Nelly Jitsuya
For the LGBT South-South Dialogue
Massive and diverse are two adjectives that will be repeated in one way or another in the thousands of press notes that will be issued during this third version of the World Social Forum of Porto Alegre, Brazil. These are the two main attributes to describe the March for Peace that covered the streets of Porto Alegre yesterday, January 23. Around 70 thousand people from around the world met at the sound of drums, songs and dances. The red flags of the Brazilian Workers' Party -PT- joined the flags with stripes, circles, triangles from various nations, the light blue banners for the right to water, the banners for peace written in every language. The rainbow flags of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movements also marked their enthusiastic presence and their commitment as another voice in the struggle for peace and against neoliberal globalization.
The presence of LGBT movements and networks is reflected throughout the program of this III World Social Forum. Thus, in the first morning of activities of the Forum, the LGBT South-South Dialogue carried out the Seminar "Globalization and Social Exclusion: LGBT Alternatives". The Seminar, moderated by Phumi Mtetwa, the present coordinator of the Dialogue (South Africa / Ecuador), included the participation of Celio Golin, coordinator of NUANCES (Brazil); Irene León, from ALAI's Women's Program (Ecuador); and Ana Rivera, from CLADEM (Puerto Rico). The various presentations emphasized the importance of LGBT movements taking an active role and making proposals in the face of the current contexts. As León pointed out, this is "a space to strengthen citizenship and to develop proposals and alternatives in the face of neoliberal globalization". Rivera stressed that "we are struggling for the same rights that the World Social Forum defends": to non-discrimination, to health, !
education, housing, free expression, to form the type of family we wish.
The main issues raised by the participating audience during the three hours of presentations and debates included the issue of education as one of the economic and social rights every person is entitled to and the need for the inclusion of LGBT perspectives and proposals in the discussions on this issue. Another current point of discussion among various social movements, including the LGBT movement, is that of youth and leadership development - Is it a matter of replacement, of continuity, or of inter-generational dialogue and co-existence? Likewise, various interventions emphasized the connection between the heterosexual "norm" and the neoliberal patriarchal paradigm.
This first Seminar made it clear that LGBT movements are not isolated from other social movements, since their various issues are interrelated. There is a need for a greater analysis and discussion on the part of LGBT movements concerning the connection between neoliberal globalization and social exclusion on the basis of sexual orientation in order to develop a broader political project. The LGBT presence in the Forum is an expression of this process.
Thus started this huge citizen exercise to produce concrete proposals that may give voice to the various social movements of the world. As one of the slogans at the March for Peace said: "Let´s globalize our struggles; let's globalize hope".
