This is a space for conversation leaders and guests to pose questions propose ideas, share successes, tactics, tools and resources with one another that have not been addressed in other threads.
On really interesting one is a campaign in Moldova that framed their action as "resistance from fear". A very clever way to make the case that homophobia stems from fear, and that the really brave people are the ones who can overcome this:
Thank you Joel for your insightfull posts. We usually use reframing in individual and family therapy. However, I had never thought of what a strong tool it can be in addressing the irrationality of the phobias against LGBTQI.
Your specific guildlines under the first topic were also very helpful.
Another great story comes from Macedonia, where a group of Lesbians was really fed up of being totally invisible in society, and came up with this great idea to hang banners on the main motorways with signs saying "Lesbians wish you a safe journey". We talked to organisers and published the interview here.
A good rule of thumb is that a rather effective strategy is to promote LGBTQI rights and change societal attitudes towards the community for the better by the parents of LGBTQI people advocating interests of their offsprings(through a diverse variety of means and actions ). This strategy, which seems to be rather effective in democratic, transitional, and authoritarian states, was first undertaken by LGBTQI advocates in Western societies and was further and successfully adopted or attempted to be used by advocators in such countries as Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Russian, among others.
It is not only society’s attitude which is positively changed by the trustworthy voices of parents of LGBTQI people, but the LGBTQI community itself that gains significant empowerment and enrichment. Though I would not identify all parents of LGBTQI people as the community's potential allies, they have the potential to be more than that, but significant efforts are required for parents to begin the active and vocal defence and advocacy of the rights of their children.
I know this sounds shamelessly auto-promotional :)) but I'd like to refer to a blog that specifically deals with LGBT activisms: http://sogicampaigns.org/blog/
For those who are interested in this topic, or just in creative campaigning in general, it provides regular information on latest trends, cool actions, etc.
One recent initiative featured, which i really love, is the action taken by a bookstore on Women's Day who turned around all the male-authored books, which resulted in a white-out of the shelves, which really showed the predominance of male voices, but also showed the remarkable colors that women contributed.
As the founder of British Asian LGBTI - a support group for South Asian LGBTI individuals, I would like to mention the work we do online as a practical example of LGBTI activism on social media. Please see our Twitter @BritishAsianLGB , website http://britishasianlgbti.org and Facebook Page. We have been working very hard to defend global LGBTI rights, specializing in intersectionality of race and sexuality issues. This group does important work on queer visibility and aims to reduce homophobia, inequality, discrimination, and isolation, improving understanding of South Asian LGBTI mental health issues as well as promote acceptance. Recently we have been increasingly been focusing on global LGBTI rights issues including repealing Section 377 in India and Asia. Through social media, we have had tremendous solidarity over the years from LGBTI individuals, groups and allies as a colloborative project on Twitter. Furthermore, our sister group Finding A Voice- Birmingham Asians LGBT meets every month in Birmingham LGBT centre and was founded by fellow activist Khakan Qureshi to provide support to the community in person. This year, we have teamed up with numerous other South Asian LGBTI groups in UK and Ireland to form an umbrella group known as "Gaysians," to take part in Pride in London and Birmingham Pride and has mobilised activists in solidarity.
Sexuality and Social Justice toolkit & Faith toolkit
A very interesting resourse is the Sexuality and Social Justice toolkit developed by the Sexuality, Poverty and Law programme at Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex university:
"A user-friendly resource to assist activists, civil society organisations, researchers and others in understanding some of the most pressing issues relating to sexuality, gender identity and social justice. ....you will find specially-commissioned content including: up-to-date case studies; practical tools; summaries of current debates; explanations of legal terms; and, options for mobilising."
"The Gender, Sexuality and Faith toolkit has been developed with individuals, communities and leaders practising faith. It is a user-friendly, free and interactive resource that seeks to support faith communities and leaders working to promote social justice in relation to gender and sexuality."
There are lots of practical case studies up at http://sogicampaigns.org
On really interesting one is a campaign in Moldova that framed their action as "resistance from fear". A very clever way to make the case that homophobia stems from fear, and that the really brave people are the ones who can overcome this:
Thank you Joel for your insightfull posts. We usually use reframing in individual and family therapy. However, I had never thought of what a strong tool it can be in addressing the irrationality of the phobias against LGBTQI.
Your specific guildlines under the first topic were also very helpful.
Another great story comes from Macedonia, where a group of Lesbians was really fed up of being totally invisible in society, and came up with this great idea to hang banners on the main motorways with signs saying "Lesbians wish you a safe journey". We talked to organisers and published the interview here.
A good rule of thumb is that a rather effective strategy is to promote LGBTQI rights and change societal attitudes towards the community for the better by the parents of LGBTQI people advocating interests of their offsprings(through a diverse variety of means and actions ). This strategy, which seems to be rather effective in democratic, transitional, and authoritarian states, was first undertaken by LGBTQI advocates in Western societies and was further and successfully adopted or attempted to be used by advocators in such countries as Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Russian, among others.
It is not only society’s attitude which is positively changed by the trustworthy voices of parents of LGBTQI people, but the LGBTQI community itself that gains significant empowerment and enrichment. Though I would not identify all parents of LGBTQI people as the community's potential allies, they have the potential to be more than that, but significant efforts are required for parents to begin the active and vocal defence and advocacy of the rights of their children.
I know this sounds shamelessly auto-promotional :)) but I'd like to refer to a blog that specifically deals with LGBT activisms: http://sogicampaigns.org/blog/
For those who are interested in this topic, or just in creative campaigning in general, it provides regular information on latest trends, cool actions, etc.
One recent initiative featured, which i really love, is the action taken by a bookstore on Women's Day who turned around all the male-authored books, which resulted in a white-out of the shelves, which really showed the predominance of male voices, but also showed the remarkable colors that women contributed.
As the founder of British Asian LGBTI - a support group for South Asian LGBTI individuals, I would like to mention the work we do online as a practical example of LGBTI activism on social media. Please see our Twitter @BritishAsianLGB , website http://britishasianlgbti.org and Facebook Page. We have been working very hard to defend global LGBTI rights, specializing in intersectionality of race and sexuality issues. This group does important work on queer visibility and aims to reduce homophobia, inequality, discrimination, and isolation, improving understanding of South Asian LGBTI mental health issues as well as promote acceptance. Recently we have been increasingly been focusing on global LGBTI rights issues including repealing Section 377 in India and Asia. Through social media, we have had tremendous solidarity over the years from LGBTI individuals, groups and allies as a colloborative project on Twitter. Furthermore, our sister group Finding A Voice- Birmingham Asians LGBT meets every month in Birmingham LGBT centre and was founded by fellow activist Khakan Qureshi to provide support to the community in person. This year, we have teamed up with numerous other South Asian LGBTI groups in UK and Ireland to form an umbrella group known as "Gaysians," to take part in Pride in London and Birmingham Pride and has mobilised activists in solidarity.
A very interesting resourse is the Sexuality and Social Justice toolkit developed by the Sexuality, Poverty and Law programme at Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex university:
"A user-friendly resource to assist activists, civil society organisations, researchers and others in understanding some of the most pressing issues relating to sexuality, gender identity and social justice. ....you will find specially-commissioned content including: up-to-date case studies; practical tools; summaries of current debates; explanations of legal terms; and, options for mobilising."
http://spl.ids.ac.uk/sexuality-and-social-justice-toolkit
"The Gender, Sexuality and Faith toolkit has been developed with individuals, communities and leaders practising faith. It is a user-friendly, free and interactive resource that seeks to support faith communities and leaders working to promote social justice in relation to gender and sexuality."
http://spl.ids.ac.uk/sexuality-gender-faith