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At a time when LGBTI+ lives are painted as a false "moral threat" to society, to distract from failed austerity policies and remove broader civil and human rights, the LGBTI+ Caucus discussed the current state of LGBTI+ rights in the world of work and in education systems globally. It also explored the actions taken by unions and their impact on progressing LGBTI+ rights.

A safe space for delegates participating in the 2024 Education International (EI) World Congress, this Caucus is a collaborative event, where participants are invited to engage in group discussions to share experiences and strategies to foster solidarity.

In his opening remarks, EI Executive Board member and Vice-President for Africa Mugwena Maluleke highlighted that: “I was born in South Africa, a country that was guilty of crime against humanity because of apartheid. Freedoms and rights enjoyed by other human beings weren’t automatically enjoyed by the black majority and the apartheid constitution criminalised any freedom based on gender identity, sexual orientation or preference. I grew up during that period where, as activists, we fought for these freedoms and rights to be part of the constitution of the Republic. I urge you to continue the fight for the LGBTI+ rights because they are human rights, and it is our business as unions and activists.”

He also noted that EI stands firm in our values that every teacher and education support personnel has the right to work free from discrimination and violence regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics. “Our unions play a crucial role in advocating for inclusive education systems and school communities where LGBTI+ students, teachers, education support personnel and their families feel welcome, safe, valued, and respected.”

“In the face of a troubling global rollback of LGBTI+ rights, we know that our advocacy efforts are an indispensable force for progress. We must challenge oppressive systems, demand accountability from governments, foster solidarity internationally, and importantly, create space for joy,” he went on to say.

He concluded by announcing that, “in a strong step, EI has joined ILGA World, the international lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex association, which is a worldwide federation of organisations from over 160 countries and territories campaigning for LGBTI+ human rights.”

Together with other Global Unions, EI is organising a labour delegation to the Conference and hosting an LGBTI+ Workers and Trade Unions Forum. This event will create a platform for dialogue, knowledge-sharing, and strategic planning among participants to amplify the voices of LGBTI+ workers.

A global overview of LGBTI+ rights in education

EI’s Lainie Keper also presented the findings of EI’s Quadrennial Report on LGBTI+ rights in education, which explores the work of education unions to further LGBTI+ rights.

Compared to the last LGBTI+ survey by EI in 2014, the number of responses almost doubled from 59 to 114 and the distribution between the regions was more balanced, indicating that more education unions see LGBTI+ as a trade union issue.

Amongst those answering the questionnaire, a considerable proportion of unions (42.1%) already carry out advocacy or research activities to support LGBTI+ rights at a national level, the highest proportion being found in Latin America. The nature of the activities unions are taking varies greatly from organising trainings, to participating in Pride events, to supporting union members in discrimination cases.

In general, researchers found that unions typically take a more progressive stance than their governments with regards to LGBTI+ rights, even in the most challenging contexts, yet unions across regions reported concerns about the global backlash to LGBTI+ rights driven by authoritarian, right-wing governments, politicians, and their allies.

Importantly, among the surveyed unions, the majority, 66 (57.9%), are planning to increase their efforts advocating for LGBTI+ rights in the coming years, and surveyed unions from across regions shared an eagerness to learn more about how they can better support the LGBTI+ community.

In addition to diving into the research findings of EI’s Quadrennial Report on Gender Equality and Equity, participants discussed and helped shape the next steps to advance EI’s collective work securing and defending LGBTI+ rights.

Fostering LGBTI+ leaders

The panel discussion on LGBTI+ leadership in 2024, moderated by Meredith Peace of the Australian Education Union (AEU), featured LGBTI+ leaders from EI regions discussing building LGBTI+ inclusive unions and classrooms and navigating their identity in the union world. It also offered ideas to other future LGBTI+ leaders on how we can build strong and welcoming unions ready to advocate for the rights of LGBTI+ people.

Mamoholoane Folene (Hully), general secretary of the Lesotho Teachers’ Trade Union (LTTU) said that “in Lesotho, it is hard to explain who I am every day, so I say: Call me what you see."

The fight for LGBTI+ rights goes on, Folene explained: “When a teacher was harassed at school for his sexuality and released from duty by the school board, the union intervened, and he was reinstated. The ministry of education remains silent about LGBTI+ people. So we ask the ministry: Do you support us or not?”

The trade unionist concluded that “LGBTI+ should be fearless and not be afraid to defend their rights. They have a right to elect and have the right to be elected in their unions.”

For Alex Hanke, leadership team member of the German union Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW) Federal Women's Committee, Federal Queer Committee member, “35 years ago, the situation for LGBTI+ people was very different and LGBTI+ issues are more and more present in the general public. In school, I am accepted both by students and teachers. There is a need and demand for training in this area has increased. Union events on LGBTI+ issues are always booked out very quickly. These events used to be mainly attended by LGBTI+ teachers and students, but now it is not so much the case. Students are interested and for them inclusion of LGBTI+ students is a crucial matter.”

“However, interest does not necessarily mean acceptance. Because of an anti-rights movement, rainbow flags were destroyed in schools. We need people to publicly stand for LGBTI+ rights and unions to give these people a voice,” she stressed.

Building alliances for LGBTI+ rights

During the second panel discussion, “Advancing together: The union’s impact on progressing LGBTI+ rights,” participants shared recent successes from their trade union in the fight for LGBTI+ rights. They provided an overview of the strategy, shared key lessons learned including challenges faced and how to overcome them, and what they believe were the enabling factors that led to the win.

This discussion’s moderator, Youri Blanchet, president of the Fédération de l’enseignement collégial-Centrale des syndicats du Québec (FEC-CSQ), underlined that “in Quebec, Canada, a round table against homophobia and transphobia in education networks was set up in 2006. It is a cohesion and consultation body. Ministers, employer organizations, community groups, parent groups, student associations and union groups were brought together around the same table to improve access to the education system for LGBTI+ students, teachers and education support staff. Since 2017, we have seen the effects of this tool: guides developed within this body have served as a reference for the guide officially distributed by the Ministry of Education. As a union, we have gained credibility.”

For Cecilia Vercellino of the Federación Nacional de Profesores de Enseñanza Secundaria (FeNaPES), Uruguay, her union was a pioneer and has been steadily working to advance rights. “We had positive results, social conquests for LGBTI+ rights after years of a progressive government. As a union, FeNaPES works in a broader coalition of unions, and considers social and feminist movements as key allies. We want to impregnate this diversity concept in our laws, make it a crosscutting theme.”

Acknowledging that her education union is feminized, she said that “women issues should not be encapsulated in women networks but be tackled by the entire union movement. For instance, we have trans women in the union, and we incorporate their issues in our policy platform.”

Closing the Caucus, Greta Pena, founding member of the civil association “100% Diversity and Rights”, stressed the need to build alliances and agendas to strengthen the rights of the LGBTI+ community, calling on delegates to adopt a diversity perspective: “A perspective is a position to observe the world and relate to others. By positioning ourselves from there, we focus on a dimension that proposes to identify and recognise in a specific and transversal way the needs, interests, violence, inequalities and structural and historical discrimination that LGBTI+ people go through.”

She concluded by reminding that “advances in the rights of LGBTI+ people have benefited society in general and improved democracy. However, these improvements have provoked anti-rights reactions, reflected in setbacks and hate speech that criticizes public education, unions, feminism and sexual diversity.”

A key discussion point for the Caucus was the impact of the global anti-rights/anti-gender movement on the LGBTI+ community. A right-wing movement, aiming to undermine national and international laws and norms that protect and promote LGBTI+ rights, is driven by coalitions of actors: politicians, governments, religious bodies, civil society organisations and others, often with substantial international financial support.

This is also a key priority for the breakout session “Mobilising for rights and gender equality in the face of far-right nationalism and authoritarianism held during the World Congress.