New York, USA / Paris, France - Wednesday 3 December 2014 - In Monaco on 8-9 December, the International Olympics Committee ( IOC ) will vote on changes to the Olympic Charter, which could formalise protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. This move is coming after, earlier this year, a coalition of organisations including Athlete Ally and Human Rights Watch joined with more than 75,000 All Out members to call on the IOC to change the rules to prevent more anti-gay Olympics.
The Olympic Charter already has a principle of non-discrimination, but it does not explicitly apply those protections to lesbian, gay, bi and trans people. The current wording protects against discrimination on grounds of "race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise". But All Out members and Olympians are telling the IOC this week that "otherwise is not good enough" and calling for a change to the charter that makes it clear that lesbian, gay, bi and trans people are protected against discrimination
"We're on the brink of a historic moment for equality in sport," said Andre Banks, Executive Director and co-founder of All Out, a 2 million-member global movement for love and equality. "The unprecedented global outcry during the Sochi Olympics forced the International Olympic Committee to clarify that lesbian, gay, bi and trans people are an integral and protected part of the Olympic movement. Now it's time to change the Olympic Charter to make that reality clear and unalterable for future generations of athletes and fans.
Hudson Taylor, Executive Director and co-founder of Athlete Ally, said: "With this upcoming vote, the IOC has the opportunity to ensure that the spirit of the Olympic Games extends to all people. LGBT athletes and fans have been and will continue to be an active and integral part of the Olympic movement. Now is the time for the IOC to acknowledge their contributions and explicitly protect them from discrimination of any kind."
All Out, in partnership with Athlete Ally, launched the Principle 6 campaign ( www.principle6.org ) last year to highlight the Olympic principle of non-discrimination and give athletes and fans a way to speak out against Russia's anti-gay laws before and during the Games. Principle 6 of the Olympic charter states, "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement." More than 50 Olympians, including a dozen competing in Sochi, joined the campaign.
All Out members also organised protests in more than 50 cities around the world, made the video #LoveAlwaysWins about the anti-gay Olympics go viral with 1.5 million views and presented the largest petition ever received at the IOC, which led to their first public statements confirming that lesbian, gay, bi and trans athletes were protected under Principle 6.
The IOC President, Thomas Bach, has stated his support for the language of "sexual orientation" to be formally written into the Olympic Charter. However, All Out members are now asking the IOC to go one step further and also include protection on grounds of "gender identity", which would protect transgender athletes, spectators and fans too.
The International Paralympic Handbook - the equivalent document to the Olympic Charter for the Paralympics - already specifically protects against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. However language on "gender identity", which would protect transgender people is also missing from the Paralympic Charter.
Click here to see the campaign: go.allout.org/en/a/olympic-charter .
About All Out
In 77 countries, it is a crime to be gay; in 10 it can cost you your life. All Out is mobilizing millions of people and their social networks to build a powerful global movement for love and equality. Our mission is to build a world where no person will have to sacrifice their family or freedom, safety or dignity, because of who they are or who they love.
All Out's work in Russia/Olympics
For key facts about All Out's work fighting against the anti-gay laws in Russia since 2011 and its campaigning work involving the IOC and 2014 Sochi Olympics, visit https://www.allout.org/en/russia-timeline.
Here are some key highlights from this work:
In August 2013, more than 50 All Out members delivered the biggest petition ever received by the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne with 300,000 signatures ( video here: www.youtube.com/watch ) .
A few months later, more than 80,000 All Out members directly emailed IOC President Thomas Bach ( www.allout.org/email-olympics-pres ) leading the IOC to publicly state for the first time ever that discrimination based on sexual orientation is incompatible with the Olympic movement.
In February 2014, more than 40,000 All Out members submitted requests to the IOC to change the rules so that the Games can't be held in countries where laws violate international human rights standards.This led to an announcement by the IOC that future host cities will be legally bound to respect the anti-discrimination principle of the Olympic Charter, Principle 6. The candidate host cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics have already been informed that a clause obliging host cities to abide by Principle 6 will be written into their contracts.
