Global LGBT Civil Rights Policy: Implications of the 2018 Midterm Rainbow Wave

The last two years of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) civil rights policy under the Trump administration have been regressive in light of progress made in recent decades.

While there was a blue wave in the House of Representatives, it was accompanied by a more colorful rainbow wave. The 2018 Midterms marked an unprecendented gain of political representation for the LGBT community. Sexual minorities made history in Congress and in Governors houses, while transgender people made history in state legislatures across the country. This has obvious implications for LGBT civil rights policy in the United States, but what are the implications of this representation for LGBT asylum seekers and governments across the globe? This discussion centers its focus around LGBT asylum seekers, family and LGBT children. 

The McCourt LGBTQ Policy Initiative welcomes Donna Morrison, Sharita Gruberg, Bogdan Globa, and Olena Globa to unpack the implications of the election results.

Refreshments will be provided.

SPEAKER PROFILES

Donna Morrison is an Associate Professor at the McCourt School Public Policy at Georgetown University. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Center for Research in Children in the U.S. (CROCUS), the Department of Psychology, and the Georgetown Law Center. Professor Morrison holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Johns Hopkins University, with family demography as her subfield. Morrison’s research investigates how the interplay of socio-economic circumstances and public policy influences the wellbeing of children and families. Professor Morrison’s published work appears in the American Sociological Review, Demography, Science, Journal of Marriage and Family, among others.

Sharita Gruberg is the associate director of the LGBT Research and Communications Project at American Progress. She comes to American Progress with extensive experience working in immigration advocacy, law, and policy, as well as experience providing direct service to immigration detainees, refugees, and asylum seekers. Prior to joining American Progress, Sharita worked as a program specialist for the Women’s Refugee Commission. In that capacity she lobbied Congress and administrative agencies for increased protections for migrant populations, particularly women, families, and unaccompanied children. She has also worked as a law clerk for the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration, where she provided support to immigration detainees in removal proceedings, including LGBT asylum seekers, and filed complaints on detention conditions with the Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, she completed a fellowship with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, where she wrote and submitted refugee resettlement requests to safe third countries and liaised with congressional offices on refugee resettlement cases.

Bogdan Globa is a Ukrainian LGBT activist, the first openly gay speaker from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada, lobbying an anti-discrimination legislation and a civil partnership bill. He was the Assistant of the Chairman of the Human Rights Committee, Hryhoriy Nemyria, and headed the LGBT organization in Ukraine. In 2016 he entered TOP 30 under 30 of the KyivPost, as one of the Ukrainians who changed the country. Since 2017 he has been living in the United States. In 2018, he was one of the founders and elected President of the first LGBTQ American organization of Ukrainians, Proud Ukraine, New York.

Olena Globa is one of the founders of the movement of parents and relatives who have LGBTQ children, the chairman of the board of the civil organization, Parents Initiative TERGO, in Ukraine. LGBT activist. Olena works on the liberalization of Ukrainian legislation, overcoming stigma and changing the attitude towards LGBT people in Ukrainian society. Currently, Olena promotes educational reforms in the part of anti-bullying policies in secondary schools in Ukraine. Works with parents of LGBT children facilitating their acceptance in the family.