Resource: Sexuality in the Margins: Creating a Space for Conversations

The Graduate Journal of Social Science published an issue entitled 'Sexuality in the Margins:  Creating a Space for Conversations'.  It's well worth checking out.  You can see the full contents below:

Editorial: Sexualities in the Margins: Creating a Space for ConversationsArpita Das, Annelies Kleinherenbrink and Ebtihal Mahadeen
GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 7-12. [PDF]

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Establishing Asexual Identity: The Essential, the Imaginary, and the CollectiveAgata Pacho

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 13-35. [PDF]

Abstract

Pansexual Identification in Online Communities: Employing a Collaborative Queer Method to Study PansexualityAyisigi Hale Gonel

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 36-60. [PDF]

Abstract

From the 'Polymorphous Perverse' to Intersexualization: Intersections in Cross-Cultural EthnographiesLena Eckert

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 60-84. [PDF]

Abstract

R v Peacock: Landmark Trial Redefines Obscenity LawAlex Antoniou

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 85-103. [PDF]

Abstract

Are We Nearly There Yet? Struggling to Understand Young People as Sexual SubjectsFreya Johnson Ross

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 104-123. [PDF]

Abstract

The Experimental Neuro-Framing of SexualityIsabelle Dussauge

GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 124-151. [PDF]

Abstract

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Book Reviews

Michelle Hutchinson Grondin
Technologies of Sexuality, Identity and Sexual Health edited by Lenore Manderson
GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 152-155. [PDF]

Ellen Zitani
Il Gioco Delle Parti: Travestimenti e Paure Sociali Tra Otto e Novecento by Laura Schettini
GJSS 2013 10:1, pp. 156-160. [PDF]

After '82: The Documentary

I found out earlier today about a new British film, due to shortly be completed. After '82 has been filmed over a period of three years and is close to completion. The film contains multiple interviews with people who were instrumental in highlighting the AIDS crisis in the UK in the 80's, people living with HIV, activists and campaigners today. Split into two halves, the first half of After 82 looks at the history behind the AIDS crisis, whilst the second half examines the situation today.Without wishing to be depressing or doom laden - After 82 has a lighter touch than you might expect from such subject matter - the film IS a wake up call that asks why is there still so much ignorance surrounding the topic and why is so little currently being done by the UK government?

There are some short exerts on their website, and it's a timely British companion to the extraordinary US documentary, How to Survive a Plague. 

New Blog Resource

York academic Paul Johnson has taken the plunge and started a blog called 'ECHR Sexual Orientation Blog'.  Well worth a look! 

Your Mother Liked It Bareback

Mark S King has written an absolutely brilliant piece on bareback sex.  You can check it out here.  He responds to some of the recent stories about bareback sex and contextualises it in a medical and cultural framework.  I can't recommend it enough.

New Radio Show: Being LGBT

SparkFM, the Sunderland University radio station, has launched a new show, 'Being LGBT'.  The station has deservedly won a stack of awards, and this latest show marks a new project for the extremely talented Sam Willey.  It's every Wednesday at 2pm (and you may hear a familiar voice in the near future) , and you can catch it on listen again if you missed it.

This week:

Kieron Brady former Sunderland football player, now equality expert with CICI speaks about homophobia in the game.

Lindsay England from the Just a Ball Game? initiative says more needs to be done to tackle homophobia in football.

Megan Worthing-Davies from Football V Homophobia chats to us live about the campaign and her involvement with the Justin Campaign.

Lewis Moody, former England Rugby international speaks out, calling for more open LGBT people in Sport.

Gentoo and the Tyne and Wear Fire Service talk to us about being a North East employer included in the Stonewall Top 100 of LGB friendly employers.

Check it out here.

Gray's Inn Seminar: Criminals or Victims?

Readers may be interested in this forthcoming event

CRIMINALS OR VICTIMS?
A Necessary Guide to the Non-Criminalisation of Victims of Human Trafficking

Panel
Peter Carter QC
18 Red Lion Court

Parosha Chandran
1 Pump Court

Pam Bowen
Head of Trafficking Policy, CPS

An expert seminar aiming to bridge gaps in knowledge concerning the criminalisation of victims of trafficking.

Principally for Judges, Barristers and Students with an interest in criminal law and public law, the seminar seeks to raise awareness of how to identify possible victims of trafficking and how to protect the legal rights of such persons

 Monday 4th February 2013 Gray’s Inn Hall 6.15pm – 8.15pm

The cost is £10 for students to attend the seminar and drinks afterwards. Everyone must register in advance for the event.  For mor einfo, and the registration form, contact cpd@graysinn.org.uk

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill

Unless you've been living on the moon, you'll probably already know that the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill -which will introduce same-sex marriage into English law - was published last week, along with a set of guidance notes.  You can download both documents and monitor the progress of the Bill here.

I published my take on the Bill on Pink News.  You can check out that article here.  The comments also make for very interesting reading.

MAP - Male Action Project: Initial Results

The Cyrenians - a Newcastle based homelessness charity (with from what I can work out, Catholic roots) recently published some interesting research on male sex work.

 From May to November 2011 The Cyrenians carried out a scoping exercise and some exploratory work to consider the nature and extent of male sex work in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In April 2012 funds were secured to support a 12 month project 'MAP' (Male Action Project) to further develop the evidence-base regarding the needs of 'survival' male sex workers; and to undertake a programme of campaigning activities to stimulate and facilitate policy change at local, regional and national levels.

The initial needs analysis can be downloaded here.

Email subscriptions

Don't forget, you can also subscribe to email bulletins of my blogposts, so you never miss another post yourself.  Just pop your email address in the box on the right hand side, and make sure you click the link in the verification email.  Thanks for reading -and apologies for the cheesy plug.

Bathhouse Videos

A hat-trick of thanks to the Bathhouse Blog as they are also responsible for this post.  One of the great challenges I face when teaching students about the phenomenon of public sex, is explaining the physical dynamics of these spaces.  Grupo Pases (a Spanish Sauna group) have produced a series of videos for their venues which offer a (albeit glossy) insight into their spaces.  Ignore the 'party' videos but take a look at the others - they are really useful, and are comparable to UK sauna spaces.  They are pretty safe viewing too although expect lots of bare bums on show, and a surprise amount of friendly contact.  The backing music choices are inspired.  Check them out here.

Bette Midler at the Bathhouse

I mentioned Bette Midler and her bathhouse entertaining days in my Sewell post the other day; the excellent Gay Bathhouse Blog links to a story in the Australian (and which first appeared in The Times) where she reflects on those experiences (sadly behind a paywall) and also a piece on the PriceSource website last month in which she talks about her bathhouse days.  Well worth a read.

Brian Sewell: Outsider II

I had a pleasant day after the Christmas festivities reading Brian Sewell's new book, Outsider II: Always Almost: Never Quite.  It's the second volume of his autobiography and I can't recommend this book enough.

Sewell is the notoriously bitchy art critic for the London Evening Standard newspaper.  He's now in his eighties and has settled into being a rather lovably old queen with an acid tongue and an inclination towards painful honesty.  I never disliked him before I read this book, but I am now positively adore the delightful old queen.

His sexual escapades told with lubricating relish are a delight to read.  Early on in the book (pp 7-8) he talks of cruising, providing an important historical account for the activity in a 60s landscape (and just after the passing of the Sexual Offences Act of that year):

'...I lapsed into the opportunities for promiscuity so abundant on the towpath by the Thames between Hammersmith Bridge and the boat sheds of Putney.  There the thrill lay not only in the hunt but in the menace of darkness, for it was lit only by the moon and, until one's night vision kicked in, one could see nothing and perception was left to other senses - it is odd how much hearing is heightened in such circumstances; there was also the danger of the sudden presence of the river police patrolling in a boat with the engine shut down and all lights off, the fierce beam of its searchlight suddenly cutting through the night.  Far from running, the safest thing to do then was to lie flat and still in what small cover there might be, with one's face turned away from the beam.  Often there was no time to disengage and we lay like a brace of spoons waiting for boredom to move the boat on.  There was never much conversation, but occasionally my trophy was an oarsman who preferred to be taken home;  to my amusement, these were always sheepishly passsive, uncooperative in any foreplay, just wanting to be fucked - something to do with the repetitive action of rowing, I suppose.'

Quite apart from the amusing aspect to this recollection, the  story also beautifully conveys the environment and sensory experience of cruising which is sadly missing in many of the recollections which academic sources often turn to.

Sewell also takes us on an adventure through the Bathhouses of New York - including the arbitrary reference to Bette Midler (often a bewildering detail for my students when I recount historical tales of public sex to them in a workshop on the subject) and his stories of masturbating for Salvador Dali really do need to be read to be believed.

Another public sex story which caught my attention comes later in the book (page 150) as the interests of MI6 put pay to some of Sewell's exploits.  He recalls:

'Indeed, Harrods had to stop being a haunt for casual sodomy in the third floor lavatories, where is was from a Harrods boy in the men's department that I learned the trick of camouflaging the feet of the recipient in carrier bags so that any suspicious guardian of morals glancing under the door would see only the feet of a heavily-laden customer.'

And you wondered how Harrods built its reputation for excellence in customer care.

One of the more moving examinations of sexuality comes later still.  After Sewell has had a heart attack, and his health begins to decline; Sewell returns home from his hospitalisation and masturbates.  This followed rather unhelpful advice from a nurse at the point of his discharge from hospital.  Sewell writes (page 233-234):

'A nurse I had not seen before came with instructions not to eat red meat, chocolate or oysters, not to drink coffee, not to have sex.  'What precisely do you mean with not to have sex?' 'Well, you know...' she replied.  'No I don't - sex comes in many guises.  Am I allowed to masturbate?' To this she made the sort of whimper-cum-splutter that a maiden aunt might make and scuttled off puffing with affront'.

So it was that Sewell returned home and cautiously masturbated.  An activity which seems to have brought not merely sexual relief, but a rather wonderful sexual insight:

'I went to bed and very warily, almost enquiringly, I masturbated.  Why should this purile and much mocked activity seem so important to a man in his sixties?  I do not know: I know only that it was an indication that, in spite of the heart attack, my body was not in other aspects malfunctioning, that I was still a man and had not come a vegetable.  Why is it not to be mentioned in polite society, unless by a stand-up comic whose audience will, at the mere mention of it, fall about with laughter?  As a subject of serious discussion it is taboo; is this because it is far more common among adult men that we admit or suppose?  As all my married friends confess to it but keep it from their supposedly disapproving wives, is it still a secret pleasure in which they must not be too absorbed for fear of the wife at the bathroom foot with her, 'Darling, what are you doing in there?'  Wives can demand privacy without rousing suspicion but men cannot.  Is masturbation the real reason for the garden shed?'

Sewell also goes on to examine the importance of age for the homosexual (heterosexual too?) male, how desire specifically for youthful skin and buttocks can also result in mockery, the risk of one making a fool of oneself and the role of the rentboy.   It's all wonderful stuff, and will particularly resonate with fellow gay men.  For those in London; why not support an independent book store such as Gay's the Word?

Same-Sex Marriage: The Miller Warm Up

Maria Miller

We now know that the Government will formally announce their same-sex marriage proposals tomorrow (Tuesday) but following a leak, and grumbles over the weekend, the Minister responsible for Equalities (and oddly Culture Secretary) Maria Miller was dragged to the House of Commons to respond to an emergency question on same-sex marriage in churches.

Miller first of all clarified that this was all apprently nothing new, stating that:  'The Prime Minister did not announce anything new this weekend; he simply restated the Government’s position and, in particular, expressed a personal view regarding the possible role for churches in future—a view that he first expressed in July. However, my hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that this is an important matter that should be discussed first here in the House, and that is why we have brought forward our statement to tomorrow.'

It's just that we all collectively missed it the first time around.   The debate also show cased barely veiled homophobia from a number of Tory MPs.  Here are some 'highlights':

Mr David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con): Will my right hon. Friend confirm that approximately 500,000 people who responded to the Government’s consultation by saying no to redefining marriage have been excluded from the Government’s consultation and effectively denied a voice, although others—including those beyond the United Kingdom—have been included in that consultation? Is the consultation in danger of being seen as a sham that does not provide the Government with a mandate to redefine marriage?

Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con): With Christmas just around the corner, lots of people might be thinking of giving a dictionary as a present. Before they do so, and for the benefit of dictionary publishers, will the Minister say whether the Government have any plans to change the definition of any other words?

Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con): My right hon. Friend said that the views of people of faith should never be marginalised. Will she tell the House how she will square that with the 619,007 people who have signed the Coalition for Marriage petition, which calls for no change in the definition of marriage?

Matthew Offord

Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con): Can my right hon. Friend explain why the Government are so hellbent on upsetting so many thousands of our citizens who are in normal marriages, especially at this time?

Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Con): The suggestion that the Government’s proposals need not necessarily impact on religious belief is nonsense. The definition of marriage is the joining together of a man and a woman in holy matrimony, and allowing same-sex marriages will therefore require a redefinition of the term. Such a redefinition would undermine one of the basic tenets of many religious institutions, so it definitely would impact on religious belief. That is not scaremongering; that is fact.

My personal favourite (meant sarcastically, but an interesting point):

Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) (Con): Many Members have expressed the sentiment that marriage is at the centre of religious life—amen to all that—but have the Government considered introducing other forms of marriage, such as polygamy, and if not, when can minorities who believe in such a practice expect their own consultation?

And a nice teaser for tomorrow:

Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con): I am a Christian and I am against the redefinition of marriage, but that is for tomorrow. The urgent question today is why on earth the Government briefed in advance about a new policy and a change to the previous position. The Minister has condemned that herself in the past. Will she have a word with the Prime Minister and tell him off?

You can read the full transcript here.

Civil Partnerships

For me, a particualr fascianting exchange concerned Civil partnerships.  A big question ahs been what will happen to them as a result fo these reforms.  My hope has long been that Civil partnerships will stay on the statute book but be opened up to different-sex couples.  Based on the following response from the Minister, it looks like such a measure won't be in the proposed response (and the contineud existence of CPs looks uncertain):

 Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab): As someone with a long-term personal investment in the institution of marriage, I can thoroughly recommend it to everyone who wants it. Nevertheless, will the Minister also introduce proposals for those who do not want the institution, such as heterosexual couples who want a civil partnership rather than a marriage? I have constituents who have raised this with me.

 Maria Miller: I am sure that the question of civil partnership will be addressed as part of the consultation response, but I suggest to the hon. Gentleman that civil partnership was never put forward as a replacement for marriage, and I am not sure it is something we want to open up to more people.

A Career in Academia

Apologies for going a little off topic but I know a good number of you are either looking to explore academic careers, or are in the early stages of building such a career.  Tufts University in the United Stated has a rather wonderful Graduate School of Arts and Sciences which seems to be doing some excellent work in reaching out to the international academic community and providing useful advice and resources.  Check out one of their recent posts here.

Right, back to the law and sexuality malarky...

World AIDS Day Brings Third Anniversary of Website Commemorating Bay Area Losses

Launched by the World Health Organization in 1988, World AIDS Day is held annually on December 1. This year, the date coincides with the third anniversary of a unique website commemorating losses to the disease in Northern California. The site offers an online database of every obituary from the Bay Area Reporter, a weekly newspaper for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Cosponsored by the BAR and the GLBT Historical Society, the site includes 10,344 notices published from 1979 to the present.

The obituaries database of the GLBT Historical Society and the Bay Area Reporter is free of charge. Visit http://obit.glbthistory.org.

It makes for a tremendously moving resource and historical artifact, bringing back to life the men of yesterday and their stories.

Homosexual Offenses and Human Rights in Guernsey

The wonderful Paul Johnson has produced a really interesting piece on Homosexual Offenses and Human Rights in Guernsey on the Jurist site.  Check it out here.

Inherently Brief

The ever-excellent Inherently Human blog produced a really helpful 'round up' of recent stories relating to gender and sexuality from around the world.   Check it out here.

Centre for Gender Studies Seminar Series 2012-13: Gender, Sex and Power

Readers may be interested in this series of forthcoming seminars, organised by Rob Clucas (r.j.clucas@hull.ac.uk)

Dr Meg Barker, Open University 

‘Critically informed kink? Comparing understandings of sex, gender and power in 50 Shades and the BDSM blogosphere’

Keynote speaker Gender, Sex & Power: interdisciplinary dialogues
University of Hull Postgraduate Conference
Wednesday 21st November 2012, 4.30 pm,
Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery & Emancipation (WISE)

Christina Richards, West London Mental Health NHS Trust (Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic) 

'Trans and sexuality - theory and pragmatics'

Wednesday 6th February 2013, 4.15 pm South East Asia Museum, 1st Floor, Wilberforce Building

 Grant Denkinson, polyamory community activist volunteer 

‘Polyamory Activism’

Wednesday 6th March 2013, 4.15 pm South East Asia Museum, 1st Floor, Wilberforce Building

Professor Lisa Downing, University of Birmingham 

‘Re-assessing Agency and Consent in Queer and Feminist Theory’

 Wednesday, 17 April 2013, 4.15 pm South East Asia Museum, 1st Floor, Wilberforce Building

Vicki Kirby, Associate Professor, University of New South Wales 

‘Can anthropocentrism be redeemed?’

 Wednesday, 8 May 2013, 4.15 pm South East Asia Museum, 1st Floor, Wilberforce Building

New Resource: Queer Sex Work

Nicki Smith at Birmingham University has launched a new website:  Queer Sex Work. It's for anyone and everyone who is interested in issues about being and doing ‘queer’ in the sex industry: sex workers, activists, researchers, students, practitioners and anyone else who is interested in exploring, discussing, debating, or learning more about the diversity of queer identities, practices, politics and scholarship in and about the sex industry. The site is designed to be as inclusive as possible of different voices, experiences and identities, and to be a space for dialogue and of mutual respect. It includes research resources, policy and activism links, and links to support services, together with regular posts on projects, publications, people and events.

Check it out here.

International Anti-homophobia Legal Clinic--El Salvador

International Anti-homophobia Legal Clinic--El Salvador

 Seeks Legal Advocates

Great opportunity  with a new start-up international human rights NGO, helping shape its future, combating the spread of HIV/AIDS,  fighting discrimination in education, employment, medical care and the impunity of hate crimes.  The legal clinic in El Salvador will, for the first time, make justice accessible to the LGBTQ community.  

The Project:  The leading LGBTQ human rights groups--Asociación Entre Amigos (‘AEA’), as well as other LGBTQ activists, have expressed the dire need for pro bono legal services for LGBT persons in El Salvador.  This community is the most vulnerable, at-risk-population including transgender persons and those living with HIV/AIDS who are grossly marginalized and persecuted.  The need for pro bono legal services has been confirmed by a report on the human rights situation of the LGBT community--- Sexual Diversity in El Salvador July 2012, International Human Rights Law Clinic University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. 

Background:  Post conflict El Salvador is undergoing an exciting transformation after years of conservative Right Wing politics.  Through the new democratically elected FMLN liberal party, the country has real opportunities for strengthening the rule of law by asserting and defending the rights of LGBTQ.  We seek pro bono advocates to bring about historic change for the LGBTQ community in El Salvador's legal justice system through the work of this new Anti-Homophobia Legal Clinic (in El Salvador known as ‘Asistencia Legal Para la Diversidad Sexual’).

Duties & Responsibilities:  Assist in promoting Thematic Hearing for LGBT in OAS Inter-American Commission of Human Rights.  Work to solicit the American Bar Association or other international pro bono NGOs to and establish high-impact legal advocacy projects.  Help organize the first LGBT Human Rights Conference at the University of Central America (‘UCA’) w/academics, LGBT presenters, human rights advocates/NGOs, along with cultural activities—art exhibit, musical performance, poetry/literature film etc.  Assist organizing  Anti-Homophobia Day May 17, 2013 Celebration at the University and or other additional forum.  Help develop a LGBT Human Rights Training Curriculum and creating a panel of local legal professionals capable of applying internationally recognized protections for LGBT rights. This may include prosecutors, Supreme Court justices, members of the Ministry of Justice and Interior, NGO representatives and other policy makers and legal professionals in El Salvador.  Research & Writing Projects  including compiling a Human Rights Violations Report on documented hate crimes from currently available materials on the 47 (or more) hate crimes committed, in recent years, against LGBT in El Salvador.  An important facet of your work at the clinic is  Accompaniment  (‘acompanamiento’) of individuals looking to assert their civil rights  This is your opportunity to work one-on-one with members of the LGBTQ community wherein you accompany them to institutions and venues where they seek to assert their civil rights for education, health care and fair labor/employment.  Your advocacy efforts will be guided by an attorney from the Salvadorian bar.  You may choose to participate in Outreach Activities to LGBT & NGO community.  Other projects that are of interest to you are welcome and will be considered.

Your Qualifications:

·       Experience with HIV & LGBT issues

·       Able to work independently, and also as part of a team

·       Competence with Microsoft Office, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel & other applications

·       Highly motivated with energy and ability to multitask , Ethical and compassionate

·       Possess excellent interpersonal skills

·       Spanish language competency desirable—but non-Spanish speakers are also invited to apply

·       Self-starter, able to work effectively with minimal supervision

·       Sensitive to cultural differences, comfortable working with low-income clients

·       Skilled communicator with effective oral, presentation and written communication skills                 

·       Willing to work with people living with HIV/AIDS, including sex workers and those who may be terminally ill and who suffer severe discrimination, prejudice and stigma.

·       Willing to travel and live in El Salvador for the duration of 12 weeks minimum

·       Economically self-sufficient, as this is a self-funded position.

The Clinic opened in April 2012; positions are available on a rolling basis.  Applicants please send a cover letter and resume to Ana Montano, Director & Supervising Attorney-- ana@alrp.org  with the Subject Line 'Legal Advocate for El Salvador'.   Please describe your international experience, Spanish language proficiency and preferred dates of travel. This is a self-funded position for attorneys, law school graduates, law students and others who have a passion for LGBT rights.                 

Benefits to you: Explore different kinds of legal work to help you figure out what you really want to do.  Gain International development experience, and ‘on-the-ground’ field experience & knowledge about human rights violations.  Have an impact and contribute to the protection of human rights in action.  Learn about LGBT & HIV/AIDS issues.  ­­­­­­­­­Make professional contacts and develop your legal career network.  Strengthen your Spanish language, and cross-cultural communication skills.  Work abroad with fun, intelligent, inspiring co-workers.  All legal advocates with the Anti-Homophobia Legal Clinic-El Salvador are encouraged to view their legal work as a dynamic factor in their agent-of-change activities through global human rights lawyering.  We a comfortable, secure, home stay program and there is the opportunity to attend an intensive Spanish Language program if needed.

* The Mission of the Legal Clinic for HIV/LBGTQ in El Salvador is to fight the spread of AIDS and promote the health, safety, dignity, civil rights and legal empowerment of HIV/LBGTQ, including children abandoned & orphaned because of their HIV status.

Intersection of Health & Human Rights:  The International AIDS Conference in Vienna 2010 focused on legal and human rights issues faced by the 'vulnerable and most at risk' i.e., LGBTQ persons.  It recognized the need of securing human rights to achieve medical access goals.

Challenges:   The AIDS Conference found that LGBT persons often have the poorest access to HIV medical care because of stigmatization and marginalization.  A panel 'Opposing Grave Human Rights Violations On The Basis Of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity' at UN headquarters, discussing arbitrary arrests, degrading treatment, torture and murder concluded that a major challenge in controlling the spread of AIDS in the Global South remains the social stigma and discrimination faced by these vulnerable, high risk groups.

Popular Perceptions in Salvadoran Society that Contribute to Discrimination & Stigmatization

·       81% believe that employers have the right to request HIV tests as a requirement to employment,

·       65% believe that children with HIV should be educated at separate institutions,

·       54% believe that God has punished prostitutes and homosexuals with HIV/AIDS due to their lifestyles,

·       51% state that people with HIV/AIDS should not be able to use public places.

Hate Crimes against LGBTQ & Lack of Legal Protection--Although the need for legal services is immense, there is no legal organization asserting the civil rights of LBGTQ in El Salvador.  By most accounts there have been more than 47 murders of gay men, transsexuals & transvestites.  In all these murders, no one has been brought to trial!  Many other LGBTQ are regularly assaulted, battered, threatened and shunned.  (See report ´La Alianza por la Diversidad Sexual LGBT de El Salvador 'a report on the aggression suffered by LGBT community in El Salvador between Jan--Sept 2009) 

The work of the Anti-Homophobia Legal Clinic--El Salvador includes: Advocacy & Policy--working with branches of the Salvadoran government and other NGOs to develop resolutions to human rights violations. Thus, improving the LGBTQ community's access to their civil & human rights.  Legal Aid--Our legal advocates, Promoters, and pro bono attorneys will provide legal counsel and representation to persecuted HIV/LGBTQ.   We aim to help the community navigate the legal process to access education, healthcare and employment rights and demand equal protection of police & courts.  Legal Empowerment—Our plan is to train members of the LGBTQ community as para-legal ‘promotores’, so they are empowered to provide basic legal advice and facilitate civic engagement within the community.  We also conduct Street Law-Know Your Rights education with the HIV/LGBTQ community and other social actors and services providers.  Social Movement Building --We are advancing the LGBTQ human rights agenda and planning to launch additional legal services offices in other Central American countries.   Strategic Litigation--The LGBTQ legal clinic will set legal precedent for human rights, through ‘emblematic’ test cases in regional courts as advised by the local LGBTQ community.