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For Immediate Release
December, 08 2010, 01:37pm EDT
Contact:
Wesley
Adams wesley@allout.org; +1 (212)
533-4114
Joseph
Huff-Hannon joseph@allout.org. Skype: joseph_hh
All Out: Building the Global Movement for LGBT Equality
NEW YORK
All Out
(www.allout.org), a new campaigning organization dedicated to
building a movement to accelerate full equality for LGBT people, was
announced today. Against an uptick in homophobia and violence against
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people around the world-
All Out will run creative campaigns to change culture-and policy-so
that LGBT people everywhere can lead lives of dignity and share fully
in community life.
Founded by a core team of experienced
movement makers, and supported by an international advisory board of
renowned civil rights organizers, online and offline campaigners, issue
experts, policy makers and analysts, and human rights activists from
around the world, All Out will begin campaigning in early 2011.
"When a marginalized and scapegoated
group decides to join together and demand the change they want to see
in their nation and in the world, powerful social movements can arise.
That time has come for the diverse and expansive global LGBT community,"
says Julian Bond, former Chair of the NAACP. "All Out is giving each
of us a platform to step up and speak out to make certain that this
change comes sooner, not later."
In 76 countries around the world being
LGBT is a crime. In 10, it is legal grounds for life imprisonment-or
execution. And in many countries where living openly gay is not considered
a crime, assault and murder against LGBT people is on the rise, and
LGBT rights are viewed as "special rights" rather than basic human
rights.
In the face of these tremendous challenges,
All Out presents a new platform for the international movement of LGBT
people to speak in one powerful voice-even when its members speak
different languages. Using the most sophisticated online tools and best
practices for online campaigning, All Out is poised to draw new attention
and energy to key efforts around the world.
All Out goes live with a short video made In collaboration with activists in over
ten cities on five continents-from Buenos Aires to Tokyo, Kathmandu
to Beirut and beyond-that seeks to express both the challenges, and
common aspirations, shared by a broad and diverse LGBT community around
the world. The video was edited and produced in partnership with Found Object Films, and is translated in multiple languages.
"History is already moving in the direction
of greater equality, but it is up to each of us to push that change
faster and farther," says Jeremy Heimans, co-founder of All Out.
"The challenges are substantial but
not insurmountable. Who we love and where we live will not always
be a cause to take away our fundamental rights," says co-founder Andre
Banks.
All Out is launching with the support
of several of major international foundations, among them the Arcus Foundation, the largest supporter of international LGBT
work in the world. The organization will build a team of international,
multilingual campaigners to develop and execute viral campaigns aimed
at growing a large-scale global constituency of millions that can be
regularly engaged to support LGBT issues. In 2011 All Out will kick
off a number of timely global campaigns-including one focused on the
troubling support of U.S. evangelicals for homophobic policies and politicians
in Africa and elsewhere.
"All Out is another encouraging sign
declaring that love will triumph over hatred and religious bigotry,"
says advisor Reverend Kapya Kaoma, a project director with Public Research
Associates, and author of Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives,
African Churches, and Homophobia
(2009). "History has taught us that no oppressive force can hold down
a marginalized people forever."
"The only way for us to be safe is
to end discrimination everywhere," says Angie Umbac, All Out advisory
board member and co-Founder of the Rainbow Rights Project (R-Rights)
in the Philippines. "All Out will connect us so we can help others,
so we can be helped, so that we can grieve together, and celebrate our
successes together."
"As we saw in Uganda, our ability to
take fast collective action globally can save lives," says All Out
advisory board member Richard Socarides, activist, attorney, and former
White House advisor. "That's what All Out is all about."
All Out is a program of the Purpose Foundation,
a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation. All Out is founded by Jeremy
Heimans, founder and CEO of Purpose, and co-founder of Avaaz.org and GetUp.org, and Andre Banks, director of strategy at Purpose,
and former deputy director of ColorofChange.org.
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