Europe 1 with AFP 08:05, May 04, 2022

Activists and leaders of LGBTQ associations from more than 100 countries gathered in California this week to denounce the increase in acts of "violence and discrimination" against the community.

A crucial gathering, after a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Members of the LGBTQ community around the world are facing an upsurge in hostile acts targeting them, activists and leaders from more than 100 countries who gathered in California this week warned.

The participants in this global gathering, the first of its kind organized since the Covid-19 pandemic, drew attention in particular to the difficulties experienced by young queers.

The LGBTQ community has always suffered "a very high level of violence and discrimination", notes Julia Ehrt, director of the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People (ILGA World).

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But in recent years, there has been a marked resurgence of discourse attacking gender theory that aims to deny LGBTQ people "the human rights they deserve", she says.

In total, more than 600 LGBTQ representatives are attending the global conference organized by ILGA World in Long Beach, near Los Angeles, with a particular focus on youth.

"We fight for queer rights all over the world, but the rights of queer youth have come under particular attack," Martin Karadzhov, who chairs ILGA World's youth committee, told AFP.

"This conference for the first time gives us a space where we can really have these conversations," including about "harmful practices like 'conversion therapy' that are unethical, pseudo-scientific and brutal yet legal in nearly 180 country," he said.

About forty different genders and identities

The return of this conference after two years of pandemic is a breath of fresh air for the participants.

"Many LGBTQI activists work in extreme conditions of oppression, isolation and violence," said Jessica Stern, the US State Department's special envoy for the defense of the rights of the LGBTQI community.

The conference offered on its registration page a choice of about 40 different genders and identities, many from traditional cultures in different countries.

For Martin Karadzhov, it's an opportunity to "debunk the myth that various genders and trans identities did not exist before, that it's something new".