المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

I was one of the commentators who pointed out that excluding the LGBT+ community from the guidelines undermined the validity of the call for human rights and gender equality. I appreciate that our voices were acknowledged by FAO. At the same time, there were two disturbing aspects to the justification for leaving out true intersectionality: a. that LGBT+ issues were not included in the original TOR and b. that there are no internationally recognized terms. To these responses, I would point out that in many places in the world, the empowerment of cis-gendered, heterosexual women and girls is also contestable. By definition human rights, in particular full intersexual gender inclusion, isn't popular in places and cultures where oppression is the norm (Texas, in the US, for example). My point is, if we wait until the LGBT+ community is acceptable in all member countries, we will be waiting until the end of the world. In our daily work, it is reasonable to frame specific project goals in incremental steps, I do this all the time. However, in voluntary, but aspirational documents like this one, this is the place to articulate what human rights really means: equal rights and fair treatment to even the most unpopular of gender minorities. Being brave right now is very hard and also unavoidably necessary.