Stonewall鈥檚 workplace equality guides introduced in Bolivia
Jasmine O鈥機onnor, Stonewall鈥檚 Head of International Campaign, visited La Paz and met representatives of Bolivian LGBT organisations.
Jasmine O'Connor
is the largest LGBT charity in Britain and has worked there for 25 years. The British Embassy in La Paz promoted and funded Stonewall鈥檚 visit as part of its Bilateral Cooperation Programme in Human Rights, working in partnership with Bolivian NGO (CDC).
CDC鈥檚 Programme organised two workshops on 12 and 13 March with LGBT activists from La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Oruro and Sucre. They briefed O鈥機onnor about the problems and challenges of the LGBT population in Bolivia and had the chance to do the same for Government officials and members of the Legislative Assembly who attended the working lunches after the workshops.
Jasmine O鈥機onnor shared with them how Stonewall has worked to change laws and social attitudes in the UK 鈥� from the repeal of anti-gay propaganda laws to the introduction of same-sex marriage.
On Friday 13 March she gave a conference about why LGBT equality is important and how everyone, from school teachers to business leaders, human rights activists to politicians have a role to play in creating it. She made the 鈥榖usiness case鈥� for equality and argued that people perform better when they can be themselves, and that equality ultimately benefits everyone in society.
She also explained how has played a critical role in building equality in Britain and introduced their . The British Embassy funded the translation of five guides into Spanish, and electronic copies were handed out at the conference.