ARC International believes that all human beings have the right to celebrate who they are, with freedom, dignity and respect.
Unfortunately, the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons are routinely abused, with little commitment by many States or UN bodies to develop or implement standards to address these recurring human rights violations. Abuses identified by UN Special Procedures include use of the death penalty for homosexuality, attacks on peaceful LGBT equality marches, and transgender people beaten by police, burnt with cigarettes and raped, as well as targeting of human rights defenders and discrimination in accessing economic, social, and cultural rights such as education, health care and housing.
ARC International advances recognition of human rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity at the international level. We promote the articulation of clear international norms, and mobilize international and domestic pressure when governments fail to live up to these standards. We create global networks to ensure that groups and individuals working on these issues do so not in isolation, but as part of an effective, coordinated international movement. We strengthen mechanisms for monitoring, documenting and reporting human rights violations, and create opportunities for leading international and domestic stakeholders to work effectively together to advance clearly-articulated strategic goals.
ARC International is federally-incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in Canada, with a full-time staff presence in Canada and Geneva. We are constituted to receive charitable grants in the United States, and use a community leadership development model, built on the concept of distributed leadership and collaborative research, to realize our goals.