Africa / The Middle East
Behind the Mask (Johannesburg, South Africa) is known primarily for their extraordinary website of highly-researched material on gay and lesbian affairs in 36 African countries. BTM also runs an array of offline projects including a Computer Skills Training Program for impoverished lesbians denied formal educations. http://www.mask.org.za $7,000 (See profile here)
Jerusalem Open House (Jerusalem, Israel) is a grassroots community center providing an open, safe, affirming, and visible space for LGBT people. They operate a library, coordinate a speaker's bureau, and conduct public policy advocacy and litigation. Grant is for an unprecedented Palestinian outreach initiative which disseminates Arabic-language LGBT resources; operates an Arabic-language telephone help line; hosts a monthly Arabic-language interest group meeting; and provides outreach to educational and social service organizations serving Palestinians. $6,000
Kopanang: Empowering Women for Success (Johannesburg, South Africa) teaches marginalized women to acquire new income-generating skills. The group is planning a conference whose attendees will draft a policy document advancing lesbian rights and interests in South Africa. $5,000
OUT (Pretoria, South Africa) promotes LGBT identity, equality and a sense of community health and wellness in the greater Pretoria area. Focused on the disempowerment of Black LGBT people, they conduct public education trainings and coordinate economic empowerment projects. $3,000
Triangle Project (Cape Town, South Africa) runs health and social development programs for LGBT people living in poverty and facing sexual and criminal violence. One of the first groups to have initiated an LGBT health project in an African township, they also provide HIV prevention education, and conduct media outreach and visibility trainings. $4,000
Anonymous (Kenya) fights against the discrimination by offering lesbians legal assistance and educating members on sexual choices. Grant is for general support of a magazine, seminars and workshops. $2,000
Anonymous (Tanzania) advocates for the respect and recognition of lesbian human rights. Grant is for convening a national conference and conducting human rights workshops. $7,500
Asia / The Pacific
Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (New Delhi, India) enhances women's leadership capacities by providing leadership trainings focused on issues of sexuality, reproductive health, violence against women, economic justice and women's rights. Grant is for organizing a national meeting of LGBT groups in India to share and discuss strategies on issues of sexual rights. $10,000
LeAP!: Lesbian Advocates-Philippines (Quezon City, Philippines) is an organization of lesbian activists that run the Lesbian Sexual Health Project, which teaches college level sexuality education with a focus on gender and lesbian issues. $8,000
The Library Foundation (Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino gay men's community organization working for a healthy, safe, and free LGBT community. Grant is for the Stop Discrimination Now! Campaign, which trains LGBT people to document human rights abuse and violations. $7,500
Sangini Project (New Delhi, India) raises awareness of lesbian and gay issues by providing counseling services, a referral network, a help line, and free human rights documentation training for middle and lower-income women in the Delhi area. They also run a sensitization project for prison staff on issues of sexuality and sexual health. $5,000
Women's Action for Change (Suva, Fiji) uses theatre and performance to address issues of reproductive rights, children's rights, HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy and conflict resolution. Grant is for conducting human rights awareness and self-defense workshops for LGBT people. $4,000
Women's Support Group (Colombo, Sri Lanka) provides peer support to LBT women, and women living with HIV/AIDS. The Group works for the decriminalization of homosexuality and helps sex workers organize and claim their rights. $6,000
Eastern Europe / Former Soviet Union
Kontra (Zagreb, Croatia) is Croatia's preeminent lesbian advocacy organization which has challenged institutionalized homophobia since 1997. Kontra was instrumental in pressuring the Croatian Parliament to issue legislation affirming gay partnerships by granting joint health coverage and recognizing shared assets. Their recently launched LGBT Legal Perspectives Project will work to reform discriminatory family laws, gender equality laws, labor and asylum laws. $10,000
KRUG (Murmansk, Russia) works to protect the legal, social and economic rights of LGBT people by providing mental health consultations and STD prevention seminars. They assist LGBT prisoners, publish a magazine and participate in the convening of LGBT groups in the Northern region. Grant is for establishing an LGBT counseling center. $3,000
Unity (Barnaul, Russia) runs the Coming Out for Young Lesbians Project, which provides participants in the Altai region with free access to life-affirming information. Unity has published and distributed a leaflet for young lesbians, run a counseling hotline, and organizes round-table discussions. $4,000
Women's Association KONSOLA (Poznań, Poland) promotes women's culture and debunks stereotypes of the traditional role of women in Polish society. Their annual "feministic" conferences attract academic, eco, anarchist and lesbian feminists from around the country. Grant is for their lesbian and bisexual women's support group, a groundbreaking initiative in Poland's fifth largest city. $2,500
Latin America
Associação Lésbica de Minas Gerais/The Lesbian Association of Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) offers vital support systems to lesbians of the region. They provide an autonomous and safe space to build self-esteem, advocate for lesbian civil rights, and educate the media on the importance of fighting prejudice and discrimination. ALÉM also provides STD prevention information to lesbian sex workers. $6,000
Asociación Lucha por la Identidad Travesti y Transexual/Association Fighting for Transvestite Identity (Buenos Aires, Argentina) works for the recognition of transvestism as a legitimate identity by lobbying the government for rights to education, health, jobs and housing. The transvestite movement is one of Argentina's most disenfranchised communities, and the group focuses primarily on educating and politicizing those transvestites struggling with poverty and unemployment. (The term transvestite, while not widely used in the U.S., is the preferred term of this grantee.) Grant is for general support, and for purchase of computer equipment and a video recorder. $5,000 (See profile on page X)
Colectivo de Lésbicas do Rio de Janeiro/Lesbian Collective of Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) defends the human rights of marginalized women in Brazilian society. They organize seminars, pursue legal advocacy, and develop lesbian health and STD/AIDS prevention workshops. Grant is for organizational capacity building and for educating incarcerated women on issues of health, race, and violence between and against women. $10,000
Fundación Ecuatoriana de Minorias Sexuales/Ecuadorian Foundation for Sexual Minorities (Quito, Ecuador) spearheaded a national campaign decriminalizing homosexuality in Ecuador, and continues to build alliances and public support for freedom of sexual choice. FEMIS also documents human rights violations around the country. $3,000
Las Amantes De La Luna/Lovers of the Moon (Iztapalapa, Mexico) is a media activist group that issues a bi-monthly lesbian magazine for the Latin American and Caribbean community. They also produce videos on Latin American lesbian feminists and LGBT human rights. $6,000
Mujeres Y Cultura Subterranea, A.C./Women and Underground Culture (Mexico City, Mexico) runs workshops-by and for girls and women of scarce resources-focused on ending violence against women. They also create literature and videos highlighting underground lesbian culture. $4,000
Nueva Generacion de Jovenes Lesbianas (Col. Alamos, Mexico) hosts bi-monthly gatherings of 2,000 lesbians a year, ages 15-25, to discuss coming-out, sexuality and human rights. $5,000
Prensa Editorial LeS VOZ, A.C./ Les VOZ Publishing Press (Mexico City, Mexico) publishes a national feminist lesbian cultural magazine and website, and organizes yearly conventions promoting lesbian literature. In addition, they conduct human rights trainings and legal intervention workshops, and monitor sexual orientation discrimination in the prison system. http://www.lesvoz.org.mx $4,000
VIDA-Integración-Desarrollo-Amor/Life (Lima, Peru), founded by young activists, hosts leadership trainings and runs media awareness campaigns on topics including reproductive health for young people. Grant is for an audiovisual education project, designed to reach poor communities. $2,000