Human Rights Conference: From safe harbours to Equality

A changing LGBT's world: Transistions and migration

Together with the Antwerp Human Rights team, The Radisson Blu venue in the centre of Antwerp welcomes you to the Human Rights conference from 31 July to 2 August 2013.

Changes in the configuration of international LGBT rights in recent months including marriage in France, USA, Uruguay, New Zealand and Argentina; changes in African Commonwealth countries as well as in Eastern Europe have provided some breathing room for LGBT people. A conference in this new context cannot simply focus on the past, it must become a gathering which puts forward solutions to people fighting and struggling everywhere on our planet.

The Antwerp Conference has come to the conclusion that networking between LGBT’s groups around the World, in order to achieve equality, taking into account the social and cultural differences that may exist, is the most important task to achieve. In the so called North we must realize that some of our attitudes are not relevant to really give a hand to others in the South or in the East. And the emerging countries need more actions than words. Implicate persons with influence – LGBT or allies – to push on politics, on organisations, on churches and unions as well, is a way to do more and better. This should not mean renounce to the universality of human rights, but instead to understand that difficulties in the difficult path of equality may vary from a context to another. And that the tasks and pathways that may be adequate in a context may be totally inadequate in others.

After Montréal in 2006, founding ground of GLISA’s OUTGAMES, and Copenhagen in 2009, strengthening our march, Antwerp has the dream to make realistic guidelines which has to be a kind of, not easy but real, « work in process» for everybody in our community.

Prominent speakers , activists and specialists on human rights, will share their knowledge, visions and experiences in four key panels with participants from more than 35 countries.

Please download the full program file (pdf), by clicking on this link.

The co-chairs on the Antwerp worldOutgames LGBT Human Rights Conference

The worldOutgames Antwerp (WOGA), which will be held from 31 July – 11 August, and the Gay and Lesbian Internatinal Sport Association (GLISA) have the pleasure to introduce to you our 2 co-chairs for our Human Rights Conference: Ms. Tamara Adrian Hernandez (Venezuela) and Mr. Jean-Yves Duthel (Canada). This conference will be held from 31st of July to 2nd of August 2013.

 Ms. Tamara Adrian Hernandez is a lawyer who graduated from the Catholic University Andrés Bello (Caracas) and is a doctor in commercial law at the University of Panthéon-Assas (Paris). She is a law professor at the Catholic University Andrés Bello, the Central University from Venezuela and the Metropolitan University. She’s an international recognized activist for women’s rights and sexual minorities. She’s a transgender herself since 2002.

 Mr. Jean Yves Duthel graduated in political sciences at the University of Strasbourg. He emigrated to Quebec (Canada) in 1972. Since then he worked mainly in the political domain as well as in the field of LGBT rights. He was a member of several ministerial cabinets in Quebec and is especially proud to have been the coordinator of the LGBT Human Rights Conference at the Montreal worldOutgames in 2006 holding 1600 participants. Together with his partner of 40 years they have 3 adult children. He just published his book “Two men and three cradles”.