May 17, 2020 International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia
Stand in solidarity with LGBTQI++ people who are in precariousness because of COVID19 !
The members associations of the Civil Collective for Individual Liberties, the signatory Collectives, associations and organizations, recall that:
May 17, the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia constitutes a strong moment to advocate and promote the rights and freedoms of LGBTQI++ people.
These rights to dignity, privacy, equality before the law, are an integral part of the arsenal of universal human rights enshrined in the 2014 Tunisian Constitution.
Confronted this year with particular police and institutional harassment, the beginning of a parliamentary mandate which is particularly hostile to their rights and freedoms and the disastrous socio-economic consequences of COVID-19 where many LGBTQI++ found themselves in a very increased precariousness.
Exposed to family and close surroundings violence due to the lockdown and the resulting promiscuity; seeing their access to justice impeded; deprived of government assistance due to the illegality of their sexual orientation and to the government’s inability to recognize them as vulnerable groups eligible for social support, LGBTQI++ people are experiencing a particular suffering. In Tunisia, like everywhere in the world, they are victims of aggression, humiliation and institutional rejection, which the pandemic has crystallized and amplified.
In Tunisia as elsewhere, May 17 will remain a day of fighting for the inalienable and indivisible rights of LGBTQI++ people, a moment of solidarity and support. Let us recall that several key LGBTQI++ actors of civil society have contributed to carry the people’s initiative to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and its socioeconomic consequences, thus joining their efforts with those of a society and of a State which turn their backs on them.
Despite all the obstacles LGBTQI++ people are facing in the conquest of their basic human rights, of their right to live in peace against social, economic and institutional violence, we still note with satisfaction the progress achieved at the level of the African continent with the abolition of laws criminalizing homosexuality by Angola and Botswana between May 17, 2019 and May 17, 2020;
In a world ravaged by authoritarian abuses, populism, and productionism, climate change, the health crisis and their aftermath of misery and violence, these major achievements reassure and spread hope that a better world for LGBTQI++ people is still possible.
Signatory associations, collectives and organizations :
- Tunisian Human Rights League
- Tunisian Association for Democratic Women
- Tunisian Association for Defending Individual Liberties (ADLI).
- BEITY Association
- Association Chapitre II
- Tunisian Association of Reproductive Health(ATSR).
- Tunisian Association Against Torture
- Tunisian Association Against Torture Violence
- Tunisian Association of Gender Studies
- Tunisian Association Tunisienne for Positive Prevention positive (ATP+).
- Association of the Promotion of the Right to Difference (ADD).
- ATL MST/Sida Tunis.
- Association By La7wem
- Free Light association
- Fanni Raghman Anni
- Association Alweni.
- Association Arts and Cultures of Both sides (ACDR).
- Association Aswat Nisaa
- The Association of Citizenship, development, cultures, and immigration on both sides (CDCMIR)
- Association of Citizenship and Liberties (ACL).
- Tunisian Association of Defense of Universal Values
- Association El 3amel Ettounsi.
- Association History and Memory for Liberty and Democracy
- Association Street Art
- Association Mnemty.
- Association Shams.
- The Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
- Tunisian Association of Justice and Equality (DAMJ)
- Tawhida ben Cheikh Group for Research and Action for Women Health
- Initiative Mawjoudin.
- The Committee for Liberties Respect and Human Rights in Tunisia
- League of Female Voters (LET).
- Euromedrights Network
- National Observatory of the State Civil Character Defense
- Article 19.
- Lawyers without Borders Organisation
- International Organisation Against Torture
- Democratic Transition and Human Rights Support Center (DAAM)