LGBT champions can be great women’s rights advocates, too

Mission statement: To secure equal civil rights for women all over the world.
I’ve seen some articles on the web recently about life in various U.S. states after the battle for same-sex marriage has been won. The question some activists are asking is: What next? Who can we liberate?
Helping the T in LGBT is a natural seque for many activists. Even GLAAD has put much of its focus on winning equal rights for transgender people in the United States, and those rights are starting to be won.
And I am really encouraged to see so many Americans — LGBT organizations and activists, celebrities, Congressional members and many others — speaking out against Brunei’s brutal version of  Shariah law that could see LGBT people AND women being executed and/or whipped and/or imprisoned for things that are not illegal in modern countries.
Indeed, the Sultan of Brunei may have unwittingly kickstarted a movement to liberate the women and LGBT people of his country as well as in other nations with similar laws.
Eventually, in the United States, the LGBT battles will be over. And it will be sooner than later. But it would be disappointing if the amazing LGBT network of advocates and activists in that country dissolved, though one can hardly blame anybody who has fought the good fight and emerged victorious for riding off into the proverbial sunset.
But if you have a mind to do more, I’d like to suggest that those still looking to help others in this world think about the mission statement at the beginning of this post, even if they are still entrenched in the LGBT battles. Yes, Brunei is a good example of the international reach of American LGBT activists, but I have to wonder how many of those organizations — the people in those organizations — would be speaking out if LGBT people were not at risk in Brunei? Would they still rise up to help the women of Brunei if the sultan backs off on his plans to persecute gay people?
The sad reality is milllions of women worldwide are victims of  “violence, repression, isolation, enforced ignorance and discrimination,” to quote a Feminist Ezine article on The Ten Worst Countries for Women. And we really need to ramp up our efforts to help them, to liberate them.
The LGBT network in the United States — and in some other countries — has shown and is still showing how powerful it is. It is moving proverbial mountains. But there are many more mountains that need to be moved.
I urge you to help stop patriarchal regimes from bullying and whipping women into subjection and submission and keeping them in virtual slavery.
Let’s make the liberation of women worldwide as much a priority as we have made the liberation of LGBT people.
Let’s do it.
– Jillian


Source: http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2014/06/12/lgbt-people-as-womens-rights-advocates/