NEWSLETTER www.giveout.org @GiveOut_Org
PRIDE 2020 EDITION COVER STORY
COVID-19: How the LGBTQI movement is responding In their recent report, our partner Kaleidoscope Trust found that state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are forcing many LGBTQI communities into increasingly precarious situations and threatening the survival of LGBTQI organisations. And another of our partners, OutRight Action International, found that LGBTQI people are facing the loss of livelihoods, disruption to accessing health care, an elevated risk of domestic and family violence, social isolation and increased anxiety, abuse of state power, and concerns over organisational survival.
For many of us, this pride month is different. With parades and events cancelled or moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are still learning to adapt to a new normal. However, for many LGBTQI people around the world, threats of violence and stigmatisation mean that Pride has always been inside or virtual. Perhaps now more than ever, with the Black Lives Matter movement, many of us are thinking about the history of Pride as a protest and asking how we can better stand in solidarity as a global and diverse community today. As the virus continues to cause devastating loss, everyday life has changed in unprecedented ways. Lockdown, restricted movement and curfews have been imposed across the globe. For LGBTQI people around the world, this has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities, with many struggling to access healthcare and emergency support, being scapegoated, and even facing serious human rights abuses.
In this and other research, concern over the survival of LGBTQI civil society organisations is a common theme, with funding at risk. This is why GiveOut is working to provide emergency funding to LGBTQI human rights groups, alongside our long term support. We quickly established the COVID-19 LGBTQI Global Solidarity Fund, a worldfirst emergency appeal to support LGBTQI organisations in their response to the pandemic, to continue their vital work, adapt their ways of working, and develop new services and approaches to activism. Over Pride, we are asking individuals and businesses to donate to this fund.
LGBTQI movement is resilient, and this is not our first health crisis. We are at a historically critical juncture, one that may potentially offer an opening for new visions of LGBTQI organising. This opportunity and urgent need for change is reflected in recent protests against racism globally. As a community, we owe a great deal to the Civil Rights Movement, and to the activism and leadership of LGBTQI people of colour. We are being challenged to listen, learn, and take action. As a charity working to support the global movement for LGBTQI human rights, we are committed to providing resources not strategies – recognising and working against the power imbalances inherent in our work by prioritising the expertise and needs of our grant partners. This Pride month and always, we stand in solidarity with our community everywhere and movements for social justice around the world.
Donate:
Overleaf, you will find examples of how our grant partners have been responding and adapting: undertaking research to inform advocacy, providing emergency care packages, and developing online responses, helplines and virtual community organising. The impact of the COVID-19 crisis, will have ripple effects for years to come, and our ways of supporting activism and building community will have to change and adapt. But the
>
Turn over to find out more about how our grant partners are responding to this crisis.
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT LGBTQI HUMAN RIGHTS THIS PRIDE SEASON? PLEASE SEE BACK PAGE
Activism at a time of crisis Stories from GiveOut’s partners
Around the world, LGBTQI organisations are adapting to the COVID-19 crisis. GiveOut’s partners are providing crucial support to their communities, including humanitarian relief – distributing emergency care packages, undertaking research into the immediate needs of LGBTQI people, and moving their services online.
IDENTIFYING NEEDS AND CHALLENGES
Kaleidoscope Trust | International
Several of GiveOut’s partners have mobilised to conduct research about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTQI communities and organisations. This information is vital in understanding the needs of LGBTQI people and organisations, ensuring that these are accounted for in government responses to the pandemic.
The Kaleidoscope Trust held a consultation with LGBTQI activists from The Commonwealth Equality Network, covering 37 Commonwealth countries. This highlighted the detrimental impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQI people, with 85% of those interviewed expressing concern about the wellbeing of their service users, and their organisation’s ability to deliver meaningful interventions in the face of the crisis. And 81% were concerned about funding. In light of this, Kaleidoscope Trust has launched a COVID-19 Emergency fund, and is calling on the UK government and funders to:
“For us the situation is dire. I fear how many LGBTIQ people will lose their lives because of the amplified vulnerability we face. We need immediate action from governments, the UN, and the philanthropic sector to prevent an LGBTIQ humanitarian crisis.” Jessica Stern, Executive Director, OutRight Action International
OutRight Action International OutRight released a pioneering report based on 60 interviews with LGBTQI people from 38 countries across all regions of the world. This revealed the overwhelming challenges faced by LGBTQI people as a result of the virus and containment measures, including: 1. Devastation of livelihoods, with LGBTQI organisations experiencing exponential growth in requests for shelter and food, as LGBTQI people lose their jobs and homes. 2. Disruptions in accessing health care, including access to essential HIV medications and hormone treatments. 3. Increasing domestic and family violence worldwide, with many LGBTQI people trapped in abusive situations. 4. Social isolation and increased anxiety as LGBTQI organisations struggle to support their communities while remaining physically distant. 5. Scapegoating, societal discrimination and stigma, with religious leaders deeming the virus as punishment for LGBTQI acceptance, in countries including Iraq, Liberia, and the US. 6. Abuse of state power, including trans people being fined in countries with gender based lockdown measures, such as Panama and Peru. 7. Concerns about organisational survival worldwide as economic activity slows. The organisation also launched a COVID-19 emergency fund, which received over 1500 applications from LGBTQI organisations in a matter of weeks. This powerfully demonstrates the need for funding to ensure the survival of the global movement for LGBTQI human rights during – and beyond – this crisis.
1. Allocate immediate and substantive COVID-19 relief funding that allows grassroots activists and civil society organisations to design and deliver rapid relief programmes. 2. Listen to civil society organisations about their current funding needs, so that any allocated funding can be appropriately redistributed to tackle the immediate COVID-19 crisis. 3. Make additional funding available in 2021-22 so that any longer-term work that was hindered, paused, or stopped because of COVID-19 can continue.
SUPPORTING LGBTQI ORGANISATIONS ILGA Europe | Europe & Central Asia ILGA-Europe is working to support LGBTQI organisations across Europe and Central Asia during this crisis. Informed by an ongoing assessment of the impact of the pandemic, the organisation has produced recommendations to policymakers on the specific needs of LGBTQI people, and a plan to support LGBTQI organisations based around the themes of Protect, Adapt, and Rally: 1. Protect. Support organisations to protect LGBTQI communities through providing resources, advocating for flexible funding, and carrying out monitoring, documentation and advocacy work. 2. Adapt. Provide advice, training, and support as LGBTQI organisations adapt their ways of working and approaches to activism and advocacy. 3. Rally. Explore new ways to campaign effectively online and create opportunities for the movement to come together to learn from each other and mutually support. This includes strengthening intersectional approaches to uplift the most marginalised in our communities. “The human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people must continue to advance, despite this time of unprecedented turbulence for the world.”
ASEAN SOGIE Caucus | Southeast Asia ASEAN SOGIE Caucus undertook a rapid needs assessment involving LGBTQI organisations from across Southeast Asia. It found in particular that organisational capacity and resources are not sufficient, and that this might hamper sustained and effective responses to emerging needs and concerns in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. “At this time, real solidarity towards LGBTQI communities is imperative. The pandemic is causing severe challenges to the survival and wellbeing of our communities across Southeast Asia.” Lini Zurlia, ASEAN SOGIE Caucus
Many civil society organisations have moved to online spaces, but inequalities in access to technology and the internet mean that many LGBTQI people are unable to access their services. There has also been a surge in homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Southeast Asia in digital and physical spaces during the pandemic. Several LGBTQI organisations have also lost project-based funding due to the cancellation of trainings, workshops, and other public campaign activities. GiveOut is supporting ASEAN SOGIE Caucus under our COVID-19 Fund to make small grants to grassroots LGBTQI organsiations across Southeast Asia which will support them as they adapt their services and approaches to activism.
PROTECTING LGBTQI PEOPLE SAATHII | India In India, the lockdown has led to acute economic distress, widespread food insecurity, and an inability to access antiretroviral therapy and hormones. For many trans people, a mismatch between their gender and identity documents have prevented access to emergency government funds. And many LGBTQI people are trapped in households with abusive and violent family members, where cis/straight norms are rigidly enforced, causing significant mental health distress. There have however been positive responses from the central government as well as churches, who have provided grants, emergency rations, cash-transfers and food supplies to trans people. Trans women, cis-lesbians and trans-men have also mobilised to support other minority groups in their communities, such as the elderly and orphans.
SAATHII have been working to identify priorities for the LGBTQI community post-lockdown, and argue that these will have to focus on the needs of working class queer, trans and intersex persons. These priorities are: stigmafree health-care; laws and policies that safeguard LGBTQI rights; inclusive education; inclusion in work and livelihood opportunities; social protection; and support for LGBTQI and gender non-conforming children within biological families, and recognition of alternative family structures.
TransWave | Jamaica In the context of COVID-19, the vulnerabilities of trans people in Jamaica have been further exacerbated. While the Jamaican government has activated a COVID compassionate grant, many trans people do not qualify and are therefore left without access to resources. In their research, TransWave found that 78% of trans respondents had been impacted by the pandemic, with 30% unable to purchase food. In response, the organisation is providing financial support through reactivating its Trans Emergency Fund, with GiveOut’s support under the COVID-19 Fund. In addition, TransWave are providing care packages of essential items and are moving their support groups to virtual sessions online. “Instead of the community coming to us, we are going to the community wherever they are. We have been able to deliver care packages to rural Jamaica. Often times we find for rural spaces the community don’t have the opportunity to come to our events. This has provided an opportunity for us to ensure we are involving rural Jamaicans in our engagement.” Neish McLean, Executive Director, TransWave
Access Chapter 2 | South Africa Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown, Access Chapter 2 has been working tirelessly at the frontlines of the pandemic in South Africa. The organisation has been particularly active in contact tracing and screening for the virus to ensure that LGBTQI communities are not left behind. This has been important as there have been no specific messages for LGBTQI people from the government, and existing messages are currently only in English and not translated into the many languages that exist in South Africa. Additionally, many communities in South Africa do not have access to water or reliable sources of food, limiting their ability to follow health advice. Access Chapter 2 also surveyed 1,200 people to examine knowledge, concerns, and perceptions about COVID-19, and the impact of this on the LGBTQI community. “We were never ready for an
outbreak, it is exposing our government’s failings to address the inequalities that have existed in the past: issues in transformation, employment, access, and povert.” Steve Letsike, Executive Director, Access Chapter 2
Supporting Pride this year
GiveOut has launched the COVID-19 LGBTQI Global Solidarity Fund to support LGBTQI organisations around the world respond to the crisis. This Pride, we are asking our community and businesses to support the Fund.
“With GiveOut’s grant, we are reactivating our Trans Emergency Fund in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing care packages to our trans community in Jamaica.” Stephon Duncan TransWave Jamaica
In the face of COVID-19, Pride events worldwide have been cancelled or moved online. Many LGBTQI people are being badly impacted by the crisis, struggling to access healthcare and emergency support, being scapegoated, and even facing serious human rights abuses. During this crisis, our communities around the world are relying more than ever on the support – and protection – of LGBTQI organisations. And these organisations are relying more than ever on the support of our community globally.
How your business can get involved
1
Sponsor the Fund to mark Pride GiveOut is seeking headline sponsors for the Fund at the level of £5,000+. Over Pride, we are asking businesses to consider donating some of the budgets that would otherwise have been used for in-person events and celebrations. Donations at any level will be helpful.
2
Online Pride events Support the Fund, by holding an online Pride fundraiser with your staff networks. GiveOut can provide support, organise speakers and set up an online fundraising page.
3
Match employee donations Doubling individual donations to the Fund raised through staff fundraising.
How you can get involved
1
Donate to the Fund To make a donation to the Fund visit: https://www. totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/COVID19-LGBTQI-Fund
2
Host an online Pride fundraiser Support the Fund by holding an online Pride fundraiser with your friends, family, and colleagues. You can find ideas and inspiration in our fundraisng guide at giveout.org/fundraising
3
Ask your employer to sponsor the Fund We are asking businesses to make a donation to the Fund, to mark Pride in a meaningful way.
We want to make it as easy as possible for you, your business or employer to get involved. To make a donation, set up a customised fundraising page, and to discuss how your business can contribute to the Fund, please contact us at info@giveout.org.
Celebrating your support this Pride • We will highlight and thank corporate sponsors on our website and social media channels. • We will create special promotional materials for social media to celebrate your contribution. • We would be pleased to arrange speakers and provide bespoke support for online Pride events.
GiveOut is a charity registered in the UK with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Charity Number: 1176434)