Immediately before the Platform, Front Line organised a workshop on the specific risks and challenges faced by HRDs who work on LGBTI rights. Some of those who participated in the workshop reported back on its findings when they spoke. Above all, however, they reflected on the experiences they had shared.

The aims of the workshop were:

• to provide a forum to share experiences and learning on what are the specific threats faced by defenders of LGBTI rights and what can be the most effective measures and strategies to confront those threats.
• to draw out the experience and expertise of the participants so that their contributions can be used by Front Line and others to develop further capacity building on this issue.

The issue of security was raised during the second session and participants were invited to consider what security meant to them as individuals. For many the ongoing battle with homophobia is a source of both mental and emotional stress, whilst living under constant pressure affects physical well-being as well as personal relationships. Some participants mentioned that feelings of guilt about taking much needed rest often leads to overworking and thus physical and mental health problems. The issue of donors was also discussed in this session, with participants expressing frustration about the fact that financial support provided for individual projects often fails to take into consideration the time and input required on behalf of defenders to do the actual work. Dissatisfaction was also expressed at the attitude of some donors towards human rights defenders who have suffered from extreme acts of repression/ violence. They are often deemed more attractive by donors encouraging some defenders to base their bids for funding on misfortune. Participants noticed that this can create internal tensions in organisations and among LGBTI groups.

In addition to the need for state protection as well as technical and economic support, the group concurred that there was also a need to gain support of the community through raising awareness of LGBTI issues. This was considered particularly important in societies where LGBTI activities are deemed as western and therefore wrong. The group also highlighted the importance of focusing on personal well-being and establishing a work/life balance. The need to consider personal safety and not just that of the communities the defenders work to protect, was also considered important, as was the need to assess the level of vulnerability and the capacity to respond to certain risks and threats.

They emphasised first of all that LGBTI HRDs are standing up for fundamental rights and values that all HRDs share.

"As a human being and a gay man, and on behalf of lesbians too, we have been warriors for human rights since our birth. we have been fighting for our way of life and our integrity from the beginning of our lives, in our own families. We do this because we do not want our hearts to be broken. We are defenders of human rights and we will be all of our lives." HRD, Honduras

At the same time, LGBTI HRDs suffer many of the specific forms of aggression and harassment that women HRDs suffer, because they too challenge dominant social norms, and are attacked for who they are as well as for what they do. Many of their claims, like those of women's organisations, are not necessarily recognised as human rights work. In addition, homosexuality remains illegal in many countries and LGBTI advocates are therefore particularly vulnerable to prosecution and police harassment. In common with women HRDs, the fact that they campaign for legal rights and focus on sexual identity and sexual rights outs them in extra danger. LGBTI advocates are also targeted by a wide range of actors: they face state harassment, but also hostility from private actors - not least their families and communities - and are vulnerable to attack by media. They face even more extreme stigmatisation and social exclusion than most other groups.

"It is very difficult to talk about the rights of gays and lesbians. But if people write about our work and denounce us, we should remember that this means we are being effective, that the authorities are afraid of us." HRD, Armenia

"We wrk with young people in Ghana, where old people claim all the rights to opinion - especially on matters of sexual identity. Gays and lesbians are often beaten. Those who come to our offices are monitored by plainclothes polices. Last year, when I talked about gay and lesbian rights, the media came after us, which forced us to close our office for a month to calm the situation. My travel documents were stolen from our office vehicle. We were supported by the international gay and lesbian organisations and Front Line, enabling me to finally leave the country. Unfortunately we did not receive support from our colleagues in other human rights organisations. International organisations supported us to some extent, but they were not able to stand up officially on our behalf. We were isolated. Homosexuality is still a crime in Ghana." HRD, Ghana

This isolation is worsened by the fact that those working on LGBTI rights are often shunned or ignored or left unsupported by human rights organisations that work on other issues, even though LGBTI advocates consider they belong to the same movement. This point was raised on several occasions. HRDs working on LGBTI issues appealed to other HRDs to recognise their work, consider them colleagues, and support them in their struggle.

"It is time to unite, put our differences aside - because we have different issues but our cause is the same. Our struggle is for equal treatment and justice for all. Let us therefore unite because, if we do not, we will not succeed." HRD, Jamaica