Join us for a discussion on progress (and backlash) within the LGBTIQ human rights movement.

To celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, please join the Consulate General of Sweden in New York, Friends of the High Line, and Outright International on May 19 for a discussion on progress (and backlash) within the LGBTIQ human rights movement.

In New York, a city whose courage in 1969 at Stonewall inspired the global LGBTIQ movement, we understand the importance of protecting the rights that generations have fought for. Fortunately, there are lessons from around the world for us to draw upon. LGBTIQ activists in other countries have faced these conditions and worse before and survived them. The lessons from their experiences, strategies, and resiliencies are vital to learn from in a moment like this. Join us for a conversation about what it means to fight for LGBTIQ rights as a global community. In an increasingly globalized world, a setback anywhere weakens our movement everywhere, and a victory anywhere strengthens it too.

In the last decade, the progress that the LGBTIQ community has made has been astounding. However, these hard-fought successes were also noticed by those who oppose LGBTIQ rights. This global backlash to the LGBTIQ human rights movement has built vast international networks to coordinate their strategies and spread the same false narratives across borders. The attacks on the LGBTIQ community happening right here in the United States today are part of a global playbook, tested abroad and then imported back to places like New York when the opposition saw an opening.

At the event, U.S. Drag Activist Marti Gould Cummings and Iraqi Activist and Attorney Amir Ashour will join global LGBTIQ movement leader and Outright Executive Director Maria Sjödin, whose career includes leading the largest LGBTIQ organization in Sweden, RFSL, in conversation. They will discuss the global nature of the struggle for LGBTIQ rights and the need for those who advocate for LGBTIQ rights in New York City to support the fights for rights everywhere. The speakers will discuss what transnational movement-building looks like in practice and what we can learn from one another in an increasingly challenging political moment.