IGLHRC joins ABGLT to ask for individually addressed emails or faxes to be sent BETWEEN NOW AND MAY 17th to the following MPs at the Brazilian Federal Congress. Please take one or both of the two possible actions outlined below:

Action # 1

A suggestion of a standard letter in English, written by ABGLT, follows below (please feel free to send similar letters in other languages if English is not your native language).

Contacts:

Party Leaders (Whips)

Deputado Waldemir Moka
Líder/Representante do PMDB

E-mails: lid.pmdb@camara.gov.br
dep.waldemirmoka@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2448

Deputado Henrique Fontana
Líder do PT

E-mails: lid.pt@camara.gov.br
dep.henriquefontana@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2277

Deputado Rodrigo Maia
Líder do PFL

E-mails: lid.pfl@camara.gov.br
dep.rodrigomaia@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2308

Deputado Jutahy Júnior
Líder do PSDB

E-mails: lid.psdb@camara.gov.br
dep.jutahyjunior@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2407

Deputado Mário Montenegro
Líder do PP

E-mails: lid.pp@camara.gov.br
dep.marionegromonte@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2345

Deputado José Múcio Monteiro
Líder do PTB

E-mails: lid.ptb@camara.gov.br
dep.josemuciomonteiro@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2458

Deputado Luciano Castro
Líder do PL

E-mails: lid.pl@camara.gov.br
dep.lucianocastro@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2401

Deputado Paulo Baltazar
Líder do PSB

E-mails: lid.psb@camara.gov.br
dep.paulobaltazar@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2515

Deputado Miro Teixeira
Líder do PDT

E-mails: lid.pdt@camara.gov.br
dep.miroteixeira@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2272

Deputado Fernando Coruja
Líder do PPS

E-mails: lid.pps@camara.gov.br
dep.fernandocoruja@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2245

Deputado Inácio Arruda
Líder do PCdoB

E-mails: lid.pcdob@camara.gov.br
dep.inacioarruda@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2582

Deputado Sarney Filho
Líder do PV

E-mails: lid.pv@camara.gov.br
dep.sarneyfilho@camara.gov.br
Fax: Fax: +55 61 3215 2202

Deputado Ivan Valente
Líder do PSOL

E-mails: lid.psol@camara.gov.br
dep.ivanvalente@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2716

Deputado Aldo Rebelo
Presidente da Câmara dos Deputados

dep.aldorebelo@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215-2371

Deputado José Thomaz Nonô
1º Vice-Presidente da Câmara dos Deputados

dep.josethomaznono@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215-2812

Deputado Ciro Nogueira
2º Vice-Presidente da Câmara dos Deputados

dep.cironogueira@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215-2619

President of the (Lower House) Human Rights Commission

Deputado Luiz Eduardo Greenhalgh
Presidente da Comissão de Direitos Humanos e Minorias

E-mail: dep.luizeduardogreenhalgh@camara.gov.br
Fax:+55 61 3215-2466

Proponent of the Bill (send copies of your e-mails/faxes):

Deputada Iara Bernardi

E-mail: dep.iarabernardi@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2360

Supporter of the Bill (send copies of your e-mails/faxes):

Deputado Luciano Zica

E-mail: dep.lucianozica@camara.gov.br
Fax: + 55 61 3215 2627

Other MPs – opinion makers

Deputado Antonio Carlos Magalhães Neto

E-mail: dep.antoniocarlosmagalhaesneto@camara.gov.br
Fax: +55 61 3215 2939

General Secretary ABGLT (Toni Reis)

E-mail: secgeral@abglt.org.br
Fax: +55 41 3232 9829

Action # 2

In addition, a standard letter in Portuguese can be sent to all 513 MPs, by following the steps below:www.abglt.org.br
Left menu: click on e-campanhas
Go to the bottom of the page, Campanhas Atuais, 01. E-campanha pela aprovação de leis favoráveis a GLBT. click on “participe”.

Fill in the following fields:

Nome (name)
RG (ID document number)
E-mail
Cidade (City/Town)
Estado (State – please add Country, if appropriate)
Organização a qual pertence (organization to which you belong)

The standard letter can be “topped and tailed” as required.

To send the letter, click on Enviar

Background

The original bill was drafted in 2001 and was specific to sexual orientation. As it traveled through the various commissions on its way toward being voted upon, similar anti-discrimination bills were incorporated so that its final wording includes other forms of discrimination as well. This is seen as positive because it makes it more difficult for conservative and religious-based MPs to reject the bill specifically because of its dealing with sexual orientation and gender identity.

In January 2006 the president of the lower house of the Congress, Dep. Aldo Rebelo, received a group of LGBT activists and members of the Parliamentary Front for Free Sexual Expression and committed him to putting the bill on the agenda for voting, as long as the signatures of the majority of party leaders (whips) in support of this request were obtained.

On March 21st and 22nd, the bill’s proponent, Deputada Iara Bernardi (Workers Party – PT) and a small group of activists managed to obtain the signatures of 9 of the principal party leaders. On April 5th, a public act was held in the Congress involving speeches by about 20 MPs and testimonies given by LGBT who have suffered violence and/or discrimination due to their sexual orientation. Following this, a group of 20 activists and MPs was received by the President of the lower house, who agreed to put the bill on the voting agenda between now and May 17th.

International legislation

Antidiscriminatory legislation at the federal level, explicitly mentioning “sexual orientation” exists already in some countries in the region, including Mexico, Uruguay and Peru. In Ecuador such discrimination is forbidden by the Constitution. Around the world, countries like South Africa, Canada and Switzerland also include anti-discriminatory provision explicitly mentioning sexual orientation in their Constitutions, while others like Spain, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, Ireland, Iceland, Lithuania, Slovenia, Finland and Denmark have enacted laws specific to such effect.

The right to be free from discrimination and to equality before the law is protected by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR - Articles 2 and 7), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR -Articles 2 and 26), and the Interamerican Convention on Human Rights IAHRC (Articles 1 and 24).

The United Nations Human Rights Committee affirmed in its decision in Toonen v Australia (1994) that existing protections against discrimination in Articles 2 and 26 of the ICCPR should be understood to include sexual orientation as a protected status. Numerous other human rights mechanisms of the United Nations have subsequently condemned discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The Right to Effective Remedy/Compensation for acts violating the fundamental rights of a person is protected by the UDHR (Article 8) and the IAHRC (Article 10).

Brazil ratified ICCPR on January 24, 1992, and the IACHR on September 25 of the same year. The UDHR is considered part of customary international law, and binding on all member States of the United Nations, like Brazil.