This Pride Month, read about our LBTQI+ partners and their inspiring stories
Hi John,
Happy Pride month!
June marks Pride - a time to acknowledge and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community worldwide.
At Womankind, we partner with LBTQI+ organisations striving for equal rights and freedoms for LBTQI+ women and their communities. We believe that securing LBTQI+ rights is a feminist issue because both movements are striving for equality in a patriarchal world.
We work with LBTQI+ organisations and movements in several ways. We provide flexible funding to strengthen their movements and support spaces for learning, exchange, inclusivity, wellbeing, and action.
We strive for a world where everyone enjoys equal rights and lives with joy, choice, and dignity. But in many countries, LBTQI+ women and communities continue to face significant challenges:
In Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, same-sex relationships are criminalised
In Nepal, despite some progress marriages between LBTQI+ couples do not hold legal validity, and they are unable to adopt
In Afghanistan, the LBTQI+ community continue to face threats to their safety since the Taliban regained control.
In our focus countries and globally, LBTQI+ women face multiple levels of discrimination and abuse. However, grassroots LBTQI+ organisations and feminist movements bring hope and provide holistic support despite the challenging contexts that they are operating in.
“Our advocacy is clear and direct about the community’s needs. We stand up for our rights and demonstrate courage.” says Jeshika Gautam, Outreach Officer at Mitini Nepal.
This Pride Month, we’re celebrating three Womankind partners: Mitini Nepal, Freedom and RoamUganda (FARUG), and Pakasipiti in Zimbabwe. These groups offer vital support for the local LBTQI+ community like counselling, healthcare, safe spaces, and advocacy.
Join us in marking the end of Pride Month by reading their inspiring stories:
These stories illustrate the ecosystem of care within the LBTQI+ community and how the organisations at the heart of them foster safe, supportive environments built on love, connection, and resilience.
