In early October, the Carr Center held the second annual International LGBTQI+ Activism Summit as part of its recently launched Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program. The program, led by Carr Center Faculty Director Mathias Risse, Faculty Program Chair Timothy Patrick McCarthy, and Program Director Diego Garcia Blum, works to empower LGBTQI+ rights movement leaders through transformative trainings, high-impact research, and influential dialogue to facilitate global collaboration among activists, academics, policymakers, and the media.
The Summit was held across three days and brought in 20 LGBTQI+ rights activists—narrowed down from nearly 1,000 total applicants—from 20 countries around the world where LGBTQI+ rights are imperiled or nonexistent. Throughout the three days, the activists worked with Harvard faculty and affiliates in an immersive learning experience about proven strategies for catalyzing powerful social movements that dismantle myths and stigma harming these communities worldwide. Participants gained insights to champion LGBTQI+ rights, challenge discrimination, and drive systemic change when they return home.
The Summit was composed of several courses and workshops taught by Harvard faculty, including Professors Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Mathias Risse, Michael Ferguson, Cornell William Brooks, Kathryn Sikkink, Doug Johnson, Marshall Ganz, and Alexander Chen. The faculty were joined by experts from the field, including Diego Garcia Blum, Jean Freedberg (Human Rights Campaign), Pranav Arwari, Marian Edmonds-Allen (Parity), Elliot Imse (LGBTQ Victory Institute), and AlhelĂ Partida (LGBTQ Victory Institute).
The activists participated in a full slate of lessons, including:
- Dismantling Myths, Misconceptions, and Misunderstandings of LGBTQI+ People and Systems, Validators, and Social Change with Timothy Patrick McCarthy and Diego Garcia Blum
- Working with the United Nations on LGBTQI+ Issues with Mathias Risse
- Speaking to People of Faith with Michael Ferguson and Rev. Maria Edmonds-Allen
- Advocacy Principles with Rev. Cornell William Brooks
- Transnational Activism Networks with Kathryn Sikkink
- Building Strategic Alliances and Tactical Mapping with Doug Johnson
- Working with Businesses with Jean Freedberg
- Using the Legal System with Alexander Chen
- Public Narrative with Marshall Ganz
- LGBTQI+ Political Participation and Leadership with Elliot Imse and Alheli Partida
- Strengthening Foundations with Timothy Patrick McCarthy
- Case Analysis with Pranav Arwari
- Finding Bright Spots and Identifying Collaborations with Diego Garcia Blum
- Sustaining Collaborations with Jean Freedberg
Learning from Harvard Faculty and Affiliates
Carr Center Faculty Affiliates Cornell William Brooks and Doug Johnson joined the activists at the Summit, discussing strategies for advocacy and how to form strategic alliances with other groups to build a movement. “How do we create a sense of momentum in our movements? Have you ever been in the midst of something that you hope to be a movement, but there’s a sense of stagnation?” asked Professor Cornell William Brooks. “We cannot allow history to be weaponized against us, we must instrumentalize it. Use your history in ways that empower your people, create a sense of agency, a sense of momentum, and do it in an unapologetic and utilitarian way.”
In turn, Professor Doug Johnson pushed the activists to think about who their potential allies could be in their movement, but, more importantly, to determine who are their main opponents. “When you start a campaign, the most difficult period is thinking where to start. You begin by imagining a person who is standing in the way of your rights, freedom, health, and so on. What would you imagine would be a key relationship you might focus on?” he asked them.
On the third day of the Summit, program leads Timothy Patrick McCarthy and Diego Garcia Blum were joined by the activists for their course that they co-teach at Harvard Kennedy School to ĚÇĐÄvlogąŮÍř students (“Queer Nation: LGBTQ+ Protest, Politics, and Policy in the United States”), focusing the session on “Systems, Validators, and Social Change.”
“In social movement work, no one person can do everything. We need to do it together, and we need to strengthen our collective work,” said Professor McCarthy to the class, emphasizing the importance of all the activists coming together from all around the world to discuss strategies and best practices together in one place. McCarthy and Garcia Blum discussed the need to dismantle the stigmas surrounding LGBTQI+ communities in countries around the world, with Garcia Blum noting that LGBTQI+ people having contact with other folks in a society had the largest impact on changing people’s minds and leading to more acceptance of LGBTQI+ people by having them in their lives.
“What does this mean in a system? When LGBTQI people come out, they have contact that’s leading to more acceptance, and the acceptance makes it easier for more people to come out. But when you start seeing progress, anticipate there will be backlash and start preparing for it before it starts. Put your minds in the people and know your adversary. If they can snap their finger and do a lot of damage, anticipate what they will do. Anticipate—don’t just wait and react,” advised Garcia Blum.
Additional lessons with Harvard faculty and affiliates taught the activists how to shape their movements, and how to bring home what they have learned to continue the fight for LGBTQI+ rights in their home countries. The activists learned different ways to approach their advocacy that they had never thought of before, how to identify their opponents and challenge them in ways that could change hearts and minds, and how to tap into their community of allies to advance their cause.
At the Forum: The Fight for LGBTQI+ Human Rights Throughout the World
On the second evening of the Summit, the Carr Center teamed up with the Institute of Politics at ĚÇĐÄvlogąŮÍř to hold a groundbreaking event in the JFK Jr. Forum entitled “.” The event featured Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France (Welcome to Chechnya; How to Survive a Plague) and Kimahli Powell, former CEO of Rainbow Railroad who has led efforts to rescue LGBTQI+ individuals from regions like Chechnya, Egypt, and Afghanistan.
They were joined by two activists attending the Summit, including Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, the pioneering Ugandan LGBTQI+ activist who has fought homophobia in her country for over two decades under constant threat, and Saro Imran, a transgender activist from Pakistan who, after surviving a brutal mob attack, is now dedicated to advancing trans rights in Pakistan.
If you missed it, you can .
Sharing Reflections from Around the World
On the final day of the Summit, the activists were brought together to share their reflections and takeaways from the week. “What have you learned during this Summit that made you rethink or retool your work back home? Or possibly even reimagine your work altogether into something new?” asked Garcia Blum.
“I believe in the power of story,” said Amar Alfikar, an activist from Indonesia who works as a Board Representative for East and Southeast Asia with the Global Interfaith Network for People of All Sexes, Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities and Expressions. “We have a lot of stories about rejection, when what we really need are stories of acceptance. How do we capture those stories to make them more impactful in the media, in the way we write about ourselves, and in our advocacy work? We need to re-narrate our stories not only to make a difference, but to touch hearts that haven’t been touched and spark further acceptance in society.”
“I am so grateful to be here,” said Vidda Guzzo, Policy and Advocacy Director at Intersex Brazil. “As a trans and intersex person from Brazil, I come from a country that kills trans people. Thank you to the organizers of this Summit for opening these doors to trans and intersex persons. Usually, we are the subjects of the knowledge people produce about us, but we are not seen as people who can produce knowledge about ourselves. This is an amazing opportunity for us.”
“My colleagues at this Summit have been brought together with different backgrounds and professions, and many different ideas on organizing. Bringing these resources together was powerful, because we were able to learn from one another and unpack a lot of things. Each and every person in this room is going back home with rich knowledge on how best to move forward in our organizing,” said Enosa Adera, Programs Lead with Trans* Alliance in Kenya.
“I grew up with a fondness of Harvard, but I never knew what would bring me to Harvard was an innate part of what I am. Now I’m at Harvard getting such a rich experience from faculty members. It’s such a wholesome experience, and it’s very intentional,” said Omar van Reenen, Co-founder of Equal Namibia. “During this Summit I have been reflecting on my grandfather’s role in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. LGBTQI equality is a civil rights movement, just like racial justice was for my grandparents. We need to make queer youth and our allies know that equality is on the ballot. Defending democracy is not a choice, but a necessity.”
Looking around the room at the other activists, van Reenen noted how they would always look back at the Summit as something that has fueled them.
“After this summit, I’m really fired up and ready to go.”