Government begins the 5th State Conference on the Rights of LGBTQIA+ People
Before the national stage, the state event learned about initiatives already implemented in Pará, such as the 'Human Rights in Schools' Project, 'Empodera+', and the new Human Rights Observatory.
With an extensive program, the 5th State Conference on the Rights of LGBTQIA+ People was opened this Friday (27) by the Government of Pará, through the State Secretariat for Racial Equality and Human Rights (Seirdh), in partnership with the State Council for Sexual Diversity (Ceds).
The event continues this Saturday (28), with the reading of the internal regulations, lectures, working group meetings focused on four thematic axes, and the election of delegates for the National Conference in October.
Present at the opening were the head of Seirdh, Edilza Fontes; the National Secretary for the Rights of LGBTQIA+ People, Symmy Larrat; the Vice-Rector of the State University of Pará (Uepa), Ilma Pastana; councilwoman Marinor Brito; the Attorney General of the Public Defender's Office of the State of Pará, Walcircley Alcântara; member of the National LGBTQIA+ Council, Clau Lopes, and the representative of the State Council for Sexual Diversity, Verena Moraes.
Plurality - Edilza Fontes reminded that Seirdh is a recent secretariat, with only two years of existence, but that it already carries out consistent actions and activities to guarantee the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. She also emphasized that society is diverse, so it is essential that conferences are held at the state level for the construction of national public policies that encompass the plurality of these people.
"The Federal Government proposes a National Conference, which will be the result of state conferences, to discuss the formulation of public policies for this sector, which is very important. This is a moment of openness, dialogue, and proposition. We will have a more inclusive and egalitarian society when we realize that the diversity of our population is one of our greatest riches. We must strengthen inclusion and social justice," said Edilza Fontes.
The secretary mentioned actions taken for this segment of society, such as the gender and sexuality literacy course and training for promoting LGBTQIA+ rights for students in the state network, with the "Human Rights in Schools" Project. She also spoke about "Empodera+", a public policy of the Federal Government that selected some states and was implemented by the Secretariat. This is joined by the new Human Rights Observatory, which is already on the Seirdh website and presents the indices of LGBTQIA+ people in the State.
"It is a beginning. We are discussing a lot within the government the importance of budgeting for this population. The importance of welcoming, caring, training, providing opportunities, and building public policies looking at this diversity. Because it is not enough to build public policies if we do not also define a specific look at this diversity," emphasized the head of Seirdh.
Report - The coordinator of Sexual Diversity and Gender of the Secretariat, Gabriela Borja, recalled the effort to hold the event, which seeks to guarantee the rights already conquered and create state and national policies aimed at LGBTQIA+ people. "We have a year's effort for this Conference to occur, having representations from other municipalities not only from the Metropolitan Region. It is two days of much discussion. We intend to leave here with a final report with the positions that our working groups will make. This document will be delivered at the National Conference. The idea is to leave with our national policy. Here, we also want to build our state policy on the rights of LGBTQIA+ people," emphasized the manager.
To continue the program of the first day of the event, the internal regulations of the Conference were approved in a vote held by the registered delegates. In the afternoon, Symmy Larrat delivered the lecture "The challenges for the implementation of public policies in the face of the national and international context."
She highlighted the national context of LGBTQIA+ policies, presenting the work focused on this segment within the National Secretariat, and the partnerships with other spheres and secretariats, such as the Acolher+ Program and Empodera+. The latter covered four Brazilian states, including Pará.
Greater visibility - Symmy Larrat also emphasized the importance of the Conference as a moment to help set the agenda, demand, and charge for more space for the LGBTQIA+ public, in order to guarantee the necessary public policies in these management environments. "The time has come to show the world how much we have matured. That is why we have a National Secretariat. We want to maintain this Secretariat and also have more spaces in all states. It is important to leave here clearly stating what we want, beyond all those proposals we are used to putting on the agenda in all conferences," reiterated the secretary.
Subsequently, the working groups met to discuss four axes: Confronting LGBTQIA+ violence; Dignified work and income generation for the LGBTQIA+ population; Intersectionality and Internationalization Policies, and Institutionalization of the National Policy on the Rights of LGBTQIA+ People.
After the meeting of the GTs, with proposals that encompass the LGBTQIA+ population, the summaries of each of the four axes were presented and selected. This Saturday (28), the proposals will undergo further selection before being forwarded to the National Conference, held in October in Brasília (DF).
Text: Fernanda Graim and Juliana Maia - Ascom/Seirdh
