Global Equality Network

Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Rights established the Global Equality Network to help LGBT organizations working in dangerous environments. The Global Equality Network strengthens the capacity of these organizations to advocate and work for LGBT rights and protections in their regions.

The Global Equality Network is working to:

Develop a grassroots global network focused on protection of LGBT populations in danger
Build local capacity in regions where LGBT rights are hampered by political, social, and religious opposition
Establish several anchor institutions to build regional networks and serve as regional resource centers
Provide a forum for learning and capacity development to build LGBT civil society from the ground up.

Our Regional Partners

Heartland Alliance works with several partner organizations in countries where LGBT rights are threatened and where the potential for building a movement is high. These organizations offer the possibility of becoming regional resource centers for new LGBT groups in the surrounding area. Our partners include:

OASIS (Guatemala City, Guatemala)
Helem (Beirut, Lebanon)
Equal Ground (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
The Independent Project (Lagos, Nigeria)

The Iraq Special Protection Initiative

Heartland Alliance is also providing support to Iraqi LGBT, a London-based group of Iraqi refugees running an “underground railroad” network of safe houses for LGBT Iraqis in Baghdad, sheltering them from Islamic extremist death squads, who hunt down, abduct, and often behead gay Iraqis.

Since its founding in November 2005, Iraqi LGBT has documented over 400 separate cases of LGBT Iraqis who have been murdered by death squads.

Iraqi LGBT must secure ongoing resources to keep its safe houses open. Through the Global Equality Network, Heartland Alliance is working to provide both immediate and long-term support to Iraqi LGBT and to protect the rights of gay Iraqis.