The east
African organizations we cooperate with have plenty of good ideas for various
measures but they lack funds to realize them. Most of them receive no
economical support whatsoever and the work they do is completely based on the
members´ own willingness and/ or possibility to give money. In 2006, we managed
to gather approximately kr 23.500 during the Oslo Pride festival. The gathered
funds have been put to a very good use:
1 Gay
Kenya/ KEGALE´s Lobby project (kr 4200):
One of Gay
Kenya´s central activists, David Kuria, wrote a book he published in 2003 under
his real name and using his own money. The book is called “Understanding
Homosexual People in Kenya. The Cultural, Health, Religious and Legal Issues”,
and is a big contribution in the Kenyan debate on homosexuality. The book
compares in many ways to Øivind Eckhoff´s book “We Who Feel Differently –
Homosexuality And The Society” (published under an alias in 1957). It has been
difficult to distribute Kuria´s book because bookshops refuse to carry it after
complaint from the public.
Gay Kenya
wished to give the book as a gift to influential people in the Kenyan social
debate (politicians, highly profiled people in the media, church leaders etc).
They wished to send a letter, as a supplement to the book that argued for
decriminalization of homosexuality. The intention was also to add yet another
letter form the central debate participants. Queer Solidarity supported the
project by buying 60 copies of the book and providing financial means for
copying, postal costs etc. As a part of the project, Gay Kenya got two letters
that would be sent together with the book: One from the National AIDS Control
Council (NACC) and another from Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. This
is extremely important because it marks the first time ever that so big and
“heavyweight” organizations are willing to support the struggle for gay rights.
2 Film
club in cooperation with MWA (Kr 4000)
Lesbians in
Nairobi lacked social meeting spots and a community. In July 2006, two of the
female members of Galebitra took initiative to start an organization directed
specifically toward the rights of lesbians (MWA – Minority Women In Action),
after a long time marked by frustration over the lacking support and focus on
the rights of lesbians in Galebitra. The organizing process was relatively slow
and we spotted a need for building a sense of community amongst the women so
that the process would progress from being stuck at the starting point. Thanks
to the support from Queer Solidarity, a film club for LBT women was initiated.
The money was used to rent a conference room in a hotel in central Nairobi for
ten weeks and for providing films. It turned out to be a success – today the
film club has a mailing list that contains almost fourty names and it is now
run by MWA and funded by the Dutch HIVOS organization.
3
World´s AIDS Day – Books to the people (about kr 4500)
In October,
Gay And Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) was invited to participate during
the marking of the World´s AIDS Day (WAD) arranged by the National AIDS Control
Council in Nairobi. The participation consisted of providing volunteers to run
the activities during the week prior to the day itself and also participating
in a demonstration parade and putting together an information stand on 1
December. Paraphernalia like t-shirts, a banner and two different pamphlets
were made in order to be used during the event. In addition to this, Queer
Solidarity purchased 300 copies of David Kuria´s book for a reduced price and
these were then given out to the audience.
The
information stand during the WAD turned out to be a big success and it gathered
a lot of attention from the public. The GALCK activists did a great work
informing the general public both on homosexuality and on safe sex. The
materials that got handed out play a crucial part in the long term work to
change the general attitudes.
4 and 5 Debate meeting and support to GALCK´s event during the World Social Forum in Nairobi, 4 January 2007 (Kr 5500)
World
Social Forum is an international gathering of political activists that wish to
influence the global politics. It was founded in 2001 as a counterpart to the
World Financial Forum that took place in Davos at the same time. At the forum,
activists from all over the world, especially from the global East, meet to
discuss social political issues, exchange experiences and lay strategies under
the slogan “A Different World Is Possible”. Early on we eyed a possibility for
this to be an opportunity for the east African LGBT movement to raise attention
around its struggle for equal rights, to connect to other social and political
networks and to be able to find safety in numbers. That was why Queer
Solidarity applied for WSF and suggested to GALCK that we should try doing
something together during the WSF. A committee consisting of activists from
Nairobi was created, in order to compose a gay rights oriented program for the
forum. Queer Solidarity supported these measures financially so they could
register one of the debates and run the organization committee. The
organizations in GALCK have neither employees nor offices so we needed
financial means to cover the costs of telephones, internet, prints, transport
etc.
6 SMUG, expenses during three months
Sexual Minorities Uganda is a coalition of
three gay rights organizations in Uganda. It has existed since 2004 and the
level of activities has especially risen during the last year. Their problem
consisted both of the pervading state- and public persecution and the lack of
financial means to keep the work going. Neither of the Ugandan organization has
offices or staff.
SMUG has
applied for financial support in order to be able to set up offices for Astrea
Lesbian Foundation For Justice, amongst others. There seem to be promising
possibilities for this to happen during 2007. While they are waiting to receive
financial means, SMUG has received funds from Queer Solidarity so that they can
keep their work going as they have done until now. This means that the money is
being used to pay for the telephone cards, internet, transport, renting meeting
spots, prints, copies, etc. SMUG has turned in a detailed plan for what the
money is going to and will also turn in revenues when the funds have been
spent.