Today is IDAHOBIT, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. The theme in 2023 is ‘together always: united in diversity’.
The day comes a week after the UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity finished a UK visit. He concluded that he was ‘deeply concerned about increased bias-motivated incidents of harassment, threats, and violence against LGBT people, including a rampant surge in hate crimes in the UK’.
With events in Uganda, Ghana and much of the African continent in mind, a dismal assessment is that what unites LGBTI people worldwide today is continuing violence and discrimination. In many places the environment is worsening rather than improving.
We recognise these contexts and the issues of closing civic space and broader attacks on human rights that sit around them.
At the Baring Foundation, we are the partners of fabulous LGBTI foundations and civil society across Africa. We get to work alongside many inspiring LBQ and trans people with our specific focus on LGBTQ civil society. At heart, this programme has been designed around our core aims of protecting human rights and promoting inclusion. It also represents our confidence in the power of civil society to tackle discrimination and disadvantage.
At a bleak time for LGBTI communities, I continue to draw strength from the examples of our grantholders and the sophisticated strategies they adopt to achieve change. Whilst I struggle to find much to celebrate in the external context, I can rejoice at the resilience of these organisations.
A recent highlight was the opportunity to learn more about the sophisticated legal action taking place throughout the region to protect LGBTI rights. In Kenya, Eswatini, Namibia and many other countries, sophisticated litigation and legislative strategies are in place to challenge discriminatory law and practice.
It has also been a privilege to see the range of artistic activities the Foundation has supported over many years. As tools for advocacy and community support, the arts are truly celebrated through these programmes.
Today, our solidarity with LGBTI communities is expressed first and foremost through our ongoing funding. We will also continue our work to bring new resources to the field from funders of all kinds.
In the IDAHOBIT spirit, we will also amplify the voices of our grantholders and partners – to share their achievements alongside the many challenges in the news.
Over the coming months, we will be publishing new blogs on legal action by LGBTI communities and the role of the arts. We will also be reflecting on strategies to support the mental health of activists and the communities they serve.
David Sampson is the Deputy Director of the Baring Foundation and manager of our International Development programme.
