First ever Global Equality Summit brings together over 200 changemakers in support of LGBT+ rights

The inaugural Global Equality Summit has taken place in Cape Town, with over 200 delegates joining events focused on LGBT+ policy action across a three-day programme (11-13 November 2024).

Civil society champions, government officials, representatives of inclusive businesses and parliamentary staffers joined legislators from across the world, participating in sessions that assessed the state of global LGBT+ rights with an emphasis on agreeing actionable policy goals.

Organised by the Global Equality Caucus with support from partners The Other Foundation, Parliamentarians for Global Action and the Human Dignity Trust, the Summit welcomed 50 legislators from 25 countries, including equality champions from multiple countries where homosexuality is criminalised.

With a core focus on Global South leadership on LGBT+ rights, legislators from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean were given a space to share experiences and gain support from a network of parliamentary peers.

*South African Deputy Minister Steve Letsike addresses the Global Equality Summit plenary*

The Summit plenary day (12 November) amplified some of these legislative champions across panels examining shared challenges in the global LGBT+ rights movement; how legislative reform measures are built and won; and how multiple stakeholders can work together through collaborative platforms to meet global HIV policy targets.

Legislators also heard from eminent voices from the Global South, including Steve Letsike MP, South African Deputy Minister for Women, Youth & Persons with Disabilities; Muleya Mwananyanda, Director Influence & Partnerships at UNAIDS; Graeme Reid, UN Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity; Ymania Brown, Co-Secretary General of ILGA World; and Fox Odoi MP, the only member of parliament in Uganda who voted against the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023.

The plenary followed a day of introductory sessions (11 November) where legislators had direct engagement with civil society experts, at both the ILGA World pre-conference and a special welcome convening at Cape Town City Hall.

Delegates at the pre-conference session were introduced to some of the work the Global Equality Caucus has developed over the past few years, such as establishing partnerships through our regional network in Southern Africa and the new Global Parliamentary Platform on HIV/AIDS, as well as supporting legislators to draft laws that ban conversion practices and tackle hate crimes. The pre-conference also featured major collaborators on this work, including Hon. Ts’epang Ts’ita-Mosena, Deputy Speaker of the Lesotho Parliament; and Jessica Stern, the United States LGBTI Special Envoy.

At City Hall, all legislators attending the Summit were introduced to some of the key challenges across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean as presented by civil society representatives from each region.

Having had numerous opportunities to connect and engage with other stakeholders, legislators ended the Summit with a day of closed-door policy roundtables (13 November) to highlight key issues and develop transnational working groups to take specific goals forward.

After three days of intensive work focused on collaboration to advance LGBT+ inclusion, legislators reaffirmed their commitment to equality by signing the Cape Town Declaration, which secures the legacy of the Summit by providing a foundational document to guide members of the Caucus in their representations going forward.

The Global Equality Caucus would like to thank our event partners The Other Foundation, Parliamentarians for Global Action and the Human Dignity Trust for supporting the delivery of the Global Equality Summit. The Summit would not have been possible without our sponsors Nedbank, ViiV Healthcare, the Global Fund, Google, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the UK Government, and Grindr for Equality.