Front Line Defenders, together with the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), will host a live Web Forum with leading LGBT rights defenders from India, Russia, Uganda and Peru on Friday 16 May at 3 PM.

The forum will discuss recent legislative efforts to restrict LGBTI rights in those countries and explore the risks that human rights defenders (HRDs) face in their work to combat homophobia.

Viewers can watch the event live, via the Front Line Defenders Spreecast page and will be able to post questions to the panelists throughout the event.  Following the broadcast, the video link will be available on the Front Line Defenders website.

The panel will feature:

Clare Byarugaba, Coordinator of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law in Kampala, Uganda, and a 2012 recipient of a US Department of State Human Rights Defender Award.

Sonal Giani, Advocacy Manager at the Humsafar Trust in Mumbai, India, who works on the ground dealing with crisis situations facing the LGBT community.

Jorge Alberto Chávez Reyes, President of MHOL, Movimento Homosexual de Lima, Peru, the oldest LGBTI organisation in South America.

Manny de Guerre, Founder of the Side by Side Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival, based in St. Petersburg, Russia, which has come under attack since it started in 2008.

The forum will be moderated by Front Line Defenders Head of Campaigns, Adam Shapiro.

Front Line Defenders provides rapid and practical support for the security and protection of human rights defenders around the world, including grants, trainings in physical and digital security, advocacy and campaigning.  In 2013, Front Line Defenders provided 28 security grants to LGBTI rights defenders, totaling over €63,000.