The many faces of LGBT inclusion

A year after Fellows met at Schloss Leopoldskron, Austria in 2015, the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum gathered in Chiang Rai, Thailand for its first meeting outside of Europe to both learn from diverse Asian LGBT communities and to contribute to expanding the plurality of global LGBT discussions. As in previous years at the Forum, participants shared stories, joined causes and raised sensibilities. This is crucial at a time when the tides affecting LGBT human rights worldwide are mixed, with continued anti-LGBT violence happening in parallel with remarkable progress in favor of LGBT inclusion at the national and international levels. The opportunity to reflect in a comforting environment is not to be taken lightly. In the often-tough road of LGBT activism, policymaking, creative work and research, the impact of finding new collaborators, confidants and kindred spirits is beyond measurement. The Forum this year brought together 58 Fellows and staff representing 33 countries. They engaged in 20 scheduled activities during 100 hours that produced 60,000 words of minutes. Plenty of valuable material was left out because of space and security aspects, yet it is hoped that this report is insightful, informative, and motivating to the reader. Since its beginnings, Salzburg Global Seminar has encouraged open and candid discussions and supports session participants to speak as individuals and not as representatives of their organizations. A guiding principle for participants that have chosen to become part of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum community is to protect one another. All session attendants ensure the comfort and safety of any participants in need of greater protection, and treat the diffusion of audiovisual, photographic or written media with great care. Under the Chatham House Rule, no direct statement attribution in print, audiovisual or digital form is made without the author’s expressed permission. In line with these principles, some identities have been omitted in the report.