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Pride Month: A Time of Resistance, Activism and Advocacy for LGBTQ+ Rights 

This Pride Month, let’s reaffirm our unwavering commitment to advocating for the rights, safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ people and communities around the world — a population that is both central to the feminist peace movement and increasingly at risk in a global climate of political, economic and social upheaval. 

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  • 3 min
WILPF International Secretariat
19 June 2024

While Pride Month is often associated with colourful parades, the current state of LGBTQ+ rights must serve as a constant reminder of its roots: the Pride movement began as a form of riot and resistance, not as a party. 

Today, resistance has never been more important. 

In Europe, a growing right-wing movement is threatening progress and leading to increased physical and verbal attacks against LGBTQ+ individuals. In Uganda, which now has one of the world’s strictest anti-LGBTQ+ laws, same-sex relations could be punishable with the death penalty. In Argentina, queer people are experiencing rising rates of violence in the face of government-sanctioned hate speech. 

Even among countries claiming to support LGBTQ+ rights, “pinkwashing” — a government’s superficial and calculated promotion of LGBTQ+ rights in order to legitimise violence in other countries or divert the public’s attention away from violence — is rife and must be actively resisted and called out.   The Israeli government, for example, has been using pinkwashing for more than a decade to direct international attention away from its ongoing oppression of Palestinians. 

Within this context, WILPF’s approach to identifying and eliminating root causes of violence and conflict is urgently needed. The queer movement does not deserve to be associated with ideologies and practices built on oppression — those that tokenise queer identities, abuse them to legitimise power and ultimately aim to divide the movement for feminist peace. 

At WILPF, our movement strives to be inclusive of queer rights and identities, acknowledging that feminism must be intersectional and rights are universal to all. This commitment is enshrined in our mission, our values and our work. It is reflected in our work, from our focus on masculinities to our contributions to analysis of LGBTQ+ identities in the nuclear weapons space.

As we call on the global community to unite in support of LGBTQ+ rights and stand up against hate, let’s also celebrate the progress that has been made and acknowledge those societies in which queer and non-binary identities have been part of the fabric of society –  including many Indigenous cultures and the Hijaras community. 

Ultimately, this Pride Month and all year round, let’s encourage people around the world to uplift our collective human rights and to speak out against hate on our journey to a future of feminist peace.  

For further reading: 

LGBTQ+ rights at risk

Pinkwashing 

WILPF’s work on LGBTQ+ rights

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WILPF International Secretariat

WILPF International Secretariat, with offices in Geneva and New York, liaises with the International Board and the National Sections and Groups for the implementation of WILPF International Programme, resolutions and policies as adopted by the International Congress. Under the direction of the Secretary-General, the Secretariat also provides support in areas of advocacy, communications, and financial operations.

Berit Aasen

Europe Alternate Regional Representative

Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.