In partnership with the Department of State and the San Diego Diplomacy Council, San Diego Pride will be hosting “Pride World Forum” where LGBTQI leaders from around the world will discuss issues facing our community in their respective countries.
Pride World Forum will be held during Pride weekend at the San Diego History Center located in Balboa Park on July 15 from 11am to 12pm.
2015 Pride World Forum
In the current political climate, human rights and public safety for members of the LGBTQI community have been at the forefront of news, locally and globally. Over the last several years, San Diego Pride’s partnership with the San Diego Diplomacy Council has brought 411 delegates from 127 countries from around the world to meet and discuss LGBT issues.
“For decades San Diego Pride has been at the forefront of building global connections within LGBTQI community, and through these partnerships we are able to make this important work even more accessible to our local community,” said Pride Executive Director, Fernando Z. López. “We hope you will join us at this year’s Pride World Forum where everyone will have the opportunity to not only hear from these international leaders about what the LGBTQI community’s joys and struggles look like in their countries, but to thoughtfully engage in human connection and citizen diplomacy.”
International visitors include LGBTQI leaders from Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Chile, Finland, France, Grenada, Israel, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Turkey, and Vietnam as part of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program: “Resilient Societies: Strengthening Minority Gender Communities.” Our guests will be engaged in a number of local meetings and civic engagement opportunities as part of the program objectives include: examining U.S. and international initiatives to promote and protect the human rights of the LGBTQI community, and exploring equal access to educational, economic and healthcare opportunities for citizens with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations.
“Each year in July, the San Diego Diplomacy Council looks forward to partnering with San Diego Pride to give LGBTQI world leaders and community members a chance to share experiences and inspire each other,” said San Diego Diplomacy Council Executive Director Fabienne Perlov. “The power of these exchanges extends beyond San Diego. The relationships that are created through visits like this one have built a powerful network of activists who work together to promote equality for LGBTQI communities around the world.”
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After the forum, the San Diego History Center is offering tours of their upcoming exhibit titled, LGBTQ+ San Diego: Stories of Struggles and Triumphs. The exhibition showcases the struggles and triumphs of the LGBTQI community encompassing themes of identity, persecution, pioneers leading at the forefront, chosen family, and where the San Diego community is headed in the near future.
Learn more about the History LGBTQ+ SD exhibition here.
San Diego Pride raises funds primarily through festival ticket and beverage sales, and through sponsorships, and exhibitor fees. These funds support San Diego Pride’s community philanthropy which has distributed more than $2.5 million in advancement of its mission to foster pride, equality, and respect for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities locally, nationally, and globally.
