Stand Up, Write Back: One activist's invitation for others to join her in AI's campaign for Belarus's Human Rights Center Lambda

Opinion: There is something electric about being in an LGBTQ space. The spark, the sizzle of energy, compassion and willingness to both question and listen fills the air. Though I grew up in a lesbian-headed household my whole life, it was not until I was 13 that I was in a consciously LGBTQ space. I had joyfully joined the end the Boston Pride Parade a few years earlier, tossing candy to kids on the parade route with, at times, a little too much enthusiasm. Though this was a fun memory, it was not until I joined COLAGE programming at Family Week in Provincetown, Mass., that for the first time I was in a room filled with youth who also had LGBTQ parents. I felt safe, I felt understood and I felt home. That feeling has influenced my activism and personal choices ever since. Knowing the deep impact LGBTQ advocacy and LGBTQ-inclusive spaces have had on my life, it deeply saddens me to know that my experience is somewhat unique. There are people throughout the U.S. who have not yet felt that current of acceptance and there are people around the world who are legally and socially barred from ever creating that space. In a country like Belarus, where non-governmental organizations (NGO) are required to be registered with authorities, LGBT activists face discrimination, threats and other abuses at the hands of the police. Just this year, Ihar Tsikhanyuk, an openly gay man and LGBT-rights activist, was physically and verbally abused by police after he tried to register the Human Rights Center Lambda, an NGO that supports the rights of LGBT people in Belarus. ... (more)

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