The International and Area Studies Honorary Society is hosting “Coming Out Around The World,” tonight’s town hall discussion about LGBT issues around the world. The meeting will feature a panel of experts from across the country.

“The town hall is an exploration of LGBT issues from international perspectives. There is so much going on right now globally in regards to LGBT rights and identity and movements that people in the Global North just aren’t aware of. Sigma Iota Rho [the international studies honorary society] felt this was the right moment to bring this to the St. Louis community because, not only is it an interesting topic, but people need to be aware of what’s going on in the world,” said Sigma Iota Rho president Micah King.

The idea for the event came when King was studying abroad in Cameroon, and witnessed mistreatment of local gays and lesbians firsthand.

“I met a girl from a high school in Dschang who said two of her classmates were a lesbian couple arrested on charges of homosexuality and released two weeks later on the condition that within two years of being released they had to become pregnant to prove their heterosexuality. That was my introduction to homosexuality in the developing world and the persecution that people there have to live with every day,” said King.

The panel of experts includes Julie Dorf, founding executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission; Winifred Poster, visiting professor in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; John Scagliotti, Emmy Award-winning director of “Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World” and Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch.

“We’re all going to be coming at this from different perspectives, but for me, I want people to emerge with more of an understanding of some of the challenges that LGBT movements are facing all around the world as they try to face intolerance,” said Long.

“I’m going to be talking about the media and the lack of it on issues. I come as a media person who’s covered the issues of gay and lesbian people for the last 30 years. I see the parallels in this country’s struggles to struggles around the world, and why media itself is a political issue,” said Scagliotti. “People are still being arrested in Cameroon and Africa and all over the world, and in the Middle East, they’re being hung. You can be hung for being gay. The realities are there; it’s just a question of coverage and organizational support. I get information out to the general public about what’s going on. We all have certain roles.”

Sigma Iota Rho screened Scagliotti’s film last Wednesday as a lead-up to today’s event.

“People were very moved by the movie. After it was over, people just sat in their seats and collected themselves. It was depressing at times but also uplifting. I had people come up to me and say to me that it was one of the most moving films they’ve ever seen,” said King.

“[The movie] is about people fighting to survive and make space for themselves to be gay or lesbian. There are some victories and some difficult times. While it can be sad at times, it’s a film full of love and resistance and [resilience],” added Scagliotti.

The event will also feature an early preview of the Yojikarta Principals, a comprehensive statement of LGBT human rights. The final draft will be presented to the U.N. in Geneva later this month.

“One of the things that really needs to be done is establish very clearly that gay, lesbian and transgender rights are part of the fabric of universal human rights. When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted in 1948, no one talked about sexual or gender orientation. We hope to bring together experts in international law to write a set of principals on how international law addresses sexual orientation and gender identity. The principal is simple even if the language is legalistic: LBGT rights are human rights,” said Long.

While those involved in the panel discussion are optimistic about the future, they believe the key is to be aware of the world around them and the atrocities that may be going on without being noticed.

“It’s very easy to be insular and concerned about domestic politics, but we also need to recognize that there’s an international struggle for LGBT rights and for the right to exist and be honest about who you are,” said King. “People are being murdered and imprisoned for their sexual identity. It’s our responsibility as human beings to be informed about what is going on in our world.”

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