activism

Sadr dedicates her Award to imprisoned women’s rights activist Shiva Nazar Ahari

Your Excellency Mrs. Clinton, Respected Members of the Jury, Ladies and Gentlemen, (cont...)

THE INTERNATIONAL GIRL GANG UNDERGROUND compilation zine aims to document and dissect how Riot Grrrl's legacy has manifested twenty years later, as well as provide guidance for those who want to transform "revolution girl style now!" into "REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE FOREVER!"

If Riot Grrrl doesn't resonate with you or your cause, that's okay! We also want to know about all the do-it-yourself, grassroots music movements currently being run by women/girls/trans/genderqueer/queer folks today.

We want your submissions!  Talking points include, but are not limited to:

• ESSAYS ON...
  • What would a modern-day "Riot Grrrl manifesta" look like?
  • The successes and failures of Riot Grrrl and what we've learned from them
  • Your experience as an immigrant grrrl, genderf**king boy, revolutionary pornographer, Muslimah punk, working class queer, etc
• REPORTS ON...
  • What was your experience as a Riot Grrrl in the '90s?
  • What's going on in your community that supports feminist & queer DIY musicians today?
  • Scene reports from regional DIY music scenes that traditionally are lady- and queer-friendly (London, Berlin, NYC, or your town)
  • Individuals who are making a difference--musicians, activists, writers, whomever!
  • "Where are they now?" (Riot Grrrl edition)
• HOW-TO...
  • "Get off the Internet and meet in the street"
  • Reclaim feminism for the 4th wave
  • Organize conferences, protests, benefits, etc
  • Combat the "dude-first" mentality of your music scene
  • Use new technologies to organize effectively
  • Start a band/go on tour/create a zine/etc
  • Create spaces for working class, POC, international and rural women and queers
• BAND/ZINE/COLLECTIVE/ACTIVIST GROUP INFO...
  • We're creating a directory for the International Girl Gang Underground--send along info on your project to be included!
• ART...
  • Print, digital, audio, video, whatever--so long as it's in an easily rendered format for a black & white zine or can be included on an accompanying CD-R for distribution, we want it!

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission's Activist Institutes are two-week-long training spaces and are each attended by 20-25 LGBTI activists. IGLHRC has held five international LGBTI activist institutes since 2005.

The theme of each Institute is chosen by activists who have attended the trainings, focusing on particular groups or challenges and considering the needs of a community.

Below, find the Memoirs of the past three Institutes, detailing their programmes and methods. They also share activists' experiences and the information presented at each Institute, so that the Memoirs can be adapted or used by other activists and groups.

IGLHRC will soon make each of these reports available in Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Memoirs of Past Institutes:

Memoir of Training Institute for Trans and Intersex Activists
La Falda, Cordoba, Argentine – 2005
Spanish · English · Portuguese

Memoir of Training Institute for Lesbian and Bisexual Women from Central American and Caribbean

San Jose de Costa Rica – 2007
Spanish · English · Portuguese

Memoir of Training Institute "Strategies to Address Religious Fundamentalisms"

Guarulhos, Sao Paulo – 2008
Spanish · English · Portugese

This video contains images from IGLHRC's 2008 Latin American Advocacy Institute on combating religious fundamentalisms.

• En Espanol
• На русском языке
• Українською мовою

The Disability Rights Fund (DRF) seeks to strengthen the participation of Disabled Persons’ Organizations (DPOs) in the advancement of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) at country level in the Global South and Eastern Europe/former Soviet Union.
The 2010 “Moving Rights Forward” grant cycle will consist of two grantmaking rounds:

1. The first grantmaking round (described below) is directed at DPOs in Indonesia, Mexico, Ukraine and eligible states and cities in India (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and the National Capital Territory of Delhi). The deadline for Small Grants applications for this round is Monday, 29 March 2010 at 24:00 (midnight) your time. The deadline for National Coalition Grants applications for this round is Monday, 12 April 2010 at 24:00 (midnight) your time.
2. The RFP for the second grantmaking round will be publicized in July 2010.

FIRST ROUND
Applicants can apply as:
a) single organizations or partnerships for Small Grants; and/or
b) national DPO-led coalitions for National Coalition Grants.

Single organizations or partnerships can apply for 12-month grants ranging from USD 5,000 to 20,000 to:

Increase DPO skill in addressing the CRPD by
(a) building more inclusive organizations or partnerships; and/or
(b) internal capacity building; and

Do rights-based advocacy and monitoring through:
(a) increasing DPO participation in decision-making processes regarding the CRPD at state or local levels; and/or
(b) directly addressing implementation of CRPD Articles.

Download the details of the DRF Small Grants Request for Proposals (RFP) and the Grant Application Form here.
(MS Word Format)

Written by Q4EJ

HISTORIC VICTORY:  WELFARE PROCEDURE APPROVED TO ADDRESS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TRANS AND GENDER NON CONFORMING PEOPLE, BRINGING NYC CLOSER TO BEING INCLUSIVE FOR ALL NEW YORKERS.

NEW YORK CITY HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION (HRA) APPROVES PROCEDURE FOR SERVING TRANS AND GENDER NON CONFORMING CLIENTS

(New York City, February 5, 2010) – TransJustice of the Audre Lorde Project, Housing Works, Queers for Economic Justice, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project will announce a victory for their Welfare Justice Campaign at a press conference on February 10, 2010 at 10AM at the Housing Works Bookstore, 126 Crosby Street (between Prince St. and East Houston), Manhattan, NY. On December 23, 2009 — after five years of organizing by Trans and Gender Non Conforming communities — the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) passed a procedure to stop rampant transphobic discrimination and harassment in New York City’s welfare system.  Speakers include Jane Corbett, Executive Deputy Commissioner of HRA and members of the Welfare Justice Campaign.

Transgender and Gender Non Conforming people face extreme, abusive, unjust discrimination when trying to access government benefits in New York City. Some transgender people are denied the ability to even apply for benefits and told to come back when they “dress more like a girl, or boy.” Since 2005, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) communities in New York City have been fighting back by urging HRA to address the widespread Transphobia, discrimination, and harassment that Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people in New York City face when accessing public assistance.  In 2005 HRA and a Citizen Advisory Transgender Sub Committee developed Best Practice Protocols for Serving Trans and Gender Non Conforming Clients (the new procedure is based on this document). Unfortunately, these protocols sat on the shelf for years and were never implemented nor adopted by HRA.

February 2, 2010 (Ottawa) Canada is ignoring the basic human rights of the poorest and most vulnerable Canadian women, says the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) in a new report issued today.  No Action: No Progress assesses Canada’s response to priority recommendations that were made by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women after its review of Canada in 2008.  At that time, the Committee identified two areas in which human rights violations were so pressing that they required immediate action:

• persistent failure to provide adequate social assistance to women and girls living in poverty;
• endemic violence against Aboriginal women and girls.

“Canada is the home of serious violations of the human rights of Aboriginal women and girls,” said Sharon McIvor. “The disappearances and murders of 520 Aboriginal women and girls have now been documented by the Native Women’s Association of Canada.  About half of these disappearances and murders have occurred since 2000.  But the Government of Canada has not taken effective steps to address the failures of both police and governments to protect Aboriginal women and girls from violence and to investigate that violence promptly and effectively when it occurs.  The many calls from the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Amnesty International, the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action, and many other non-governmental organizations, for a national investigation or inquiry to correct the systemic failures in law enforcement, and a national action plan to deal with the shockingly poor social and economic conditions of Aboriginal women and girls have fallen on deaf ears.  The Government of Canada says that it is talking – there are two intergovernmental working groups.  But, so far, there is no action.”

The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network and the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women! (SKSW Campaign) join their allies in Indonesia in continuing to call for the repeal of a law (or 'qanun') passed by the Aceh Legislative Council (DPRD) on Monday 14 September 2009, that expands the range of violent punishments for alleged moral and sexual transgressions, including stoning to death for “adultery” and 100 lashes for homosexuality.

Such cruel punishments can never be justified in the name of ‘religion’, ‘culture’ or ‘tradition’. For the first time, stoning to death would be codified in the Indonesian legal system and Islamic jurisdiction would be expanded into criminal law. We welcome the news that the Governor of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam has expressly stated that he would not sign the Qanun Jinayah, and that he has returned it to the Aceh legislature. The governor is also reported to be providing an opportunity for Aceh’s civil society groups to propose an improved set of laws in the place of Qanun Jinayah.

bash back denver is pleased to host the twenty-ten bash back! convergence from may twenty-seventh to thirtieth.

CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS:

We want this year’s convergence to be a smashing success, and to do it we need your help.  Workshops were an integral part of previous convergences and will be this year.

We are seeking workshop proposals for this year’s convergence especially on the following topics:

Anti-Oppression!, Mental Health, Queer Nurturing, Response to Sexual Assault, DIY Sex Toys, DIY Other Sexy Things, Sex Work, Direct Action (including Bloc Tactics, Mobile Disco Sound Systems, Analysis/Theory), Anarchist and Queer Theory/Histories, Prison Abolition, Prisoner Support, Kink, Spirituality, Group Presentations,Queer/Anarchist films and documentaries, and Permaculture/Rural Queer.  

January though April

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center

208 West 13th Street (between 7th and 8th Aves)

New York, New York 10011

Entrance is FREE and open to the public, so feel free to bring anyone and everyone! Contact Brandt Miller with any questions at brandt@beyondthebluesky.com.

Mongolia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have long been misunderstood and rejected in Mongolian society. Ignorance, misunderstanding and intolerance have led to widespread prejudice, discrimination and violence.  Fear of persecution on simply the basis of one’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity has forced many members of the LGBT community to hide their true selves, thereby becoming an invisible presence in a hostile world.  However underground the community may be, it is nonetheless a vibrant one, full of hope, passion, dreams, and a burning desire to one day gain acceptance and recognition.  They are your friends, your colleagues, your brothers and sisters, sons and daughters.  They share the same goals, the same loves, the same triumphs, the same heartaches.

This exhibition gives visibility to this largely hidden group within our society, to allow them to articulate their life struggles through the medium of art. It is the first time in this country’s history that such an exhibition has been held, and it would not have been possible without the collaboration of the local LGBT community, contributions from national and international artists, and support from countless individuals committed to social change.