Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation

The Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation, known in German as Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung and commonly abbreviated HES, is a Berlin-based human-rights foundation established in June 2007. It was created on the initiative of the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany, now known as LSVD+ – Association Queer Diversity, and operates with organizational support from that organization. The foundation concentrates on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and other queer people, with an emphasis on international advocacy and solidarity with people facing discrimination, criminalization, violence or other forms of persecution. The foundation’s name links two figures from different periods and regions of the global struggle for sexual and gender minorities’ rights. Magnus Hirschfeld, a German physician, sexologist, sexual-reform campaigner and civil-rights activist, is remembered for his pioneering work in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including the establishment of an early homosexual-rights organization in 1897. FannyAnn Eddy, a lesbian human-rights activist from Sierra Leone, represents the contemporary and particularly dangerous work undertaken by queer advocates in many parts of the world. Eddy was murdered in 2004, and her inclusion in the foundation’s name highlights the personal risks faced by human-rights defenders. HES frames LGBTIQ rights as universal human rights rather than as an issue limited to a particular country or region. Its stated purposes include encouraging respect for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, contributing to international human-rights advocacy, actively supporting human-rights defenders, raising public awareness and challenging prejudice. Its work therefore combines advocacy, public education, international networking and support for people and organizations working under difficult conditions. The foundation emerged in the context of growing international engagement by German queer organizations. LSVD+ had received consultative status at the United Nations in 2006, together with two other queer organizations, creating an institutional basis for international human-rights work. HES extended that orientation by connecting German civil-society resources with activists and organizations in other regions. Its founding council included advocates associated with organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, reflecting the foundation’s intended global scope. Rather than operating as a consumer brand, HES is a nonprofit advocacy and human-rights institution. Its principal offerings are informational, educational and solidarity-oriented: it raises awareness of threats to queer activists, supports international human-rights advocacy and promotes public understanding of LGBTIQ equality. The foundation’s continuing identity rests on the combination of historical remembrance, international cooperation and practical support for defenders of queer rights.

The Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation was founded in Berlin in June 2007 through an initiative of the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany, now LSVD+ – Association Queer Diversity. Its creation reflected an effort to give international human-rights work for sexual and gender minorities a dedicated institutional platform. LSVD+ provided organizational support and had obtained consultative status at the United Nations in 2006, helping connect the foundation’s work with broader international advocacy structures. The foundation’s historical concept is expressed through its name. Magnus Hirschfeld was a German physician, sexologist, sexual-reform campaigner and civil-rights activist whose work helped establish an organized foundation for homosexual-rights advocacy in Germany. FannyAnn Eddy was a lesbian human-rights activist from Sierra Leone whose murder in 2004 underscored the dangers faced by queer activists in countries where discrimination, hostility and violence remain acute. By bringing the two names together, the foundation presents the struggle for queer human rights as both historically rooted in Europe and actively continued by defenders on every continent. HES defines its purpose broadly: to promote respect for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; contribute to international human-rights advocacy; provide active support to human-rights defenders; raise awareness; and challenge prejudice. Although its founding materials emphasize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, the foundation’s wider contemporary description encompasses intersex and other queer people as part of an LGBTIQ human-rights framework. The foundation’s founding council brought together activists and organizational leaders from a wide range of countries and regional networks. Those named in the founding material included representatives connected with GenderDoc-M in Moldova, El Closet de Sor Juana in Mexico, Equal Ground in Sri Lanka and Fiji, The Inner Circle in South Africa, queer organizations in the Pacific, Sexual Minorities Uganda, GAYa NUSANTARA in Indonesia, the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees, Instituto Runa in Peru and Brazil’s ABGLT. This composition illustrated HES’s intended role as a transnational platform rather than a Germany-only organization. Its work is best understood as nonprofit advocacy and solidarity activity rather than the sale of products. The foundation seeks to make threats to queer human-rights defenders visible, strengthen international advocacy and contribute to the dismantling of prejudice. Its institutional identity combines German civil-society support, international partnerships and a public-facing human-rights mission. Publicly available reference material does not establish a separate commercial parent, listed status, executive succession history or detailed chronology of individual programs.

• 2007

  Foundation established in Berlin

  [1]Hirschfeld Eddy Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The Hirschfeld Eddy Foundation was established in Berlin in June as the human-rights foundation associated with LSVD.

• 2006

  LSVD receives United Nations consultative status

  [1]Hirschfeld Eddy Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany, the foundation’s initiating organization, was among queer organizations formally granted consultative status at the United Nations.

• 2004

  Death of FannyAnn Eddy

  [1]Hirschfeld Eddy Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  FannyAnn Eddy, the Sierra Leonean lesbian human-rights activist whose name became part of the foundation’s identity, was murdered.

• 1897

  Historical foundation of organized advocacy associated with Magnus Hirschfeld

  [1]Hirschfeld Eddy Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Magnus Hirschfeld established an early homosexual-rights organization in Germany, an event later invoked as part of the historical lineage remembered by the foundation.

A German nonprofit human-rights foundation with an international focus, positioned at the intersection of queer-rights advocacy, activist solidarity, public education and international human-rights work.

Product categories. Human-rights advocacy · International support for LGBTIQ human-rights defenders · Public education and awareness-raising · Anti-discrimination and anti-prejudice initiatives · International civil-society networking

1. 1Hirschfeld Eddy Foundationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung official websitehirschfeld-eddy-stiftung.de