The Fund will help support LBTQ women across the world
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGES PROVIDED BY GIVEOUT
GiveOut, the award-winning community foundation working to support the global struggle for LGBTQIA rights, has announced that they will be relaunching their LBTQ Women’s Fund. On Thursday 25 April, GiveOut will be holding an event to celebrate this momentous relaunch as part of Lesbian Visibility Week.
The LBTQ Women’s Fund was established to support organisations working to advance the human rights of lesbian, bisexual, trans, and queer women around the world. It was created to tackle the lack of funding for queer women, with only 8% of total funding for LGBTQIA issues worldwide going to organisations supporting LBTQ women. By renewing this Fund, LBTQ organisations around the world will have more of the resources they need to campaign for lasting change.
One of these organisations is EQUAL GROUND. Founded in 2004 by Sri Lankan LGBTQIA activist Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, EQUAL GROUND is a grassroots organisation that campaigns for equality in Sri Lanka and supports the LGBTQIA community, in particular LBTQ women.
Rosanna spearheaded a strategic litigation case with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which ruled that criminalising same-sex relations between women was a human rights violation. Following this landmark ruling and years of campaigning, the Government of Sri Lanka last year committed to decriminalising same-sex relations.
Talking to GiveOut about the work that still needs to be done in the region, Rosanna said “It will take so much to change the mindsets of the education system, the health system, the social services system, housing, so many things that have to change, because ultimately, it’s not about the law, it’s about people’s perceptions, and there are a lot of homophobic people still in Sri Lanka.”
The LBTQ Women’s Fund will be able to provide organisations such as EQUAL GROUND with financial support to continue the groundbreaking work needed to secure equality for LBTQ communities around the world.
Another trailblazing activist GiveOut has worked with is Njeri Gateru, a human rights lawyer from Kenya. She was one of the founders of the National Gay And Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC), an organisation dedicated to promoting equality and full inclusion of sexual and gender minorities in Kenya.
Following the recent anti-LGBTQIA laws being introduced in Uganda, the work of activists like Njeri is crucial. “We’re now expecting in time the Anti-Homosexuality bill in Kenya, which is named the Family Protection Bill, ” she told GiveOut. “It’s a ripple effect in the way the anti-rights movement and the anti-gender movement is organising… it’s learning from each other, and replacing or duplicating itself in different contexts.”
At a time when the trans community is being attacked from multiple angles across the world, the LBTQ Women’s Fund will provide a much-needed platform for funding trans organisations. One such organisation is The Tonga Leitis Association (TLA), which works to reduce all forms of discrimination against Leitis and LGBTQIA people in Tonga by effectively addressing health, education rights and wellbeing needs.
In Tonga, “sodomy” and “cross-dressing” are illegal and can carry prison sentences of up to 10 years. Joey Joleen Mataele, who co-founded TLA, wants to create a world where everyone can live as their authentic selves. “We want a kingdom and a world that is understanding and accepting of people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expressions. We want our voices to be heard,” Joey told GiveOut.
GiveOut’s LBTQ Women’s Fund provides an opportunity for our community to come together and support organisations to help push forward the charge for LBTQ rights globally.
Find out more: giveout.org/womens-fund
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