MANILA, May 5, 2014: In concert with policy developers and human rights activists from around the world, and with the support of the Institute of Development Studies and Mama Cash Fund for Women, GALANG will present on May 9, 2014 policy audits examining programs and laws intended to alleviate poverty in five target countries: the Philippines, Brazil, China, India, and South Africa. Specifically, the aim of the audits is to quantify the effects of such policies on sexual minorities, in order to establish methods that better address the needs of LGBTs in these communities.

The program is to be attended by a range of influential policy makers and activists, including two Philippine Congress members responsible for coauthoring Anti-Discrimination Bills. The event will kick off with a welcome address by Philippine Congressman Ibarra M. Gutierrez III, Vice Chair of the Committee on Human Rights. Congresswoman Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo is to deliver keynote remarks.

GALANG Founding Director, Anne Lim, will present the Philippine policy audit, with a heavy focus on Quezon City, which Vice Mayor Ma. Josefina G. Belmonte hopes will become the standard-bearer for equality in the Philippines. Once the seat of Philippine government, Quezon City is the largest and most densely populated city in the country, putting it in a uniquely influential position for the advancement of progressive policy.

The event’s policy reports will touch on many facets of poverty alleviation efforts, including urbanization, kinship, education, and disability, promising broadly applicable policy recommendations that will illuminate the way forward for LGBT inclusivity at the local, national, and international levels.

GALANG Philippines is a lesbian-initiated, lesbian-run feminist human rights organization that works with urban poor LBTs who struggle with the multiple oppressions of class, poverty, sex, gender identity/expression, and sexual orientation.