For Lesbian Visibility Week, we asked two lesbian activists who partner with the Human Dignity Trust to share what this week means to them.
Lesbian Visibility Week means being seen, heard, and valued, not just in moments, but in systems. It means our lives, our love, and our livelihoods matter. At PETAL (Promoting Empowerment Through Awareness for Lesbian and Bisexual Women), we continue to push for the Equal Opportunities Bill because visibility must translate into protection, opportunity, and justice for all Belizean women.
Charrice Talbert is the President and Simone Hill is the Founder of PETAL, a civil society organisation in Belize working to achieve social, economic and gender justice for all women, especially lesbian/ bisexual women, through advocacy and empowerment.
This year, Lesbian Visibility Week is as important as ever given the surge in the anti-rights movement we are seeing across the world, including in my own country, Sri Lanka. Archaic penal codes and customs force lesbians into heterosexual marriages where they are violated physically and mentally. And, four years after the CEDAW case, Rosanna Flamer-Caldera v Sri Lanka, our successive governments continue to stall on decriminalisation. Women’s rights are in more danger now than ever. We must fight back – not just queer women, but all women – because if one of us hurts, we all hurt!
Rosanna was the complainant in a case brought against Sri Lanka at the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 2022. The Committee ruled that the criminalisation of lesbian and bisexual women violates the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. She is the Executive Director of EQUAL GROUND, a Sri Lankan civil society organisation working towards equality for all sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as human rights for everyone.
