Report from fifth session of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum now available online
The report from our fifth session of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum, The Many Faces of LGBT Inclusion is now available online to download, read and share.
The report was produced following the 2016 session held in Chiang Rai, Thailand - the Forum's first session to be held outside of Europe.
The session was held in Asia in an effort to amplify Asian voices often overlooked in the global LGBT discourse.
Speaking at the session, Salzburg Global LGBT Forum founder and chair, Klaus Mueller, said: “If Asian societies do not advance on LGBT rights, the global LGBT community will not move forward.” He added: “The Forum is aware of the strong Western discourse in LGBT human rights, and the under-representation of Asian voices within that global discourse.”
The 2016 session of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum was held in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Being LGBTI in Asia program, a regional program supported by the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The session was also supported by Austrian Development Cooperation, the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Michael Huffington, and the foreign offices of Sweden, Canada and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The Forum this year brought together 58 Fellows and staff representing 33 countries, bringing the Forum's representation to 65 countries.
The report covers all five days of the Chiang Rai program, as well as giving an overview of the previous years' sessions, detailing the work under-taken since the end of the October 2016 session, and offering insights to how the Forum will continue in the years to come.
The 2016 program had four interrelated themes. The topic of Family encouraged participants to talk about the challenges LGBT communities face regarding family rights, social acceptance, and how family is perceived, defined and lived across our different identities. Continuing the dialogue started in the previous year’s session, Storytelling conversations helped writers, filmmakers, photographers, activists, and policymakers to exchange ideas and expertise on the work they produce, the messages they share, and the audiences they hope to reach. Strengthening International Connections is a key theme of the Forum, and one goal is to deepen the relationship between LGBT human rights groups and foreign embassies, governments, and international organizations which provide logistical, financial and network support to LGBT human rights groups. Transgender Asian Perspectives were discussed with particular attention given to the ongoing legal and social changes affecting transgender populations in Asia.
Download the report as a PDF (lo-res)
Request a print or hi-res electronic copy
