LGBTI Population

LGBTQI+ Communities

In many of the countries where NDI works, discriminatory legal barriers, intertwined with traditional gender and social norms, prevent LGBTQI+ individuals from accessing basic public services, gaining employment, and engaging in political life. At the same time, they are often targeted for physical and psychological violence. While the contexts may differ, these common threats routinely prevent LGBTQI+ individuals from safely attaining their full rights as citizens. Legal frameworks targeting LGBTQI+ communities also have broader implications for democratic development.

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November 24, 2017

In Advance of Honduras Elections, Groups Collaborate to Launch Vote for Equality Campaign

Hondurans will head to the polls on November 26 to vote in the country’s general election. On September 26 and 27 -- two months prior to this week’s election -- representatives of civil society organizations gathered in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to launch a campaign titled Vote for Equality. The campaign provides a platform for marginalized populations, pooling their efforts to advocate for equality. The campaign also publishes information on candidate platforms related to inclusion to inform voters in advance of the election.

SUBMISSION DATE EXTENDED TO AUGUST 31: CEPPS Announces Grants For Non-U.S. Organizations Working To Increase Electoral Participation Of Marginalized Communities

SUBMISSION DATE EXTENDED TO AUGUST 31

Washington, D.C. — The Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) today announced a new grants program designed to increase the political participation of historically marginalized populations in electoral processes. Qualified applicants include non-U.S.-based regional and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or private, non-profit organizations, professional associations, and relevant special interest associations or coalitions.

Advancing LGBTI Inclusion in Guatemala: “They need to know who we are and that we matter.”

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the peace accords that ended Guatemala’s 36-year internal conflict that deeply divided the country. However, in the two subsequent decades many of the accords’ goals remain to be achieved in critical areas such as rule of law, social justice, and the alleviation of poverty for marginalized groups including women, indigenous people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) communities.

AARON AZELTON

Aaron Azelton serves as the National Democratic Institute’s director of citizen participation and inclusion programs. He is a civic engagement specialist who has helped design and implement inclusive citizen participation programs at NDI since 1992. In his current position, Aaron supports NDI initiatives by providing guidance on community organizing, advocacy, government monitoring, civic education and nonprofit organizational development.

NDI Mourns Tragic Assassination of Honduran LGBTI Activist René Martínez

June 1 marked the beginning of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Pride month, celebrated around the world to promote equality rights for gender and sexual diversity. That same day Honduran LGBTI community leader, rising political figure, and friend to many at NDI, René Martínez, was murdered. A likely victim of a hate crime, Reny, as he was popularly known, was considering running for Congress next year with the governing National Party (Partido Nacional).

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Nota del editor: esta historia es la primera de una serie sobre los programas de NDI enfocados en las mujeres, que serán destacados durante el mes de marzo en honor al Día Internacional de la Mujer.

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For Debby Linares Sandoval, the challenges faced by transgender women in Guatemala are personal. Watching her peers struggle to gain access to basic healthcare services, and experiencing discrimination herself as a transgender woman, Linares began to realize the importance of not just advocating for human rights, but also actively participating in the broader political system to effect even greater change.

Editor’s Note: This story is the first in a series about NDI’s women-focused programs that will be highlighted throughout the month of March in honor of International Women’s Day.

Young, educated and urban residents in six countries in the Balkans show measurable support for LGBTI rights, but most respondents to a regional poll released by NDI today do not believe that LGBTI people should be able to live openly based on equal rights. The poll is a guidepost and a call to action to LGBTI groups seeking equal rights for their communities. NDI conducted the research as part of its commitment to more inclusive political processes, wherein all segments of society are able to influence decisions affecting their well being.