July letter 2026
The Porto Proclamation
Rights, justice and euphoria
One may see these items as sides of the same issue, which I shall not dispute. Nevertheless, we must realize that rights are constructed through time consuming political and bureaucratic processes, mostly initiated by activists’ descriptions of injustice and discrimination. Levels of non-justice/justice/discrimination are experienced by individuals and groups every single day, often in spite of rights. A gap arise between rights and lived reality.
Rights can nevertheless give power to,- or weaponize struggles for justice all over the globe. Hence rights are crucial to justice, to the extent that rights are given power in societies.
The recent Porto Proclamation is a powerful joint venture between organizations that thus far have not joined into such a collective proclamation. The collectivity and the underlying understandings, weaponizes the already existing Sexual Rights, Sexual pleasure and Sexual Justice, that over the years have been elaborated by the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS).
Since justice is experienced by individuals or groups, and since many individuals and groups live in countries or societies that may overlook, dismiss or plainly refuse human rights, and hence also human sexual rights, injustice will be experienced on many levels.
This can be illustrated by Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
I may add that the strict hierarchy was never scientifically proved, nevertheless it serves a philosophical and metaforical purpose in this context.
On the first level injustice is experienced by those who do not have their basic physiological needs like food, water, sleep and shelter satisfied, while people around them have such needs secured. All actions that do change this deepest of all injustices to satifaction, will give rise to euphoria for the people in question.
On the second level injustice will be felt by those who experience unsatisfied sense of security, health and financial stability. On this level we see many individuals and groups whose needs for sexual health and healthcare are not satisfied, while people around them have their needs secured. To render all the same basic security will be a great source of joy for all whose needs are established or restored.
On the third level many individuals like LGBTQIA+, disabled, ethnic, neurodiverse and religious groups are not rendered positive belonging in societies, while others are being welcomed. This is experienced as deeply unjust, and such injustice deprive the victims their sense of worth. To be welcomed is joyful for those thus far left outside.
On level four many people in the same groups as mentioned above, are not met with the same levels of respect, not offered the same status as others around them do. This jeopardizes their self-worth and their access to positive belonging in society.
All this can be summed up as injustices leading to loss of individual potentials, loss of creativity, – simply not becoming what you have the potential to be. Unjust societies move with brakes on. Euphoria rests like a blue sky made invisible by dark clouds.
All individuals, groups and societies are at loss.