APCOM wants a world where all gay men, other men who have sex with men and people of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics can fully participate in and achieve sustainable development in all aspects of their health, rights and wellbeing.
Formed in 207, APCOM is a Bangkok-based NGO network of over 200 community-based organisations across 38 countries in the Asia Pacific region. The organisation’s primary focus is reducing the impact of HIV on vulnerable communities. And APCOM works to improve human rights and access to healthcare for LGBTI people in partnership with civil society groups, government agencies, diplomatic missions and international organisations like the UN and the Global Fund.
Standing for HIV, Equality and Rights, the HERO Awards is an annual gala event in Bangkok which acknowledges outstanding service to the HIV response in Asia and the Pacific, and to the region’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) communities. The HERO Awards also raises money for the HIV and LGBTI human rights work of APCOM, a leading Asia Pacific HIV and LGBTI community network based in Bangkok.
Taking place on Friday 22 November at the Netherlands Ambassador’s Residence in Bangkok, the HERO Awards is a special fundraising event for the Bangkok-based APCOM Foundation, a leading NGO which works to fight HIV and advance LGBTI health and rights across the Asia Pacific region.
View the video of the HERO Awards event in 2018 which was hosted at the British Ambassador’s Residence, THANK YOU so much for your support last year!
In a small country in Central Asia called Kyrgyzstan, the LGBT+ community is daily plagued with stigmatization and discrimination. They face limited access to social services, abuse from police, illegal detentions, blackmailing, domestic violence, physical attacks, rape and even torture. They lack safe environments where they can meet, socialize, talk or just simply be themselves.
Recent constitutional amendments, passed via a referendum, have strengthened the power of the state at both the cost of democracy and civic society. The state campaign advocating for the amendments was full of anti-LGBT messages, with particular focus on changing the definition of marriage from between two adults to between a man and a woman. A discriminatory bill, which seeks to criminalize the promotion of LGBT+ rights in a similar fashion to Russia, is making its way through parliament.
Safe spaces are vitally important for communities such as ours and that is why NGO Kyrgyz Indigo is raising funds for a “Rainbow House” (watch the video here). This community centre will offer:
a safe haven where excluded, abandoned or terrorized LGBT+ persons can find shelter;
a creative space where LGBT+ people can collaborate and fulfill their potential;
a learning environment where we can empower each other;
a secluded area for LGBT+ people to socialize without fear of being forcefully outed;
a secure base, financially sustainable, for us to continue helping LGBT+
Our desire to establish the Rainbow House comes not just in the face of the challenges mentioned above but also with the aim of making our society more inclusive and diverse, and foster a commitment to human rights and equal opportunities.
Creating and equipping the Rainbow House with all it needs to accommodate LGBT+ people in need and to enable us to continue standing up for their rights is expensive and resource consuming. We estimate the total cost to be around $100,000, of which so far we’ve raised $52,000.
Every dollar donated by you will move us closer to our main goal of creating a space where gay, lesbian, bisexual, intersex and transgender persons, as well as their allies and families, can freely express their sexual orientations and gender identities. It will be a space where diversity, equality, mutual understanding, respect and positive recognition are embraced, something crucial for the spiritual, intellectual and physical development of us all.
By donating to our cause you will be contributing tremendously to LGBT+ activism not only in Kyrgyzstan but also in Central Asia, as whilst the situation is difficult in our country, in the four other countries in Central Asia the situation is worse. For many, Kyrgyzstan is a refuge and the Rainbow House could be invaluable for their safety and wellbeing. You will also be actively playing a part in creating an inclusive country with equal rights for all.
Once the Rainbow House has been established, you are invited to visit our beautiful home, giving you the opportunity to witness a part of the world you might not have explored before. Alternatively, you could become a volunteer for Kyrgyz Indigo, helping promote equal rights in Kyrgyzstan.
This campaign is part of a series of ongoing fundraisers. If we raise just $7,000 more, the Rainbow House will become a reality! We know that Kyrgyz Indigo’s Rainbow House will be key to empowering the LGBT+ community to stand up for their rights and help transform Kyrgyzstan into a country that values diversity, respects human rights and appreciates the rule of law.
LGBTI people are often left out of Caribbean disaster relief responses. In the wake of the first hurricane of the season, many displaced LGBT persons in the Bahamas are urgently in need of safe and friendly temporary housing. The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition, is the largest indigenous charity working in the area of human rights and sexual and reproductive health in the region. CVC has teamed up with the Rustin Fund to get rapid and urgent assistance to our LGBT brothers and sisters in the Bahamas. This is a direct lifeline of support managed by CVC through LGBT groups in the Bahamas ensuring emergency funds reach them quickly. It is made possible solely thanks to your kindness and generosity.
We here at the Rustin Fund operate as an all-volunteer organization so that all of your funding can do directly to LGBTI organizations all over the globe. We do still have a few expenses, however, such as website hosting and credit card processing fees. If you would like to donate to the Rustin Fund’s operations so that we can continue to direct all campaign contributions directly to organizations in low- and middle-income countries, please donate on this page. A donation made on this page may also go to one of our partners at the board’s discretion.
We received sad news on Sunday, December 30, 2018 that our office — affectionately monikered ‘Rainbow House’ — was engulfed in fire late in the evening. The fire which caused severe damage and destruction to the building and its contents.
Though the property did not belong to us, it became our home where we worked and made history having staged most of our first pride events there. As staff and community members stood there that night while the fire blazed our spirits fell. It’s even more a damper on our spirits and significant impediment on our work given Rainbow House was a safe space for the community. It was there we held many activities to build community, educational sessions around laws and policies and human rights, document human rights violations, convene support groups for transgender and non-gender conforming persons and discuss issues such as self stigma and internalized homophobia and transphobia and violence perpetrated against LGBT people. Already, this is hampering our ability to undertake these and related activities at low cost.
While investigations are still ongoing, there is evidence that the severity of the fire means we have lost most of our files, equipment, furniture and other supplies (cumulatively 90% damage). From our calculations of the contents in the building that were destroyed, we estimate we will need about US $50,000 – US $60,000 to recover them and achieve some level of normalcy in our operations.
*The cost of the damage to the building is not known.
We are very grateful to the support that we have received thus far from everyone. We are slowly resuming operations on will continue to fundraise to restore all we lost to effectively operate and under the critical work we must do for the local LGBT community.
Please make a donation to help us restore and continue our operations to ensure protection of the rights of LGBT people in Jamaica.
We are also open to other forms of support. Interested persons and organisations can email us at rebuilding@jflag.org.
*Funds are being raised by Rustin Fund for J-FLAG. All donations received will go directly to J-FLAG in Jamaica to recover what was lost and does not, in anyway, include costs for damage to the building.
Stop AIDS in Liberia (SAIL) was founded 28 September 1998 with the aims and objectives of creating HIV and AIDS awareness targeting Youth, Sex Workers, PLWHIV, SOGI, Home Based Care and Counseling for community members.
VISION:
SAIL envision a non-discriminatory and an AIDS free society where Liberians live healthier and happier lives.
MISSION:
The mission of SAIL is to contribute to the reduction of the spread of HIV and AIDS through the promotion of human rights.
Core values: (The Seven We of SAIL)
We promote diversity
We are Participants Focused
We embrace Integrity
We advocate for Justice
We believe and practice Professionalism
We strive for quality and excellence
We foster Partnerships
Identity: SAIL Color is Red, White and Blue where red stand for Blood representing where HIV lives mostly in body and white stands for Body fluids and the sign for peace! And Blue for living in reality of time and national transformation for human rights development and Protection for all for national commitment and ties.
MOTTO:
SAILING though the Walls of HIV and Human Rights Violations where by promoting, advocating and protecting the Rights of all!
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION:
SAIL operate in 12 counties namely:
Montserrado
Margibi
Grand Bassa
Lofa
Bong
Nimba
Grand Cape
Bomi
Gbarpolu
Grand Gedeh
River Gee
Maryland
BENEFICIARIES, ORGANIZATION & LEADERSHIP:
Beneficiaries of SAIL projects and programs are approximately 1,000 members of the LGBTI and Key Population including PLHIV community. The organization and leadership consists of a Board of Directors who makes policy decisions and establishes the mission and goals. An Executive Director heads the Senior Management Team (SMT) which includes a Program Manager and Finance Officer. Stephen K. McGill is the Executive Director and Professor Stephen M. Jubwe, Sr. serve as the Chairman, Board of Directors
Join us in celebrating 10 years, and support us as we embark on the next 10!
The Last Ten | Since forming ten years ago, alQaws has emerged as the leading grassroots Palestinian LGBTQ led movement supporting individuals, building up communities, and transforming society across divisions—colonial, cultural, social, economic, etc.
Our work began in Jerusalem with a handful of activists seeking space to gather and with a vision for a society that embraces gender and sexual diversity. It has grown to include centralized hubs of work and spaces in 4 cities (and expanding), and programs and projects that reach LGBTQ individuals, youth, and communities, as well teachers, families, mental health professionals, musicians, journalists, civil society organizations, and more.
alQaws Timeline/Major Milestones
Celebrating Ten | Today, alQaws is Palestinian society’s largest and most influential organization working on LGBTQ and broader sexual and gender diversity issues. Our strategies for social change emerge from local LGBTQ needs and experiences, and our programs are locally relevant. We work across four interlinked areas:
The Next Ten | As we move forward into the next decade, we are committed to increasing our outreach to LGBT/queer Palestinian communities in more remote areas (outside the hubs we have established and thrived in), and increasing our visibility across our society to grow an even larger and more impactful movement.
Poster from alQaws’ social media campaign/ July 2017
3 Ways to Show Your Support:
1. Pledge what you can today
2. Sustain Your Support
Celebrate 10 years with a pledge $10 or more per month. Your ongoing support is so important to us that choosing the monthly option at any level means that you receive all the benefits for all levels!
3. Share this campaign with 10 friends
We value our connections to others above all else–friends, family, and social and professional networks drive the success of our work and keep us motivated in the face of hardship. Amplify what you can give and help us grow our network of support by sharing this campaign among your connections. Do you have 10 friends who can give $10? Do you have 10 friends who might together match your support of $500? Think of possibilities within your reach–let’s show the power of the crowd to support a queer Palestinian movement!
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Follow alQaws’ fundraising events in NYC (Sep. 24th – Oct. 5th) via our Facebook Page or be directly in touch with alQaws team for further details and/or for fundraising ideas: info@alqaws.org
Idea & Animation of Campaign Video: Matthew Khoury & Naif Shaqqur
In Under The Rainbow, a Nigerian lesbian narrates her journey of self-discovery. As she takes us through her experiences, we see firsthand what it is to be homosexual in an unforgivingly homophobic society, and the total alienation that can come from being despised, ostracized and ridiculed by the ones you love. This is a story of rejection and loss, but also a powerful story of triumph that comes with love.
This is not just any donation – this is your opportunity to play your role in ensuring that the moral arc of the universe bends towards justice.
Your support will help change hearts towards acceptance of LGBT people in Nigeria. We believe that visual storytelling has the power to create social change. It will help to make sure that the future generations of LGBT Nigerians don’t have to grow up in the same homophobic society that exists today.
We’ve already secured the funding to complete the film. That takes care of the first part of the overall project. The second part of the project is the engagement part – making sure that the people who need to see the film actually see the film.
