unreasonable anger, intolerance or/and hatred directed towards homosexuality (ILGA EUROPE) also integrated as

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The Glossary: the proper way

Negative cultural and personal beliefs, opinions, attitudes and behaviours based on fear, disgust, intolerance or/and hatred towards homosexuality that often results in stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination and/or violence towards homosexuals and others who display same-sex attraction (Integration provided by a participant) and an umbrella term for a range of negative attitudes (e.g., fear, anger, intolerance, resentment, or discomfort) that one may have towards members of LGBTQ community. The term can also connote a fear, disgust, or dislike of being perceived as LGBTQ. Often experienced inwardly as an individual begins to question their own sexuality (Integration provided by a participant).

HOMOSEXUAL People are classified as homosexual on the basis of their gender and the gender of their sexual partner(s). When the partner’s gender is the same as the individual’s, then the person is categorised as homosexual. It is recommended to use the terms lesbian and gay men instead of homosexual people. The terms lesbian and gay are being considered neutral and positive, and the focus is on the identity instead of being sexualised or pathologised (ILGA EUROPE) also integrated as The second line should be “A homosexual is a person who is attracted romantically and/or sexually exclusively to people of the same gender (Integration provided by a participant) and Until 1973 “Homosexuality” was classified as a mental disorder in the DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. There are different connotations to the word homosexual then there are to gay/lesbian individuals that is powerful and salient both to queer and straight people (Integration provided by a participant).

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The Glossary: the proper way

INTERSEX A term that relates to a range of physical traits or variations that lie between stereotypical ideals of male and female. Intersex people are born with physical, hormonal or genetic features that are neither wholly female nor wholly male; or a combination of female and male; or neither female nor male. Many forms of intersex exist; it is a spectrum or umbrella term, rather than a single category (ILGA EUROPE).

LESBIAN A woman who is sexually and/or emotionally attracted to women (ILGA EUROPE) also integrated as exclusively to women (Integration provided by a participant) and term used to describe women attracted romantically, erotically, and/or emotionally to other women (Integration provided by a participant).

LGBTI Acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. This is the acronym that ILGA-Europe use to reflect our advocacy priorities; our members may use different formulations to more accurately describe their own work, for example LGBT*, LGBTQ. also integrated as I would also add Q ( LGBTQI). Queer is a political term and many people use it as such, to imply a particular set of political beliefs alongside their orientation.

Queer does not resonate with all communities and is not embraced by all LGBTIA people. Queer is not as specific as words like lesbian or gay, and it does not explain exactly either your gender or the gender of your partner. If someone partners with people across the gender spectrum, “bisexual� may not feel ap-

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The Glossary: the proper way

propriate because it implies there are just two genders (Integration provided by a participant).

MONOSEXISM A social structure operating through the presumption that everyone is, or should be, monosexual, a structure that privileges monosexuality and monosexual people, and that systematically punishes people who are not monosexual (Definition provided by a participant).

MONOSEXUAL A person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to people of only one gender (e.g. gay, lesbian, heterosexual) (Definition provided by a participant).

OUT Being openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans or intersex (ILGA EUROPE).

PANSEXUAL A person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction for members of all gender identities/ expressions (Integration provided by a participant).

PRIDE EVENTS Pride events and marches are annual demonstrations (against homophobia/ transphobia and in favour of LGBTI rights) that take place around the world (ILGA EUROPE).

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The Glossary: the proper way

RAINBOW FLAG A symbol celebrating the uniqueness and diversity within the LGBTI community.

The flag has six stripes, each a different colour, ranging from purple to red (ILGA EUROPE).

SEX Refers to biological makeup such as primary and secondary sexual characteristics, genes, and hormones. The legal sex is usually assigned at birth and has traditionally been understood as consisting of two mutually exclusive groups, namely men and women. However, “[t]he Court of Justice has held that the scope of the principle of equal treatment for men and women cannot be confined to the prohibition of discrimination based on the fact that a person is of one or other sex.

In view of its purpose and the nature of the rights which it seeks to safeguard, it also applies to discrimination arising from the gender reassignment of a person.”

(This language comes from the preamble of the Gender Recast Directive 2006).

In addition to the above, the legal definition of sex should also include intersex people (ILGA EUROPE) also integrated as Usually sex categories are “male” and “female”. Man and Woman are gender categories (Integration provided by a participant).

SEXUAL PREFERENCE The types of sexual intercourse, stimulation, and gratification one likes to receive and participate in. Generally when this term is used, it is being mistakenly interchanged with “sexual orientation,” creating an illusion that one has a choice (or “preference”) in who they are attracted to (Integration provided by a participant).

SEXUAL ORIENTATION

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The Glossary: the proper way

The type of sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction one feels for others, often labeled based on the gender relationship between the person and the people they are attracted to (often mistakenly referred to as sexual preference) (Definition provided by a participant).

TRANSEXUAL Refers to people who identify entirely with the gender role opposite to the sex assigned to at birth and seeks to live permanently in the preferred gender role.

This often goes along with strong rejection of their physical primary and secondary sex characteristics and wish to align their body with their preferred gender.

Transsexual people might intend to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment treatment (which may or may not involve hormone therapy or surgery) (ILGA EUROPE) also integrated as Trans* – (noun) an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Trans* people may identify with a particular descriptive term (e.g., transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, FTM). Transgender – (1) An umbrella term covering a range of identities that transgress socially defined gender norms; (2) (adj) A person who lives as a member of a gender other than that expected based on anatomical sex. Transition(ing) – (noun & verb) this term is primarily used to refer to the process a trans* person undergoes when changing their bodily appearance either to be more congruent with the gender/sex they feel themselves to be and/ or to be in harmony with their preferred gender expression (Integration provided by a participant) and Transgender as a person who identifies with a gender different from the one which they were assigned at birth.

TRANSPHOBIA

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The Glossary: the proper way

Refers to negative cultural and personal beliefs, opinions, attitudes and behaviours based on prejudice, disgust, fear and/or hatred of trans people or against variations of gender identity and gender expression (ILGA EUROPE) also integrated as Negative cultural and personal beliefs, opinions, attitudes and behaviours based on fear, disgust, intolerance or/and hatred towards transgenders that often results in stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination and/or violence towards transgenders and others who display variations of gender identity and gender expression (Integration provided by a participant).

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Three

LGBTQIA* RIGHTS IN THE EURO-MED AREA

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LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

France

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT*) rights in France have been seen as traditionally liberal. Although same-sex sexual activity was a capital crime that often resulted in the death penalty during the Ancien Régime, all sodomy laws were repealed in 1791 during the French Revolution.

- Public opinion says that 77% think society should accept homosexuality - Homosexual Activity in France – legal - Same-sex marriage in France – legal France became the thirteenth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013, despite receiving opposition from across the country.

- Right to legal gender change in France – legal but requires surgery - Same-sex adoption – legal - France became the first country in the world to declassify transgenderism as a mental illness - LGBT* discrimination – illegal - Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals serving openly in French military – legal.

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LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Israel

Homosexual Activity in Israel: LGBT rights in Israel are the most advanced in the Middle East and one of the most advanced in Asia. Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1988, although the former law against sodomy had not been enforced since a court decision of 1963.

- Same- sex marriage: recognised if performed in foreign countries. Not performed in Israel.

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Right to change legal gender: legal, no surgery required

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Adoption with same-sex couples: legal from 2008

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LGBT discrimination: illegal since 1992

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Homosexuals serving in military: legal since 1992

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Blood donations by MSMs: banned

Public Opinion of homosexuality – 40% support, 47% unsupportive - Israel was ranked as the seventh happiest place in the world for gay men to live on the first ever annual Gay Happiness Index in 2015, which surveyed over 115,000 gay men in 127 countries.

- Back in 2005, the government created a special committee to investigate this form of discrimination and to make specific recommendations regarding adoptions by same-sex couples.

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LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Italy

Homosexual Activity in Italy – Legal -

Home of the Vatican and the Pope

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Religion defies Gay Rights

- No laws against homosexual relationships anywhere in Italy’s Penal Code - Same-Sex marriage in Italy: Since May 11th 2016 Italy’s parliament has backed same-sex civil unions. MPs in the lower house voted 369-193 for the government, ensuring that the civil unions bill will become law. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36269605 -

The right to change legal gender in Italy up until 2015 required surgery.

- From July 23rd 2015 it is legal to change gender in Italy and no surgery is required. http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/italy-becomes-fifth-country-in-the-worldto-allow-trans-people-to-change-gender-without-a-doctor/ - Same-Sex adoption in Italy: Illegal. From July 27th 2016 step-child adoption only -

LGBT discrimination in Italy: only banned in the workplace

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Homosexuals serving in the military in Italy: Legal

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Blood donations by MSMs in Italy: banned.

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LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Jordan

Homosexual Activity in Jordan: legal -

3% in support and 97% against

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Same-sex marriage in Jordan: unrecognised

- Same-sex marriages, or more limited civil unions, are not legally recognized in Jordan and there is no public effort in Jordan to modify these laws.

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Right to change gender: legal, surgery not required

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Same-sex adoption: legal

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LGBT discrimination: no protection

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Blood donations MSM: legal

-Jordan are considered to be relatively advanced, compared to most other countries in the Middle East. Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1951, becoming one of few Muslim countries to do so -

Public displays of affection – can be prosecuted

The Jordanian penal code no longer permits family members to beat or kill a member of their own family whose “illicit” sexuality is interpreted as bringing “dishonour” to the entire family

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LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Malta

Homosexual Activity in Malta – legal - In 1973, homosexuality was decriminalized in Malta by the Prime Minister, Dom Mintoff -

Same-sex marriage in Malta – only civil unions

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Right to change legal gender – legal but requires surgery

- Same-sex adoption – legal - Same-sex adoption became legal in Malta along with civil unions on April 15, 2014 -

LGBT discrimination in Malta – illegal

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Homosexuals serving openly in Malta military – legal

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Blood donations by MSMs – banned

Recent changes in legislation introduced by government, saw the Maltese Islands rise to first place on the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Europe Index in 2016.

- The Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM) was set up in June of 2001. It is run by a committee of volunteers that is elected annually at a statutory annual general meeting. “Malta, the tiny southern European island with a population of just over 420,000, made history earlier this month by becoming the first European country to criminalize “deceptive and harmful” conversion therapy, defined as any practice which aims to change, repress or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” http://time.com/4597632/malta-gay-rights-conversion-ban/

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LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Morocco

Homosexuality Activity: Illegal in Morocco, punishment from 6 months to 3 years’ imprisonment.

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six months to 3 years in prison; fines of between 120 and 1,000 dirhams

- the law is sporadically enforced by the authorities, with a degree of tolerance extended to homosexuality in the holiday resorts like Marrakesh -

Same-sex marriage in Morocco: illegal

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Same-sex adoption: illegal

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LGBT discrimination: no protection

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Homosexuals serving in the military in Morocco: illegal

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Blood donations from MSMs: legal – no ban on any people

The potential outlook for LGBT equality in Morocco remains bleak. Traditional standards and a conservative religious culture means it will likely be a long while before the Maghreb catches up with western standards of LGBT acceptance. One Moroccan LGBT rights organization worth mentioning based in Spain is called Kif-Kif, which means “similar;” they also publish a magazine called Mithly.

In 2016, two girls were arrested in Marrakesh after one’s cousin took a photo of them kissing. This sparked international outcry and the use of the hashtag #freethegirls, their case was postponed until December 2016. In early December 2016, the two girls were acquitted. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/12/16/stark-guide-to-gay-rights-in-moroccogoes-viral/

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LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Romania

Homosexual Activity – legal since 2001 - Same-sex marriage in Romania – not recognised - The Civil Code defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. There is no recognition of same-sex couples. However, there is no constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.

- Right to change legal gender in Romania – long process as the law does not state a clear definition of what is permitted -

Same-sex adoption in Romania – legal

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LGBT discrimination – illegal

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Homosexuals serving openly in Military – legal

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Blood Donations by MSMs in Romania – banned

In 2016 more than three million people signed a petition, introduced by religious groups acting under Coalition for Family, to which could lead to a referendum on defining marriage as only between one man and one woman.

In 2006, Romania was named by Human Rights Watch as one of five countries in the world that had made “exemplary progress in combating rights abuses based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”

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LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Spain

Homosexuality Activity in Spain – legal -

Same-sex marriage in Spain – legal

Spain was the third country to formally legalize same-sex marriage -

Right to change legal gender – legal, does not require surgery

Changing your legal gender does not require surgery, however, it does require proof of some form of medical treatment for a period of two years.

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88% of Spain think that society should accept homosexuality

- Same-sex adoption in Spain – legal “Same-sex couples in Spain have been able to adopt a child together for ten years, while countries like Germany still struggle with the issue.”

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LGBT discrimination – illegal

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Homosexuals serving in the Spanish military – legal

As of 2009, the courts also ruled that transgender individuals are also permitted to serve in the military.

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Blood donations by MSMs in Spain – legal

Spain was ranked the most gay-friendly country in the entire world in a Pew Research Center poll in 2013.

In 2012, Madrid hosted one of the largest parades with a reported 1.2 million people in attendance.

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LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Tunisia

Homosexual Activity in Tunisia – illegal -

Punishment of imprisonment up to 3 years

-

Same-sex marriage in Tunisia: illegal

-

Right to change legal gender in Tunisia: legal, surgery not required

Cross-dressing is not expressly illegal, although transgender people, along with gay people, are oftentimes accused of violating Article 226 of the national penal code which outlaws “outrages against public decency.

-

Same sex adoption in Tunisia: illegal

-

No protection against LGBT discrimination in Tunisia

-

MSM donating blood: no law against

-

one official organised LGBT-rights movement named “Shams”

-On December 7, 2016, two Tunisian men were arrested on suspicion of homosexual activity in Sousse, “anally probed” and forced to sign confessions of having committed “sodomy.” On March 11, 2017, while on bail, they were given eightmonth prison sentences, to be confirmed in April 2017 -According to a 2014 poll by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, 18% of Tunisian people were in favour of legalizing same-sex marriage, with 62% being opposed to legalization.

46

LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Turkey

Homosexual activity in Turkey: Legal - 11.2% believe homosexuality should not be a criminal act, 84% of Turkish people would not like to have LGBT neighbours -

Same-sex marriage: unrecognized

-

Right to change legal gender: legal but requires surgery

“However, for the permission to be granted, the applicant must be 18 years old and must be unmarried. The applicant must also be in a transsexual nature and must document the necessity to change their gender for their mental health and that they are permanently deprived of reproductive abilities through an official health committee report obtained from an education and research hospital” - Same sex adoption in Turkey – “LGBT Turks are deemed unfit to be parents however, it is unclear if there is legislation to support this. It is also unclear when this policy began.”

-

LGBT Discrimination – no protection in Turkey

-

Homosexuals serving openly in the military – legal

-

Blood donations by MSMs in Turkey – banned

- 2015 - For the first time, Turkish authorities banned the annual Gay pride parade. The police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against the marchers -

2016 - The Pride march was banned by the authorities.

47

Four

A COMPARISON OF LGBTQIA* RIGTHS IN THE EURO-MED AREA

48

A comparison of LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map May 2016 reflecting the national legal and policy human rights situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people in Europe

59 % Iceland

How did we calculate these scores? Have a look at www.rainbow-europe.org 100%

respect of human rights, full equality

95%

67 % Finland

65 % Norway

80%

70%

Denmark Spain, Portugal

65%

Finland, France, Croatia The Netherlands Norway, Sweden

Lithuania

81%

13%

66 % The

Belarus

Netherlands

82%

Belgium

32 % Czech

50%

32% Andorra

13%

29 % Slovakia

18% Liechtenstein 62 % 51% Austria Hungary 33% Switzerland 32% 67 Slovenia Croatia 14 % 11% San 29% 32% Monaco Marino

20 % Italy

Co-funded by the Rights Equality and Citizenship (REC) programme 2014-2020 of the European Union. This publication has been produced with the financial support of the Rights Equality and Citizenship (REC) programme 2014-2020 of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.

14%

Moldova

23% Romania

45

24% 32% Bulgaria 16% FYR Macedonia 34 % Albania 58 % Greece

% Kosovo Montenegro

88 % Malta

7%

9%

32 % Cyprus

5%

Azerbaijan

Armenia

Turkey

Iceland Greece Germany, Ireland

50%

Hungary Luxembourg

45%

Montenegro

40%

30 % Georgia

Serbia Bosnia& Herzegovina

Austria

55%

Ukraine

Republic

Luxembourg

67 % France

60%

18 % Poland

55% Germany

Belgium United Kingdom

75%

18%

Denmark

United Kingdom

70 % Spain

Russia

17 % Latvia

71%

70% Portugal

Malta

85%

7%

36 % Estonia

65 % Sweden 55 % Ireland

90%

35%

Estonia Albania Switzerland

Czech Republic, Andorra, Serbia, Cyprus, Slovenia, Kosovo*

30%

Georgia Bosnia&Herzegovina, Slovakia

25%

Bulgaria Romania

20%

Italy

15%

Poland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania Latvia FYR Macedonia San Marino, Moldova

10%

Belarus, Ukraine Monaco Turkey Armenia, Russia

28

5%

Azerbaijan

0%

gross violations of human rights, discrimination

Source: http://www.ilga-europe.org/

49

A comparison of LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

Many countries impose legal sanctions that target LGBT peoples, often for political gain. Today, about 76 countries criminalize consensual, same-sex relations; punishments include prison sentences, flogging, and even the death penalty.

SEYF put together a project called “Mind the Gap” which involved individuals from the following countries and looked at the treatment of LGBT rights in each: Italy, France, Malta, Spain, Romania, Tunisia, Israel, Morocco, Jordan, Turkey.

We decided to take a closer look at each country and to review the comparisons between each. Below are the results of this.

HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY Despite Italy being the home of the Vatican and the Pope with the catholic religion strongly defying Gay Rights, Homosexual Activity is legal. There are no laws against homosexual relationships anywhere in Italy’s Penal Code. Similarly, Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in France are traditionally liberal. Although same-sex sexual activity was a capital crime that often resulted in the death penalty during the Ancien Régime, all sodomy laws were repealed in 1791 during the French revolution. Malta are on the same wave length where homosexuality has been decriminalised since 1973. Recent changes in legislation introduced by government, saw the Maltese Islands rise to first place on the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Europe Index in 2016. Spain and Romania are both open to homosexuality with Romania legalising homosexual activity as recent as 2001. Spain was ranked the most gay-friendly country in the entire world in a Pew Research Centre poll in 2013. LGBT rights in Israel are the most advanced in the Middle East and one of the most advanced in Asia where same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1988. Israel was ranked as the 7th happiest place in the world for gay men to live on the first ever annual Gay Happiness Index in 2015, which surveyed over 115,000 gay men in 127 countries. Alternatively, in Jordan although homosexual activity is legal, 3% of the population are in support and 97% are against the idea. Interestingly in Turkey where homosexual activity is illegal, 11.2% believe homosexuality should not be a criminal act but 84% of Turkish people would not like to have LGBT neighbours. Of the list of countries, homosexual activity is illegal in Morocco and Tunisia. In Morocco, a person who is caught performing any type of homosexual activity can face from six months to

50

A comparison of LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

3 years in prison and fines of between 120 and 1,000 dirhams (euro). This law is sporadically enforced by the authorities, with a degree of tolerance extended to homosexuality in the holiday resorts like Marrakesh. In Tunisia, the punishment is imprisonment of up to 3 years.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE The concept of same-sex marriage is a complex one as the first step involves the recognition of “civil unions” followed by the step of “marriage”. On the 11th of May 2016 Italy’s parliament legalised same-sex civil unions, however same-sex marriage has yet to be introduced. France became the thirteenth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013, despite receiving opposition from across the country. Same-sex marriage in Malta is unrecognised, only civil unions are legally binding. Same-sex marriage in Morocco is illegal. In contrast, Spain was the third country to formally legalize same-sex marriage. Romania is very clear that same-sex marriage is not recognised as the Civil Code defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. There is also no recognition of same-sex couples in Romania however, there is no constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. In 2016 more than three million people signed a petition, introduced by religious groups acting under Coalition for Family, to which could lead to a referendum on defining marriage as only between one man and one woman. Samesex marriage in Tunisia is illegal. According to a 2014 poll by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, 18% of Tunisian people were in favour of legalizing same-sex marriage, with 62% being opposed to legalization. Whilst in Israel same-sex marriage is recognised if performed in foreign countries it is not performed in Israel. Same-sex marriages, or more limited Civil Unions, are not legally recognized in Jordan and there is no public effort in Jordan to modify these laws. In Turkey, same-sex marriage is unrecognised.

GENDER CHANGE The right to change gender is viewed diversely around the world and a major on-going consideration is whether or not the person must have surgery in order to be recognised as another gender. Italy has legalised the right to change legal

51

A comparison of LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

gender without the prerequisite of surgery and this law was introduced in July 2015. The right to legal gender change in France is legal but requires surgery. France became the first country in the world to declassify transgenderism as a mental illness. In Malta, the right to change gender is also legal but requires surgery. Spain have adopted an alternative approach where the right to change gender is legal and does not require surgery however, it does require proof of some form of medical treatment for a period of two years. The law in Romania is vague on the right to change gender. It is a long process as the law does not state a clear definition of what is permitted. However, In 2006, Romania was named by Human Rights Watch as one of five countries in the world that had made “exemplary progress in combating rights abuses based on sexual orientation or gender identity.” The right to change legal gender in Tunisia is legal with surgery not required. Cross-dressing is not expressly illegal, although transgender people, along with gay people, are oftentimes accused of violating Article 226 of the national penal code which outlaws “outrages against public decency. In Israel, as in Jordan the right to change legal gender is legal with no surgery required.

Turkey has a more conditional approach, where the right to change legal gender is legal but requires surgery “However, for the permission to be granted, the applicant must be 18 years old and must be unmarried. The applicant must also be in a transsexual nature and must document the necessity to change their gender for their mental health and that they are permanently deprived of reproductive abilities through an official health committee report obtained from an education and research hospital”.

SAME-SEX ADOPTION One of the main setbacks in Italy at the moment is that same-sex couples are unable to adopt children. From July 27th, 2016, nothing other than step-child adoption is permitted. In France, same-sex adoption is legal. Same-sex adoption became legal in Malta along with civil unions on April 15, 2014. As with most LGBT rights, in Morocco and Tunisia, same-sex adoption is illegal. Whereas in Spain and Romania it is legal “Same-sex couples in Spain have been able to adopt a child together for ten years, while countries like Germany still struggle with the issue.” Same sex adoption in Tunisia I is illegal but in Israel, adoption with same-sex couples has been legal since 2008. This was as a result of the gov-

52

A comparison of LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

ernment creating a special committee to make specific recommendations regarding adoptions by same-sex couples in 2005. In Jordan, same-sex adoption is legal. Whereas in Turkey - LGBT Turks are deemed unfit to be parents however, it is unclear if there is legislation to support this. It is also unclear when this policy began.

LGBT DISCRIMINATION Another setback in Italy is that LGBT discrimination is only deemed illegal within the confinements of the workplace, in public or in any other situation, discrimination is not illegal but may be frowned upon. In France, Malta, Spain, Romania and Israel (since 1992) LGBT discrimination is completely illegal. In Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia there is no protection against LGBT discrimination. In Jordan, there is no protection against LGBT discrimination, however The Jordanian penal code no longer permits family members to beat or kill a member of their own family whose “illicit” sexuality is interpreted as bringing “dishonour” to the entire family.

FUTURE PROGRESS Progress in LGBT rights can be seen throughout each of these countries, however they vary in the pace at which things change. In April 2017 for the first time in Italy, a transgender woman married after receiving sex reassignment without having undergone obligatory surgery. In France, the outlook is a positive one with LGBT rights organizations being active including Act Up Paris, SOS Homophobie, Arcadie, FHAR, Gouines rouges, GLH, CUARH, and L’Association Trans Aide, (Trans Aid Association, established in September 2004) and Bi’cause (bisexual). In Malta, The Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM) is run by a committee of volunteers that is elected annually at a statutory annual general meeting. “Malta, the tiny southern European island with a population of just over 420,000, made history by becoming the first European country to criminalize “deceptive and harmful” conversion therapy, defined as any practice which aims to change, repress or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” The potential outlook for LGBT equality in Morocco remains bleak, traditional standards

53

A comparison of LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

and a conservative religious culture means it will likely be a long while before the Maghreb catches up with western standards of LGBT acceptance. One Moroccan LGBT rights organization worth mentioning based in Spain is called Kif-Kif, which means “similar;” they also publish a magazine called Mithly. In 2016, two girls were arrested in Marrakesh after one’s cousin took a photo of them kissing.

This sparked international outcry and the use of the hashtag #freethegirls, their case was postponed until December 2016. In early December 2016, the two girls were acquitted. Spain is progressing fast, with their LGBT Pride parades becoming more popular every year. In 2012, Madrid hosted one of the largest parades with a reported 1.2 million people in attendance. Tunisia has one official organised LGBT-rights movement named “Shams”. However, on December 7, 2016, two Tunisian men were arrested on suspicion of homosexual activity in Sousse, “anally probed” and forced to sign confessions of having committed “sodomy.”

On March 11, 2017, while on bail, they were given eight-month prison sentences, to be confirmed in April 2017. Israel is an unusual one, in that the laws and rights are progressive but Public Opinion of homosexuality is divided - 40% support, 47% unsupportive. Jordan is considered to be relatively advanced, compared to most other countries in the Middle East. Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1951, becoming one of few Muslim countries to do so. Turkey seems to be moving backward, where in 2015, for the first time, Turkish authorities banned the annual Gay pride parade. The police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against the marchers and in 2016 - The Pride march was banned by the authorities.

54

A comparison of LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med area

THE LGBT CHART

55

Five

TOOLS FOR ACTIVISM

56

Tools for Activism

During the implementation of the project Mind The Gap we tried to give a practical approach to the project, through the realization of the activities in order to provide the involved NGOs, Youth Workers and Youth Leaders with skills and a proper knowledge in order to act as advocates of greater gender equality in their communities by using non-formal learning approach and tools.

Thus, we created ad hoc activities that can be used for the promotion of Inclusion, especially towards the LGBT* Community.

The creation of the activities usable by anyone and can improved in the course of time and situations.

Specifically, we created: - A set of online and offline campaign. for promoting LGBT* Rights; - Activites developed during the Training Course phase and tested during the Youth Exchange phase.

57

Tools for Activism

THE CAMPAIGNS

When preparing our Campaigns, we thought about the specific outcome to raise awareness among young people.

In order to give to our campaign its own personality, we studied several successful campaigns such as - ACT UP that stopped AIDS from becoming a death sentence and mainly based on strong emotion (anger), lots of flashy shots, personal stories.

- It Gets Better to communicate to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth around the world that it gets better, and to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for them, mainly based on personal stories; “Elegy for the Arctic”- (Greenpeace) of Ludovico Einaudi, mainly based on video, clear message at the end of the video, targets to viewers’ emotions, plain background, contrast between the pianist and the icicles; - I’m Not a Joke – No soy tu chiste, Started in 2013 with spreading awareness for the LGBTQI* community through art and design, created by Daniel Arzola and mainly based on illustrated pictures, using the psychology of colour to capture the public’s eye, creating contrast with colours, clear message.

Upon this good examples, we created our campaigns thinking about two main targets: - Offline, for school and events environments. It has been based on a playful methodology of Origami-game, in order to raise the attention of students, children and people participating in friendly events with a lack of knowledge on LGBT* themes. The origami-game promote a wider knowledge on the LGBT* world.

This Campaign has been tested during the Salento Rainbow Film Fest: the origami has been intentionally produced in Italian Language and participants

58

Tools for Activism

were so able spread their message with the guests of the Festival.

- Online, where young users can easily spread the message and become multipliers and main actors. It has been based on the movie and series theme, in order to raise the attention of young people. This campaign has been shared on social media such as Facebook and Instagram and received back a lot of views and sharings.

THE ONLINE CAMPAIGN

59

Tools for Activism

60

Tools for Activism

61

Tools for Activism

62

Tools for Activism

#no489: This specific campaign has been set up and implemented upon the request of our Moroccan friends for the abolition of Article 489 of the Criminal Code in Morocco that punishes any sexual act between two people of the same sex in a sentence of up to three years in prison, inciting hatred and discrimination. This Campaign has been spread through social media.

63

Tools for Activism

THE OFFLINE CAMPAIGN

64

Tools for Activism

29 Origami how-to-use: folded and unwrapped

30 Origami how-to-use: folded and unwrapped

65

Tools for Activism

THE TOOLS

THE TREASURE HUNT In line with the aim to promote LGBT* rights through non formal education and to settle intiatives useful for a proper and innovative education on Human Rights, we created an innovative and interactive Treasure Hunt for discovering the LGBT* side of Lecce.

The Treasure Hunt has been tested in Lecce during the project Mind The Gap and may be easily replicated.

It has been implemented through the Actionbound app, helpful for playing digitally interactive scavenger hunts to lead the learner on a path of discovery.

Users and participants have been able to literally augments the reality by enhancing peoples’ real-life interaction whilst using their smartphones and tablets and, thus, fostering local impact on LGBT* rights: the organizers created a digital timeline of events or a places of interest tour, with the use of GPS coordinates and pre-placed codes and mysteries.

On one side, participants from Lecce and from other countries had the opportunities to discover a city in a non formal way. On the other side, the italian participants themselves had the opportunities to find a new perspective of their own city.

The Actionbound Mind the Gap has been created together with local NGOs active in the promotion of LGBT* rights. As a follow up, it has been also translated in Italian and implemented within the organization of other events.

66

Tools for Activism

67

Tools for Activism

31 Some sample of the bounds used for the Treasure Hunt

68

Tools for Activism

&

Caccia al tesoro rainbow alla scoperta dei luoghi cardine della storia LGBTQI*

START: PORTA RUDIAE per regole e modalitĂ del gioco per info: info@seyf.eu - 328.9771014 - FB SEYF - South Europe Youth Forum lea.lgbtq@libero.it - 324.0906528 - FB LeA-Liberamente e Apertamente

32 Follow up implemented for italian users

69

Tools for Activism

THE TRIVIAS QUIZZES In order to stimulate competition and to foster a sharing of LGBT* rights knowledge among people, a Trivia quiz has been organized and implemented with participants. It can be adapted and may change everytime, according to the specific needs, target or evolution of rights.

HIGH HEELS AND SO ON Unlike you may think, Heels have been firstly wore by men than women.

Who among these has been the first man to wear heels? o o o o

The sun King - Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) Berlusconi (1936 -) Yax Deer-Antler Skull – Maya King (389-402 A.D.) Pericles (Old Greece statesman (495 – 429 B.C.)

COLOUR OF LIFE

LGBT FLAG, also known as RAINBOW Flag has 6 colours and is different from PEACE FLAG, which has 7 colours. Which one is the missing colours?

* Green

*Yellow

*Turquoise *Red

HOMOSEXUAL

When was the term “homosexual” first used in the research literature?

*1639

*1869

*1922

1965

POLICY

Who was the first openly gay elected city official in the United States?

* Harvey Milk

*Tammy Baldwin *Barney Frank

*David Cicilline

MARRIAGE

What was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage?

* DENMARK *NETHERLANDS

*GERMANY *ENGLAND & WALES 33 Trivia Quiz sample used during the project

70

Tools for Activism

ART #1

Who was the world-renowned sculptor and painter who also wrote poetry about his love for men?

_______________________________

ART #2

Who was the bisexual painter whose self-portraits expressed the suffering she felt in her life?

_______________________________

LOVE & POLITICS

Name the first lady whose female companion lived with her at the White House.

_____________________________

SYMBOLS

What popular symbol & colours of gay pride originated in the Nazi concentration camps?

34 Trivia Quiz sample used during the project

71

Tools for Activism

THE RIGHT TO PROVOKE: AN EXAMPLE OF ACTIVISM

During the Salento Rainbow Film Fest the participants had the opportunity to discuss with Andrea Giuliano, an Italian activist who faced a strong and intense experience of discrimination in Hungary, while demonstrating for LGBT* rights.

He transformed his bad experience into a story of positive activism by participating to a documentary about his story. ”The Right To Provoke” is a 2016 documentary by Mátyás Kálmán and Róbert Bordás from TASZ / HCLU (Hungarian Civil Liberties Union). It follows the story of Andrea Giuliano, an Italian human rights activist, artist and photographer, who became the victim of several hate crimes in Hungary due to his activism and a parody he staged against far-right political forces and bigotry.

He received hundreds of threats, neo-nazis placed a bounty on his head, he escaped attempted attacks and had to flee his home several times for safety reasons. He eventually lost his job and was sued for defamation by the very same person who had placed a bounty on him. Yet Hungarian authorities refused to intervene and protect him, rejecting his multiple reports, leaving him exposed and in danger.

Andrea Giuliano and TASZ have documented his testimony to apply to the European Court of Human Rights in order to stress the important distinctions between freedom of expression or opinion, as opposed to hate crimes, hate speech, abuse of power and homo-bi-transphobic discrimination, which have effects of the utmost gravity. This is in order to show how necessary it is to demand a thorough and truly efficient legislation on anti-homo-bi-transphobia at least across the territory of the EU, in the hopes this can serve as an example and expand beyond its borders. ”The Right To Provoke” follows the events leading to Andrea Giuliano’s decision to leave Hungary after its authorities deliberately and irreversibly rejected all his attempts to seek justice. This documentary begins to reveal the

72

Tools for Activism

tip of the iceberg of Hungary’s present condition, but has deeper implications.

It sheds some light on Hungary’s current, continuously questioned, Rule of Law, and its government’s extreme views and political measures on social issues that obstruct civil liberties, making life so very difficult for minorities.

35 International Press Release about Andrea’ Story

36 Andrea Giuliano

73

Tools for Activism

37 Andrea’s demonstrations

Follow Andrea’s projects: https://www.facebook.com/therighttoprovoke/

74

Tools for Activism

THE SALENTO RAINBOW FILM FEST

Salento Rain bow Film Fest Salento Rainbow Film Fest is the first LGBTQI* film festival of Lecce and Salento, born in 2014 from an idea of the association LeA – Liberamente e Apertamente, and it takes place in Manifatture Knos (cultural space of Lecce) every year in December. It is an open project, built by human relations, reflections and ideas about social themes, to create a territory with a stronger inclusion of the different realities and cultures who lives it. It is a festival for each kind of target: a space where diversity is not a synonym of danger but rather of mutual enrichment!

Movies, documentaries, short films and web series are the frame of the festival and the meeting point to start a dialogue with the audience and go deeper to themes like civil rights, equality marriages, adoptions, contrast to omo/bi/ transphobia, daily life of homosexual couples.

The festival represent also a space for book presentations, meeting with directors and the cast of the movies, reading, workshops for kids, dj set and live performances.

One of the most important aspect of the festival is the involvement of the schools: a group of students of the high schools of Lecce composes the “Youth Jury”, with the role of valuing the movies of each edition of the festival. The festival is built thanks to the collaboration with more than one hundred associations, and the artistic direction is supported by the expert advice of Giovanni Minerba, founder and President of the Torino Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

75

Tools for Activism

38 Festival Presentation

39 Activitists from LeA involved in the Festival

Contacts: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SalentoRainbowFilmFest Website: https://salentorainbowfilmfest.com

76

Six

FOLLOW UP AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

77

Follow Up and Acknowledgments

This publication was edited by Vincenzo Lotito, Sandro Salvatore Accogli and Marija Borg Mifsud.

We wish to thank the Italian National Agency (Agenzia Nazionale per i Giovani) which, patiently, within the Erasmus Plus Programme, has allowed the realization of such an important project for trying to change our society. It is the example, for us, of a Public Administration able to feel, to listen to and to understand the needs of young people at grass roots levels.

We wish to thank UNAR - Ufficio Nazionale Antidiscriminazioni Razziali that always believe in us: the project All Rights!, as follow up of Mind the Gap , is ready to be implemented, with innovative approaches and again focusing on LGBT* rights in the Mediterranean Area.

We wish to thank our local partners LeA - Liberamente e Apertamente, LINK Lecce, LILA Lecce and Officine Cantelmo that helped us in the implementation of the project and gave us helpful insights for bettere developing our activities.

We wish to thank Agedo Lecce for sharing their important experience with our participants.

Lastly but not least, we wish to thank all the participants and their sending organizations that actively took part in the project and made ​​this initiative possible.

We are aware that there is a incredible amount of work to be done on the field of LGBT* and Human Rights: as the best is yet to come, we are on the way, as always, to fight and smile.

78

Contacts:

SEYF - South Europe Youth Forum

www.seyf.eu

@ info@seyf.eu @seyf.lecce @seyf_lecce @seyf_italy

MIND THE GAP Promoting LGBTQIA* rights in the Euro-Med Area by SEYF SEYF - South Europe Youth Forum is an international network of youth NGOs for the development of projects and activities through a participatory approach. SEYF aims at supporting young revolutions and to produce positive change in the society and works for the social inclusion of young people in disadvantage, in order to let them reach more opportunities in the competitive world of work.

SEYF promotes and organizes seminars, training courses, youth exchanges, supports European Voluntary Service and creates events, Festivals and Campaigns to provide an easier access of young people to participate youth initiatives and society.

www.seyf.eu