Beyond the Rainbow: Advancing LGBTQIA+ Rights at the WEF in Davos 2023 – how governments who don’t endorse the agenda are harnessing the support of the conservative elements of society and protecting family values and rights.

By Marica Micallef

The panelists who discussed the LGBTIQA+ agenda at the Davos 2023 of the World Economic Forum consisted of Jamaladeen, global shaper from Lebanon, Sarah Kate Ellis from Glad, Tarana Hassan from Human Rights Watch, and Sharon Marcel from BCG Boston Consulting Group.

When asked to tell us what is the progression that is being made around the world [at the behest of the Elite and worldwide leaders, at the cost of the Christians and non, who impose on everyone who oppose the agenda], Taran Hassan said:

“If we had to look at the long arc of history, we have made some significant progress. In 2008 Human Rights Watch did a report looking at the colonial origins of sodomy laws around the world and back then we had identified 80 countries which had very repressive laws on the books and now we find ourselves at a point where that’s down to 70 which is some level of progress and in the last year even we’ve seen that there have been some practical steps that have been taken. Singapore is one of the most recent examples that is decriminalised, um, it’s actually decriminalised, um, it’s taking the legislation off the books but at the same time Singapore fortified the rules around same-sex marriage. And so, it’s not always a win and they did that because they were playing to the more conservative base which was agreeing to decriminalisation but still wanted to embrace sort of the more conservative parts of the country’s um population. We’ve also seen progress in the Caribbean. We had three countries across the Caribbean who all have decriminalised and taken steps for decriminalization. What I would say, in relation to these steps, is that you know the democratic institutions like the courts, countries where they function, are fundamentally important to actually bring about that change that we need to see to deliver on structural long-term change. And I think that across the world we still see that same sex activity is outlawed in 67 countries. So, that just indicates to us that you know this is not a fight that is over. We still need to be vigilant and continue to progress. One thing I want to talk about in terms of just the climate that we’re in, there is progress. There is good news in this. However, we do need to be very careful that here we are at a point in time where you known LGBT rights, marriage equality laws, all of these issues, are actually becoming signs of modernity. They are becoming signs of democracies in countries which respect rights for everyone but we’re seeing also that this has become a new battleground and this is not something that happens in certain parts of the world but not others. Even in Europe, we see Hungary in particular and Poland who have really been using LGBT rights as a battleground essentially to try and harness the support of the conservative elements of society and the government using it to put themselves up as some sort of hero of protector of family values and rights. And that is not only divisive, but it also encourages, um, it has been known to be linked to increased acts of violence and discrimination.”