06 MAY 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gender Dynamix (GDX) and Iranti are excited to announce that we have partnered in a bid to bring the largest global gathering of LGBTIQ changemakers back to the African continent for the first time in 23 years.
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Today a joint team from Iranti and Gender Dynamix will present South Africa’s bid to host the ILGA World Conference 2024 at ILGA’s 30th world conference, which is currently underway in Long Beach California. Both Iranti and GDX are uniquely qualified to take the lead in hosting a conference of this magnitude, having recently jointly hosted the SA-EU Dialogue on Policy Improvement for Transgender and Intersex Persons, in partnership with the South African government and the European Union.
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In addition to this, both Iranti and GDX are well-established regional human rights organisations in Africa. GDX is one of the oldest trans rights organisations in on the continent. Iranti is a decade-old organisation focused on trans, LBQ and intersex rights. We feel confident that the moment has come for the ILGA World Conference to return to Africa, where the LGBTIQ movement continues to make significant strides despite repressive and often violent homophobic contexts.
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An ILGA World Conference is a chance to assess where LGBTIQ communities stand, share experiences and best practices, build alliances and partnerships, discuss the future of our movement, and collectively chart ways to advance equality worldwide. Africa has a valuable contribution to make towards this mission.
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South Africa, as one of the first countries in the world to provide explicit and full constitutional protections to LGBTIQ persons, has a favourable legal and political context to host a global LGBTIQ conference of this nature. The beautiful city of Cape Town, with it’s incredible natural wonders and exciting man-made attractions, is consistently ranked among the “world’s top queer-friendly cities” which makes it a natural choice to host an ILGA World conference. The city also has many symbolic and meaningful sites of memory for the struggles of LGBTIQ persons as well as the larger struggle for freedom in South Africa. This makes it a particularly powerful context for the global LGBTIQ community to reflect on and imagine the pathways to our collective freedom.
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GDX and Iranti look forward to being part of the historic moment when the ILGA World conference returns to Africa for the first time in over two decades.
ENDS
FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES CONTACT
IRANTI: Nolwazi Tusini, Communications and Media Manager, nolwazi@iranti.org.za
GENDER DYNAMIX: Leila Ebrahim, communications@genderdynamix.org.za
About ILGA: Established in 1978, ILGA World – the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association – is a worldwide federation of more than 1,700 organisations from over 160 countries and territories campaigning for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex human rights.