Petrelis Files

December 4-10 is Report Antigay Rights Abuses to U.S. State Dept Week

November 28, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Michael Petrelis
Phone: 415-621-6267

Gays Declare December 4-10 Report Antigay Rights Abuses to U.S. State Dept Week

(San Francisco, CA) -- Gays Against Executions today announced the first annual Report Antigay Rights Abuses to the U.S. State Department Week, which is from December 4-10, and will focus on sending documentation of abuses of gay people around the world to be considered for inclusion in the 2006 report on human rights. The deadline for submitting documentation is the end of December, so gays and their allies are asked not to wait until the then to submit reports to the U.S. State Department.

By submitting evidence of the abuse of gay human rights worldwide, people will help improve the U.S. State Department's monitoring of such abuses, and expand a data base that can be used by human rights campaigners pressing for an end to homophobia. The data will also be helpful to corroborate the claims of gay people fleeing persecution and seeking asylum.

The annual human rights report is a comprehensive collection of country summaries and their respect for and adherence to international standards of human rights, and the U.S. State Department is required to present the report to Congress. Since 1990, when only one country's report, Denmark's, mentioned gay rights, the annual report has grown to include summaries of more than four-dozen countries' records, generally abysmal, on gay human rights, in the most recent report for 2005.

"It is an urgent priority for the U.S. State Department to update and expand its documentation of global human rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The massive scale of homophobic persecution worldwide is grossly under-documented in all official human rights reports. OutRage! will be submitting evidence to the U.S. State Department, based on our firsthand evidence from LGBT refugees," said longtime gay campaigned Peter Tatchell of OutRage!, a London-based LGBT organization.

Speaking on behalf of Gays Against Execution, a San Francisco-based committee dedicated to ending capital punishment as an integral gay issue, Michael Petrelis said, "All of our documents, in several languages, about abuses like Iran's executions of gay teenagers and Poland's hostility towards gays attempting to peaceably assemble in the streets, will be shared with the U.S. State Department."

All gays are asked to share copies of key reports about violations of human rights principles and protections that extend to gays, during December 4-10. This week was chosen, in part, because it ends on Saturday, December 10, which is the United Nations' yearly Human Rights Day.

Please note that it is within the U.S. State Department's discretion whether to report an abuse within the annual country reports on human rights practices. It is not feasible to report every abuse that occurs on this or any subject. The department looks for a few key examples to help readers understand the status of human rights in each country.

Sending reports via e-mail is actually better than sending things by postal mail because all mail to the U.S. State Department is irradiated.

Email submissions should be sent to: pottslg@state.gov .

Postal mail goes to:

LeRoy Potts
U.S. Department of State
Office of Country Reports and Asylum Affairs
Room H242
2401 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037

Organizers of the Report Antigay Rights Abuses to the U.S. State Department Week hope materials from gays and our allies around the globe are shared with Mr. Potts and his colleagues, making next year's annual human rights report the most gay-specific inclusive one yet.