Topic: Gender ideology and Human Rights

PODCAST #417

Good morning welcome to your human rights podcast, the lawyer Leydi Campos transmits from Canada, in the voice of Sara Cruz, remember that the last week of the month and on this day, we have the social service of free legal advice, our podcast today is called: GENDER IDEOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS.

INTERNATIONAL LAW - Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and are entitled to reason and conscience. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and, possessed as they are of reason and conscience, should behave towards one another in a spirit of friendship; Article 19 of the same Universal Declaration of Human Rights speaks of the right to freedom of expression as a right inherent to all persons, and this right has been protected in countless international and regional treaties, every individual has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; This right includes the right to freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of borders.
On this day, in this human rights podcast we are going to see the reason why many countries (although we will not be able to comment on the opinions of all) did not accept the gender ideology as a means to preserve families and each of its members.

International Women's Day and other celebrations

International Women's Day is celebrated every year on March 8. The idea of an International Women's Day originated in the early 20th century from the activities of labor movements in North America and throughout Europe. It is a day that is celebrated in many countries around the world and recognizes the achievements of women regardless of their differences, be it national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political.

The Journal Political Psychology, through Roger Rios comments on gender and its drawbacks in a brief summary in 2018: "Gender ideology" and Human Rights violations.
The purpose of this article is to analyze the concept of "gender ideology" from a legal perspective, identifying the human rights violations caused by this movement. After establishing the state of the art on gender issues and their relationship with human rights (first part), it goes into the verified violations of rights (second part).

As results, it is shown that (a) the "gender ideology" movement is guided by a simplistic understanding of gender; (b) that feminisms and gender studies imply the recognition of rights to all individuals and groups, and, in particular, of rights to women and the population with diversity; and (c) that "gender ideology" violates numerous principles, human and fundamental rights, such as the democratic principle, freedom of expression, freedom of research and teaching, equality as a prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual freedom, human dignity and the right to health.

"Gender ideology, an attack on rights?", article by Dania Ravel.

A few months ago at an event organized by the OPL of Aguascalientes, Carmen Moreno Toscano, then Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission of Women of the OAS, mentioned the importance of women taking over the spaces that are rightfully theirs, with special emphasis on the presence of women in positions of power, given that, she pointed out, that is where women's rights can begin to be materialized. However, for a long time, women were excluded from this area, since they did not even have the freedom to decide about their lives, the only place they were occupied with was the household. Today, these ideas are once again gaining strength through the popularization of the concept of gender ideology, a hidden attack on women's right to equality. Gender equality has been one of the main objectives of the feminist struggle, which over the years has achieved the recognition of women's Human Rights and their greater inclusion in society.

In the same way, groups and collectives have challenged the established order to achieve recognition, not only of their rights, but also of their own existence. So gender ideology is presented as a possible setback to these achievements. Dr. Karina Bárcenas, researcher at the Institute of Social Research of the UNAM, says that the term gender ideology emerged in the nineties as a result of the reaction of various religious and conservative groups to what they called "a feminist invasion" in international organizations. She also warns that the organizations that promote it aim to stop the progress of the feminist movement and sexual diversity, through misinformation, and recognizes four issues towards which the actions of these groups are directed: The legal interruption of pregnancy, equal marriage, homoparental adoption and the right to gender identity.

This movement uses the notion of gender ideology to refer to the theory and actions aimed at denying the "natural differences" that, according to them, exist between men and women, that is, the political, social and economic structures that reproduce and manipulate ideas such as that women are destined only to be mothers and wives, that sex and gender are one and the same and always correspond to each other, or that the only "accepted" sexual preference is straight.

True, the anti-rights actors construct gender ideology as an attack against the nation and traditions, as well as violating the Human Rights of others, they also see it as an attack against the family, marriage and freedom of belief. In general, this ideological movement is based on provoking uncertainty and fear, and often combined with disinformation and sensationalism, since it denies the sciences, especially biology. Gender ideology in Human Rights has had a negative impact on rights related to gender and sexuality, as they claim to care for women and girls when in reality they violate their Human Rights by discriminating against them so that they do not have an opportunity to live a life in accordance with their biological genes.

Many international organizations and countries are increasingly joining in actively rejecting gender ideology, despite all the political and media pressure when someone opposes their feelings or ideas. The idea cannot contradict the proven and affirmed scientific evidence.

In spite of the disinformation that they continuously expose on social networks, trying to appear to be a majority group, when in reality it is a minority, this ideology violates the Human Rights of family members by violating the health and sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls, not to mention men and boys.
The gender ideology, according to international experts in the defense of Human Rights, constantly threatens to legally prosecute those who discriminate against them, when in reality, the contrary and respectful opinions, only show the use of their freedom of expression, those who discriminate, believe they are discriminated against.

If the members of this ideology do not accept themselves biologically then how can they ask for no opinion on their non-acceptance of science. Contradictory, isn't it? Prohibition of gender and comprehensive sex education in Paraguay - considered to be a violation of the human rights of citizens, the prohibition of "gender" in education in Paraguay is a clear example of the actions of groups opposed to this ideology. in October 2017 Paraguay became the first country in the world to prohibit the teaching of gender in schools. this came into effect through a government decree prohibiting the distribution and use of printed or digital materials related to gender ideology in public educational institutions. Other countries have followed
suit. They empowered the family and women.

This effectively stopped all attempts to implement comprehensive sex education, although it was severely criticized in social networks. This country, which showed that gender ideology with its anti-rights campaign, failed to stop conservatives from banning the teaching of gender ideology in schools. They protected the family and its members against any attack on their Human Rights.

Russia, another country that I consider to be in violation of the human rights of its citizens, the "gender ideology" manifested in social networks. press associates known by their acronym AP published in their 07/19/2023 article that the upper house of the Russian parliament in Moscow unanimously approved a bill banning gender affirmation procedures and sent the measure to the president for enactment, the measure extends the momentum of the kremlin to protect what they consider the traditional values of the country; this approved bill prohibits any "Medical intervention aimed at changing the sex of a person, as well as the change of gender in official documents and public records.

El Salvador - The Salvador government intensifies its fight against gender ideology, published in the global equality caucus on March 19, 2024, in El Salvador through the ministry of education withdrew material that could be related to gender ideology, several Latin American countries have taken significant steps in this regard, and regardless of the controversies and debates have banned in their countries this political instrument of gender ideology, to discuss issues of sexual diversity, gender and comprehensive education on sexuality.

Argentina. in this same article the government of Argentina gave notice that in all public administration the use of inclusive language and gender perspective will be prohibited, because this is used as a political business the minister of defense the minister of defense declared: The current obligation of the spanish language according to the norms of the royal spanish academy to eliminate incorrect forms of language, as well as El Salvador consider that parents should be informed and have a say in what their children are going to learn, these countries have been forceful in removing all material that could be related to gender ideology due to the protest of parents to their disagreement with the uninformed information that has been given about sexual guidance to students.

United States - A few days ago the president signed executive orders reversing gender and sex-based initiatives introduced by his former administration and eliminating diversity programs in the federal government. For example, the states department will require passport and visa applicants to accurately reflect their sex on their official documents, as well as federal prisons and immigrant shelters to protect single-sex spaces, said the official. they boldly assert that what they are doing is defining, what is, a U.S. policy by recognizing 2 sexes, male and female, that cannot be changed and that is based on a fundamental and undeniable reality. Likewise, no federal funds will be used in transition processes and will ensure that Americans have the right to freedom of expression and to live with dignity, as it is a violation of human rights to ask people to use preferred pronouns. It is clear that the federal government will no longer provide gender ideology.

Italy - June 12, 2023, CNN; despite the loud, uninformed criticism of how the country is perceived by a minority opposition group, and the fierce attack on the male sex calling them "macho" as they are generally discriminated against in other countries, gender ideology is not advancing in its struggle to promote diverse anti-biological genders in that country, due to the empowerment that has been given to women, protecting more and more their human rights, as well as putting a stop to non-violence and discrimination.

Hungary - The Euronews published in its article of June 22, 2021, a law banning lectures on homosexuality in schools to fight against pedophilia, as well as banning all kinds of content related to these issues. Here we see the worldwide intolerance of these groups of gender ideology, when they oppose the human right of freedom of expression of other countries. Hungary has denied that this law is aimed at them, they have only been clear that the aim of gender issues is to keep them within the family sphere, so they asked the participants of gender ideology not to circulate false news.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia - Amnesty International in its press release of 12/14/2022 stated that more and more governments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are promoting traditional values, in order not to lose cultural and traditional identity, thus empowering women.

JAPAN - in the social networks, Oscar Arroyuelo Suarez published a PDF in which on page 8 he wrote that this country rejected a constitutional challenge to the requirement of sterilization that is contemplated for the recognition of the modification of gender registration of trans people. Japan is the industrialized country where same-sex marriages are not legally recognized.

Finally the world economic forum on November 9, 2017 published an article calling it the enemies of gender in Latin America. And the BB news on 03/30/2023, the redaccion , published what Uganda the parliament just passed a bill to send to jail anyone who identifies as gay, continues saying this article that according to the count made by the organizations that defend the rights of this collective, 62 UN member states currently have laws that condemn homosexuality, to which must be added 2 territories that are not independent: gaza and the Cook Islands, in addition 2 other countries, Egypt and Iraq punish it de facto.
Due to the time pressure we will finally mention that in Latin America there are still countries that oppose gender ideology, the same happens with Africa where according to this article 32 countries still criminalize homosexual relations. Because we ran out of time we cannot mention them one by one.

I end this program by expressing the importance of respecting and being respectful of the human rights of others to live a life with dignity and freedom of expression when speaking on this subject. The objective of this information is for you to know your Human Rights, the international laws and the various world and governmental positions, so that you can freely make an opinion about it. The intention is to strengthen peace and respect within the society where you are and that you do not stay with the national laws, because above them are the international ones.

And what do you think?...

Have a great week, thanks Sara Cruz, and thanks for following us on social networks.

This program was translated by Andrea Calixto Alvarez.

"Radiant Women" is an outreach ministry of "Leydi Campos Canadian Women Foundation. Inc.”