We’re sad to see Graeme Reid, Director of the LGBT Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW), leave that position, but equally happy that he will now serve as the United Nations (UN) Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity (SOGI).
We remember it like it was yesterday, in part because like today, as we write this post, persimmons on our trees and in our home were abundant. We were happy several years ago when Graeme Reid, the then Director of the LGBT Project at Human Rights Watch (HRW), was visiting us in our Silicon Valley home, to share our persimmons with him. . As with previous conversations, we were discussing the confluence of LGBTQI human rights, activism, and philanthropy. But that day, as we sat in our family room and offered a bag of persimmons to Graeme to take home to New York City, we talked about how LBQ+ women seemed so underrepresented in research and philanthropy, as well as under-resourced in our activism, the concept of LesbianGlobal was hatched. It didn’t yet have that name, but the outline of our idea, to bring LBQ+ women together to learn, advocate and give to uplift the lives of our LBQ+ sisters around the world started to have a clearer direction and purpose. What we needed was thorough research and data about our global LBQ+ sisters, their human rights situations, needs, and how donor activists could most cost-efficiently meet those needs.
Graeme took copious notes from our conversation and when we said goodbye, we felt very inspired and enriched by Graeme’s commitment, support, and understanding of our goals. Shortly after that, Graeme took the idea back to his colleagues at HRW, where he received widespread enthusiasm and support for conducting the research needed to launch our project.
He and his team wrote up a position description for a (LBQ+ identified woman) researcher who had the necessary experience to do the global study. We were afraid there might not be many qualified candidates. We were so wrong about that! There were almost 300 applicants for the position, which all by itself, was inspiring to us.
When Erin Kilbride was hired by HRW in March of 2022 to do the research needed to launch LesbianGlobal’s work, we were thrilled that the competition for her position had yielded someone with such talent, experience, and connections to do the work. The resulting report: Why We Became Activists (https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/02/14/why-we-became-activists/violence-against-lesbian-bisexual-and-queer-women-and-non) the first of its kind, was published in February 2023 and has received widespread attention – long overdue and much needed—and is making a measurable impact.
And now, due to the persistence of LesbianGlobal and Graeme, there is an LBQ+ women’s project within HRW’s LGBT Rights Division. We are so proud to have partnered with Graeme and HRW to make this a reality.
We will be forever grateful to Graeme for his help in forming and nurturing the seeds of LesbianGlobal. As of November 1, 2023, Graeme Reid has started his new position as the United Nations (UN) Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity (SOGI). We are thrilled that LesbianGlobal will have a close colleague and friend at the UN working on behalf of our LBQ+ sisters around the world. While Graeme did amazing work at HRW during his more than 12 years there, we’d like to think that his support for LesbianGlobal, HRW’s LBQ+ women’s research report, and the formation of an LBQ+ women’s project within HRW’s LGBT Rights Division has a little something to do with this significant and well-deserved recognition of Graeme.
By Naomi Fine & Kathy Levinson
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