The IGLHRC at the 1993 March on Washington for LGB Equal Rights and Liberation
OutRight International, formerly known as International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC),[5] was founded by Julie Dorf[6] in 1990, and incorporated as a non-profit organization on November 7, 1990. Though initially focused on LGBT human rights abuses in Russia, the organization is now active in many parts of the world, including the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. OutRight International is headquartered in New York City with satellite offices on the West Coast and in Spain, and Manila.[1] OutRight International has a digital archive of their LGBT human rights documentation and education materials for research.
On July 19, 2010, the United Nations Economic and Social Council voted to accredit IGLHRC as one of the NGOs granted consultative status with the international organization. This allows IGLHRC to attend U.N meetings, contribute statements, and collaborate with United Nations agencies.[7][8]
In 2015, on the 25th anniversary of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the organization changed its name to OutRight Action International[5] to make it more inclusive.
In 2017, OutRight challenged the inclusion of C-Fam to the US delegation at the UN CSW 2017.[15][16]
In 2018, Neish McLean, executive director of TransWave and OutRight Caribbean Program Officer, presented the intervention statement on behalf of the Major Groups and Other Stakeholders in response to Jamaica's Voluntary National Reviews at the United Nations.[17][18]
In 2019, OutRight worked with UN Women to be a part of a historic panel[19] at the United Nations on "Gender Diversity: Beyond Binaries"[20][21]
In 2022, OutRight dropped "Action" from its name, formally becoming OutRight International.[22]
Work in the Caribbean region supports organizations to achieve legal registration and provides support in establishing and building the capacity of newly founded organizations as well as combating gender-based violence.[27]
Research program
OutRight International's Research Program collects quantitative and qualitative data through surveys and case studies to promote global LGBTIQ advocacy and address issues on religion, culture, policy, government, and social norms of gender sexuality, gender expression, and sexual orientation. This research is analyzed for use by local, regional, international and communications fronts.
Outright conducted the first-ever global survey in 2019 "Harmful Treatment: The Global Reach of So-called Conversion Therapy"[28] on the causes and effects of "conversion therapy" using interviews with experts and survivors around the world. The report dives into its main justifications by perpetrators, the most common conversion therapy practices used, and includes cases studies from people who have been through such programs. The survey provides insight on the social, cultural, and religious norms which undermine the identities and sexualities of LGBTIQ people.[29]
A survey in 2018 "The Global State of LGBTIQ Organizing: The Right to Register"[30] in 194 countries and found that only 56%, 109 countries, permit LGBTIQ organizations to register as so. In just 28%, 55 countries, LGBTIQ organizations exist but they cannot legally register. OutRight is concerned that LGBTIQ people in these countries may be at higher risk of discrimination and violence, as well as lack resources and funding.
Partnered with local LGBTIQ groups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with a focus on Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, to support activists and allies. The 2018 report "Activism and Resilience: LGBTQ Progress in the Middle East and North Africa"[31] explains how activism in the region leads to progress on LGBTQ issues, and how challenges are met with the resilience by the movement.
United Nations program
OutRight is the first and only U.S.-based LGBTIQ human rights organization to obtain
consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). OutRight
uses its status to work as an organizer[32] convening of groups and activists coming to New York to conduct advocacy on LGBTIQ issues at the United Nations. OutRight does direct advocacy work across the United Nations with a focus on the General Assembly, Commission on the Status of Women, and High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Two OutRight events bridge UN direct advocacy work with global LGBTIQ activists and advocates: Advocacy Week[33] and the UN Religious Fellowship.[34] OutRight engages relevant national, regional and international stakeholders, including UN member State missions, UN special mechanisms, UN agencies and the UN Secretariat to support LGBTIQ rights at UN headquarters, including the United Nations LGBTI Core Group.[35]
Awards
Felipa de Souza Award
Since 1994, OutRight confers an annual award, the Felipa de Souza Award, to honour a human rights activist or organization.[36]
OutRight occasionally presents the Outspoken Award to special honorees. The Outspoken Award "recognizes the leadership of a global ally to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community whose outspokenness has contributed substantially to advancing the rights and understanding of LGBTI people everywhere."[37]
Year Presented
Award
2005-2011
The first Outspoken Award was presented in 2005 to the Honorable Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In 2008, IGLHRC presented its second Outspoken Award to Archbishop Desmond Tutu.[38] The 2010 Outspoken awardee was Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS. The 2011 Outspoken awardee was journalist and author Jeff Sharlet.[39]
2016
United Nations Free and Equal Campaign,[40] Randy Barry, US Special Envoy for the human rights of LGBTI people,[41] and Dan Bross, Microsoft executive, and LGBT rights advocate.[42]
2017
Logo TV was accepted by Pamela Post, Vice President of original programming and series development, and OutStanding Awardee Blanche Wiesen Cook, prize-winning biographer of Eleanor Roosevelt.[43]
2018
Lois Whitman, a children's human rights activist.[44]
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