How to be an LGBTQIA+ ally

Yulia Tsvetkova

Yulia is a women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights activist who faced up to six years in prison under Russia’s oppressive ‘gay propaganda’ laws. Over 17,000 people signed our petition and raised their voices against injustice and in July 2022, she was acquitted.

In November of 2019, Russian police raided the house of 28-year-old Yulia Tsvetkova. They labelled her a ‘lesbian, sex trainer and propagandist leader.’ All for posting her own body-positive illustrations of women’s genitalia online and for showing support for LGBTQIA+ families.

Yulia was detained and placed under house arrest from December 2019 until March 2020. She was fined 50,000 rubles (AU$1,280) for being the administrator of an LGBTQIA+ Facebook page and 75,000 rubles (AU$1,900) for posting a drawing of a same-sex couple with children.

Yulia was also charged with ‘disseminating pornography’ after posting her body-positive illustrations of women online. In Russia, this is a crime punishable by up to three years in prison.

On July 15 she was acquitted of these charges, after over 17,000 Amnesty supporters signed the petition.

Sareh Sedighi Hamadani

Sareh was sentenced to death in September 2022 in Iran. 46,000 actions were taken by people in Australia and in December 2022, the Supreme Court overturned her conviction and death sentence.

Zahra Sedighi-Hamadani, known as Sareh, was targeted due to her real or perceived sexual orientation and/or gender identity and for speaking out in support of LGBTI rights on social media and in a BBC documentary.

On 16 January 2022, Sareh was accused of ‘spreading corruption on earth,’ including through ‘promoting homosexuality.

LGBTQIA+ people in Iran face systematic violence, persecution, and discrimination. Iranian law requires gender non-conforming people to undergo gender reassignment surgery and sterilisation. Iranian law also criminalises same-sex sexual conduct.

Brave people like Sareh stand up for LGBTQIA+ rights despite this discrimination. They shouldn’t face the death penalty for standing up for equality.

In a video Sareh shared with the Iranian Lesbian and Transgender Network, she spoke of her hope for the future. “I hope to achieve freedom … I hope the day will come when we can all live in freedom in our country.”

After 46,000 actions were taken by people in Australia and even more around the world, the Supreme Court overturned her conviction and death sentence in December 2022. Sareh’s case has been sent to a lower court for retrial. We will continue to support Sareh.

Yren Rotela and Mariana Sepúlveda

Progress has been made in Mariana’s (on the left) fight to legally change her name and have her identity recognised. The Supreme Court of Justice in Paraguay resolved to unblock her case, which has been stuck under constitutional consultation for four years, and finally sent it back to the Court of Appeals.

Yren and Mariana want to live their lives freely and do things they love, like playing volleyball, dancing and going to the theatre. However, as trans women, Yren and Mariana are busy defending themselves against discrimination. They’ve been bullied, physically attacked and prevented from speaking out about the issues they face in their daily lives.

Trans people in Paraguay cannot legally change their names or obtain identity documents that match their gender identity, among other discriminatory practices. This means trans students cannot get school certificates in their chosen names, which makes finding a job difficult. This inequality has motivated Yren and Mariana to become activists, to demand change.

But protesting isn’t easy for trans people in Paraguay. Paraguay is a very conservative country which treats trans people and the wider LGBTI community unfairly. It tries to make them invisible. Because of this, protests by trans groups are often banned, and in some cases demonstrations have been attacked.

Yren and Mariana have been fighting for years to change their legal names. If they could get documentation that matches who they are, it would mean the state had started to recognize their existence as trans women. As Yren says: “I came into the world to show who I am, not to be told who I am.”

Progress has been made in Mariana’s fight to legally change her name and have her identity recognised. The Supreme Court of Justice in Paraguay resolved to unblock her case, which has been stuck under constitutional consultation for four years, and finally sent it back to the Court of Appeals. The pressure from Write for Rights, along with the presentation of Yren and Mariana’s cases before the UN Human Rights Committee, helped to unblock Mariana’s case.

Elżbieta Podleśna, Anna Prus and Joanna Gzyra-Iskandar

Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna faced years in prison for distributing posters depicting the Virgin Mary with an LGBTI rainbow halo. They were acquitted in March 2021 after more than 275,000 people called for the charges against them to be dropped.

Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna are outspoken activists and human rights defenders from Poland. They have stood against hate and discrimination for many years and are fighting for a just and equal Poland.

From July 2020, Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna spent months on trial accused of ‘offending religious beliefs’, simply for distributing posters of the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo, the colours of the LGBTI pride flag. They faced up to two years in prison simply for standing up for LGBTI rights in a climate of hate and discrimination in Poland.

In November 2020, Amnesty International, Campaign Against Homophobia, Freemuse, Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch and ILGA-Europe sent a Joint Public Statement urging the Prosecutor General to drop the charges and ensure that the three women are allowed to carry out their human rights work without harassment and reprisals.

More than 275,000 people joined Amnesty International’s campaign urging the Polish Prosecutor General to drop the unfounded charges against the three women human rights activists. In March 2021, Elżbieta, Anna and Joanna were finally acquitted.

Sakris Kupila

Thanks to more than a decade of campaigning by civil society groups and activists like Sakris – often in the face of toxic rhetoric –  in February 2023, Finland abolished the inhumane requirement for trans people to be sterilized and obtain a psychiatric diagnosis in order for them to obtain legal gender recognition.

Sakris Kupila is a medical student, youth activist and a defender of transgender rights in Finland. In 2017, Sakris was denied legal gender recognition because he refused to fulfil the requirements of Finland’s humiliating process at the time – which required a diagnosis of mental disorder and enforced sterilisation.

Because of his work advocating for the rights of trans people, Sakris faced harassment, intimidation, threats of violent beatings and open hostility, forcing him to take a year away from his education.

Without brave people like Sakris, the debate around transgender rights in Finland would not have been on the table.

Amnesty International called on the Finnish authorities to make the legal gender recognition process quick, accessible, and respectful of human rights. The petition was signed by over 347,000 people worldwide.

In February 2023, Finland finally passed legislation that abolishes the harmful requirements for trans people to endure invasive medical and psychiatric procedures before they can have their gender recognized. This win comes as a result of more than a decade of campaigning by civil society groups and is a testament to the commitment of activists who have fought long and hard – often in the face of toxic rhetoric – to see this change.

By passing this act, Finland has taken a major step towards protecting trans people’s rights and improving their lives and right to self-determination.

Melike Balkan and Özgür Gür

Melike, Özgür and 17 other students and staff organised a peaceful Pride march at their university in Türkiye but were met with force by the police. They faced up to three years in prison. In October 2021 after 445,000 people took action, they were acquitted.

From day one, biology students Melike Balkan and Özgür Gür dedicated themselves to defending LGBTI+ rights at their university. As members of the LGBTI+ Solidarity Group, they had organized campus Pride marches successfully for years.

But in May 2019, the university banned the planned march, and called in the police who used excessive force, including tear gas, to disperse the peaceful protestors’ sit-in.

Police arrested the students — including Melike and Özgür — and an academic. Some of those detained hadn’t even taken part in the protest. Despite simply exercising their right to peaceful protest, the 18 students and the academic were put on trial. They faced up to three years in prison.

After 2 years on trial, and receiving support from 445,000 Amnesty supporters, they were acquitted.

Victoria ends conversion practices

Thanks to the advocacy of survivors and allies, LGBTQA+ Victorians are now protected from harmful conversion practices!

Survivor advocates, supported by allies, have campaigned for years for the end of conversion practices in Australia.

Over 35,000 Amnesty supporters took action calling for legislation to ban these practices. Hundreds reached out directly to Members of the Legislative Council, calling on them to support the Bill.

Victoria’s world-leading legislation came into effect in February 2022 – it is based on the most comprehensive research and informed by the most prominent survivor groups in the world. It goes to the heart of conversion ideology and practices, and carefully and incisively identifies religious practices where intent to change or suppress is present in the context of individual-focused interactions and where demonstrable harm results.

Amnesty International Australia is calling on other states and territories to emulate the Victorian example and consult with survivors to draft similarly robust legislation and protect rights for everyone around Australia.

Sphere NGO

Anna and Vira run an organisation that provides support for LGBTI people in Ukraine. But they and their colleagues have been attacked and abused – and the authorities are not protecting them.

Sphere NGO have been championing LGBTQIA+ and women’s rights since 2006, and are among the oldest organizations of their kind in the country. Founded by activists Anna Sharyhina and Vira Chernygina, they provide a safe space for women and LGBTQIA+ people in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.

Although Ukraine is considered one of the most progressive post-Soviet countries on LGBTQIA+ rights, it’s still failing to address the growing rate of hate crimes.

As groups targeting LGBTQIA+ people have proliferated across the country, Sphere have suffered numerous discriminatory attacks. These groups have set upon Sphere’s supporters and premises, urinating on their walls, daubing faeces on the doorknobs, breaking windows and chanting homophobic slogans at them. There have been dozens of attacks like these. Anna and Vira report them to the police, but no one is held accountable.

In 2019, Sphere organised Kharkiv’s first Pride ever. Despite threats and intimidation, Sphere created a hugely successful event attended by up to 3,000 people. But the police failed to protect marchers from violence, instead joining in by hurling homophobic abuse. Anna and Vira say that police inaction in the face of constant attacks has left Sphere and their supporters in a permanent state of fear.