Tourism and Human Rights of #LGBTI people - Remarks at #IGLTA2018

Remarks at the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association's Annual Global Convention in Toronto

May 11th, 2018 Toronto

Good morning,

My name is Fabrice Houdart and I am a Human Rights Officer in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Thank you to IGLTA and John Tanzella for welcoming us today and thank you to AIG for sponsoring this session.

My office published in September 2017 Standards of Conduct calling on the private sector to scale up its game in contributing to the much-needed global social change on Human Rights of LGBTI people. These Standards have already received the support of more than 120 of the largest companies in the world.

Today I am delighted to announce that @Hyatt is officially joining the early supporters of the Standards*. By doing so it joins several other key companies in the industry such as @AirBNB, @American Airlines, @the Lalit Hotels, @Lufthansa, @Marriott, @Virgin and @Sonders&Beach which have already done so. Thanks to all these companies for their leadership!

Today, our brilliant panel will discuss why and how the tourism industry can implement these Standards and put human rights of LGBTI people on its agenda.

We are particularly glad to have this discussion as we truly believe that Tourism has a special role to play in the struggle for equality as it exposes people to each other’s culture. Yesterday I was listening to Dinesh Perera, the founder of Foozoo travel in Sri Lanka, who is on our panel today in a meeting organized by the IGLTA foundation. He described how exposing his staff to his LGBTI customers reshape not only their views but also that of their families and of the community at-large. That is how change happens – one conversation at a time.

As you know better than me, the travel and tourism industry is one of the world’s largest industries with a global economic contribution of over 7.6 trillion U.S. dollars. Tourism provides 10% of the world's GDP, 7% of global trade and as many as one in every 11 jobs globally. Dee was mentioning yesterday that travel and tourism contributes to 11.6 % of Sri Lanka’s GDP. It is a voice that cannot be ignored and has the power to contribute to expand the historic shift in public attitudes we observed here in North America, Europe and parts of Latin America and need in most places of the World.

This shift in public attitudes is urgently needed because the widening gap between the experience of LGBTI people in more tolerant places and that of their brothers and sisters in the rest of the World is not sustainable. LGBTI people everywhere now know that they are deserving of a life of opportunity and dignity and in turn this often either leads to migration or despair.

I would usually start such remarks by reminding our audience that for all the progress of the past decade, millions of LGBT people remain trapped in a climate of hostility, violence and stigma, and for some of them, life is getting harder rather than easier.

Sadly, I don’t need to – because anyone who follows the news will already be all too aware. Just in the past few months there’s been a rush of reports of mass arrests of gay men and trans people – and in all likelihood of others suspected of being gay – in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Tanzania, and Indonesia. Altogether, nearly 200 people rounded up, detained, in some cases tortured. And all this hard on the heels of appalling stories from Chechnya last year of a campaign of targeted killings of gay men there. Outright Action International recently noted that the scale of these government crackdowns makes the last year the worst year ever.

But beyond these horrendous headlines, in 70 countries people can still be arrested and imprisoned and in some cases even executed for being gay, and in 17 countries bans are in place to prohibit so called 'gay propaganda'. That’s more than a third of the world’s population – and of the world’s LGBT population – who live in countries that either criminalize same sex relationships or prohibit LGBT activism.

For trans people, the situation is arguably even more dire – with millions forced to live on the margins of society, or subjected to sterilization and forced treatment as the price of having their gender identity legally recognized.

Despite tremendous progress over the past 25 years, we are witnessing today an unprecedented proliferation of hate speech and human rights abuses against LGBTI people.

And we should not forget that even in the most tolerant places, our journey is far from over. Even here in Canada, it is still legal to use conversion therapy on minors to change their sexual orientation and gender identity.

At the United Nations, we believe in the crucial role of the private sector in tackling discrimination and providing a path to acceptance and inclusion for LGBTI people around the world.

We shouldn’t be under any illusions: business brings enormous assets to this struggle but companies cannot by themselves eradicate decades of stigma and mistreatment. True social change is driven by grassroots movements. In the 1960s and 70s the American LGBT community did not wait for PanAm or TWA to lean on the American Government on their behalf. They had Stonewall to start with.

But business is now increasingly engaged in the fight to extend equality for the LGBT community – we are observing it in Singapore, Uganda or Hong Kong – and, we believe, business today has a critical role to play globally in support of those grassroots movements we see emerging around the world.

At this time of great flux – when huge gains made in many countries in the West, in Latin America and parts of Asia now need to be consolidated and extended, and when LGBT communities are more visible – and in some cases facing pushback – in parts of the world where they were previously relegated to the shadows – we need your help now more than ever to get all companies irrespective of their size, location or industry to step up in meeting responsibilities and opportunities on the Human Rights of LGBTI people.

The decisions companies take – whether in respect of human resources, investment, their supply chains, even marketing – can have a real and, in some cases, profound impact on human rights.

Let me conclude by encouraging you to contribute in raising awareness about these Standards. The time for change has come and the private sector can and should play a leading role.

I am very happy to be joined on stage by Kevin Dallas with Bermuda Tourism, Helen Kennedy from eGale, the Canadian LGBTI advocacy organization founded in 1986, Sean Howell co-founder of Hornet and Dee of FOOZOO Travel. Please use the hashtags #Biz4LGBTI along with #IGLTA2018 on social media during this event to echo our global campaign. As you know, if it's not on social media, it just didn't happen!

Thank you for joining us today !

Panel section

First Round – The situation of Human Rights of LGBTI people

Question to Dee:

Dee: you describe yourself not only as a travel specialist but also as an activist. Homosexuality remains illegal in Sri Lanka under Article 365A. Is there an emerging LGBTI civil society? What are the biggest bottlenecks to acceptance? Do you feel that the private sector can contribute?

Question to Helen:

Helen: as I mentioned earlier, we have witnessed an unthinkable and often unexpected shift in public attitudes in North America on Human Rights of LGBTI people. In your opinion what were the drivers of social change? What role did the private sector play? Is there a recipe to social change that can be exported?

Second round – Tourism

Question to Sean:

Hornet is the world's second largest gay social network and is present in many of the most hostile environments for LGBTI people today. Do Hornet users travel? what does the data show in terms of travel to the most hostile environments? Do users express concerns?

Question to Kevin:

Even though my role here is to promote the Human Rights argument, the business and economic case often remains the most powerful in dealing with business and lawmaker. Do you believe there is a business case in Bermuda? In your experience are people sensitive to this argument? Are you able to quantify the contribution of the LGBTI population to Tourism in Bermuda?

Third Round – Taking action

Question to Kevin:

In February, Bermuda's government banned same-sex marriage one year after making such partnerships legal, what was the reaction of the private sector? Do you believe it had an impact?

Question to Sean:

Hornet has carried out multiple campaigns to bring social change on LGBTI Human Rights globally. What are the lessons learnt? Do you have any advice to companies in the industry that want to play a role but do not know where to start?

Question to Helen:

Helen: do you feel that Canadian companies are aware of their responsibilities and opportunities when it comes to Human Rights of LGBTI people?

Question to Dee:

We are living in unpredictable times. Talk is cheap and it’s time to act. What do you think businesses – and the tourism industry - can do to push for change in Sri Lanka? Do you have examples of successful contributions?

Open for Q &A

*As of 05/11/2018, the companies that expressed support for the Standards are: Accenture, Adidas, AirBNB, Airbus, Amalgamated Bank, American Airlines, ANZ, A.T. Kearney, Avianca, Aviva, AXA, Baker McKenzie, Banca Comunicacao, Barclays, Barilla, BCG, BDMG, Ben & Jerry, Best Buy, Bloomberg L.P., BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Braskem, Burberry, Calvin Klein, The Carlyle Group, Cisco Systems Inc., Clifford Chance LLP, The Coca-Cola Company, Credit Suisse, Demarest Advogados, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Diageo, Dow Chemicals, Eataly, EDF, EY, Fidelity International, Fotos Publicas, The Gap, Godrej Industries, Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, Google, Greenberg Traurig LLP, Gucci, H&M, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Hermes Investment Management, Hogan Lovells LLP, HP, Hyatt, IKEA Group, Intel, JLL, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, The Lalit Hotels, Levi Strauss & Co, Lloyd’s, Lufthansa, Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, Marks & Spencer, Marsh, MAS Holdings, Marriott International, Mastercard, Mattos Filhos, Metro AG, Microsoft, McKinsey, MCV Advogadas, Monsanto, Nasdaq, Natura, New York Life, Oath, Panda Criativo, Orange, Pepsi Cola, Pinsent Masons LLP, PVH, PWC, Ralph Lauren Corp, RELX Group, RBS, Salesforce, Santander Group, SAP, Siemens, Simmons & Simmons, Schneider Electric SE, Smirnoff, SNC-Lavalin, Sodexo, Sonders and Beach Group, Spotify, Stanley Black & Decker, Tesco, Thomson Reuters, Thyssen Krupp, Tommy Hilfiger, Trillium Asset Management, Twitter, Uber, Under Armour, Unilever, Veolia, Vert Asset Management, Viacom, Virgin, Vodafone, Watanabe Advogados, Westpac, Williams-Sonoma Inc, Xerox.