The Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation (Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung) was founded in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in June 2007. It is a foundation focused on

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

(

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) people.

Name origin

The Foundation's name remembers two personalities who are important for the worldwide struggle for the Human Rights of

people: Dr

Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist. Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Com ...

(1868–1935), after the German physician, sexologist, sexual reformer and civil rights activist and FannyAnn Eddy (1974–2004), the prominent lesbian human rights activist from Sierra Leone, who was murdered in 2004.

Background

The initiative came from the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (

LSVD Lesben- und Schwulenverband in Deutschland (LSVD), German for the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany, is the largest non-governmental LGBT rights organisation in Germany. It was founded in 1990 and is part of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bis ...

). LSVD is one of three gay and lesbians organisation which was formally granted consultative status at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

in 2006 and is giving organizational support for the Foundation.

Aims, idea and concept

The purpose of the foundation is "to foster respect for the human rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people, contribute to international human rights advocacy, provide active support to human rights defenders, promote awareness-raising and dismantle

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

s." The combination of the names of the "founding father of the gay rights movement in Germany" and the modern-day "human rights activist" and Martyr from Africa reflects that the struggle for the human rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people began in Europe but is now being waged in every continent of the world. Human rights for LGBT people is a global issue which concerns universal principles. "The work which began in 1897 with Magnus Hirschfeld, who established the world's first homosexual rights organization, is now being carried forward by countless people on every continent – often at great personal risk. The Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation also aims to raise awareness of, and counteract, this threat to human rights advocates through international publicity campaigns. The name of FannyAnn Eddy symbolizes this brave dangerous struggle against oppression which often puts the lives of those involved at risk."

Founding council members

* Boris Balanetkii, Executive Director of Information Center GenderDoc-M, Moldova; *

Gloria Careaga Pérez Gloria Angélica Careaga Pérez (born 1947) is a Mexican social psychologist and feminist. She has taught at the Faculty of Psychology in the National Autonomous University of Mexico since 1979. She is co-founder of Mexican organization El Closet d ...

, El Closet de Sor Juana, Mexico and Latin American board member, (ILGA), Faculty of Psychology in the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

(UNAM); *

Rosanna Flamer-Caldera Rosanna Flamer-Caldera (born March 18, 1956) is a Sri Lankan LGBT rights activist. She lived in the US for over a decade and when she returned to Sri Lanka, she became the female Asian representative to ILGA and later its co-secretary general. She ...

, Executive Director, Equal Ground,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and Co-Secretary General,

ILGA Ilga or ILGA may refer to: * Ilga (river), a river in Russia, tributary of the Lena * International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, or ILGA * Illinois General Assembly, in the United States * Ilga, a Latvian feminine given ...

; * Muhsin Hendricks, The Inner Circle,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, first openly

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

; * Joey Matale, ANZAPI (Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Islands ) board member, ILGA, Tonga Leiti’s Association; * Juliet Victor Mukasa, SMUG (

Sexual Minorities Uganda Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) is an umbrella non-governmental organization based in Kampala, Uganda. In August 2022 SMUG was ordered by the Ugandan government to immediately shut down. Organisation Founders included Victor Mukasa and Sy ...

); *

Dede Oetomo Dede Oetomo (born 1953) is a campaigner for LGBT rights in Indonesia and an expert on gender issues in East Java. He pursued postgraduate studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Whilst there, he founded Lambda Indonesia, a gay support g ...

, Founder and Trustee o
GAYa NUSANTARA

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

; *

Arsham Parsi Arsham Parsi is an Iranian LGBT human rights activist living in exile in Canada. He is the founder and head of the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees, International Railroad for Queer Refugees. Personal life Parsi was born in Shiraz, Iran. As ...

, Executive Director, IRQR

Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees The International Railroad for Queer Refugees, formerly known as the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR), is an advocacy group for LGBT rights in Iran. It was founded and is headed by Executive Director Arsham Parsi. It was set up on behal ...

; * Carlos Perera, Equal Ground Pasifik,

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

; * Belissa Andía Pérez, Instituto Runa,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, Trans Secretariat, ILGA; *

Toni Reis Toni Reis (born in 1964) is the president of the Brazilian LGBT organisation called Grupo Dignidade, the general secretary of the national association of Gays, Lesbians and Transsexuals in Brazil ( Associação Brasileira de Gays, Lésbicas e Tr ...

, President of ABGLT (Associação Brasileira de Gays, Lésbicas e Transgêneros - Brazilian LGBT federation).

References

External links