Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes appeared as a panelist in the “Religious Communities Affirming LGBTIQ People Around the World” event on July 2, 2019 at the 41st Human Rights Council session at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, with the support of Global Affairs Canada.
The Human Rights Council describes the event as “Re-affirming the universality and indivisibility of Human Rights, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (…) (we believe) that religious freedom/freedom of consciousness is a fundamental human right that applies to all people, including LGBTIQ people, and we claim the right to practice our faith in a way that affirms life, both for us and for others.“
Read more about the event on our Events page.
The panel went extremely well and was live-streamed on the Global Interfaith Network Facebook page. You can view the entire session in this video from the Global Interfaith Network:
https://www.facebook.com/globalinterfaithnetwork/videos/614526619032854/
L to R: Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes of Canada, Rev. Nokuthula Dhladhla of South Africa, and Victor Madrigal-Borloz, Special UN Rapporteur on LGBTI Issues
In addition to our very own Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes, panelists also included (in alphabetical order by family name):
Yiulia Dwi Andriyanti (Indonesia)
Rev. Nokuthula Dhladhla (South Africa)
Ankit Gupta (India)
Bochra Bel Haj Hmida (Tunisia)
Father Thomas Ninan (India)
Father Thomas Ninan of India (left), and Victor Madrigal-Borloz, Special UN Rapporteur on LGBTI Issues
Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes also presented to staff at the Permanent Mission of Canada in Geneva on the work being done with RFF. The meeting and presentation were very well received. Some described the experience as “moving”, and “uplifting”.
Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes met with the following people and shared his journey and the work of RFF with them:
Ambassador Stephen de Boer, Chef de Mission and Canada’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organization
Ambassador Rosemary McCarney, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations
Cyndy Nelson, Human Rights Team
Front L to R: Cyndy Nelson, Human Rights Team, Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes.
Back L to R: Ambassador Stephen de Boer, Chef de Mission and Canada’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organization, and Ambassador Rosemary McCarney, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations
“It was so inspiring to be around such wonderful people doing such amazing work in their parts of the world,” said Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes. “They are working for change, dialogue, connection; all the same things we are at RFF. We really found common ground to discuss the issues together, and to share strategies on how we can work together to make things better for people who have been marginalized by religions because of who they are.”