After years of research and collaboration, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice has published our latest report, “Global Resistance to Anti-gender Opposition, LGBTQI+ Activism in Colombia, India, Kenya, Peru, and Serbia.” The report provides an illuminating look into the activism in five countries, bringing to light how anti-gender governments and policies manifest in all parts of the world. 

What is “anti-gender?” Anti-gender is an umbrella term describing ideologies that work to revoke and prevent the rights of LGBTQI+ people and criminalize their lives. Anti-gender actors work to deny access to fundamental human rights and primarily target women, trans, nonbinary, and intersex people. 

“We dream of living in a world with social justice. We reach out to other movements and we see cis-heteropatriarchy replicated there. That is a shock. But it is still good that our horizon is to make that fair world a reality for all.” – Colombian activist

Our latest report gives a snapshot of what activists on the ground experience in their fight for liberation and their priorities for achieving that goal. The four main categories of needs identified are:

1. Financial resources 
2. An enabling environment 
3. Additional skills, knowledge, and strategies 
4. Strong movements and inter-movement solidarity

In addition to the full report, you can also read an executive summary and a one-page overview with highlights from each section, all on our website. “Global Resistance to Anti-gender Movements” is a collaboration between LGBTQI+ activists in Colombia, India, Kenya, Peru, Serbia, and the United States through surveys, focus groups, and community scholarship. 

The report would not have been possible without the many researchers, writers, reviewers, and translators who collaborated with the Astraea Foundation. A special thank you to the activists who participated in this research through surveys, focus groups and interviews. This report would not exist without their devotion to the movement and social justice. We especially would like to thank Alejandra Sardá-Chandiramani and Hakima Abbas, two researchers with long histories of activism, for their collaboration and support in looking into the impact of the anti-gender opposition on LGBTQI+ activism globally.

Read or Download:

Full Report       |       Report Summary       |       Report Overview

Today on International Lesbian Visibility Day, The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice celebrates its origin in lesbian-led organizing as well as the contributions from our lesbian and queer-led grantee partners. For Lesbian communities, visibility can come with risks. Whether on social media, while traveling, or even running errands, to be visibly queer is to be vulnerable. Despite this, there are people across the world who are not only visible, but have chosen to lead the charge toward equity and inclusion through organizing and empowering their local communities. Historically, visibility has been part of The Astraea Foundation’s ethos, coming out as a lesbian organization in 1991. This International Lesbian Visibility Day, The Astraea Foundation is uplifting grantee partners led by LBQ+ people fighting for civil protections in their communities.

*We recognize ‘lesbian’ as both a sexual orientation and political identity; that it must include trans, intersex, bisexual, and queer women who identify as such or feel connected to lesbian activism, while respecting that the full spectrum of people who experience gendered oppression includes trans men, non-binary people, and more.

• Latin America – Grupo Latinoamericano de Estudio Formación y Acción Feminista (GLEFAS), founded in 2007, sparks dialogue and political action within the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) lesbian feminist movement. GLEFAS supports the formation of collectives across the LAC region, as well as collects and preserves the history of indigenous and black lesbian activists from the global south. Their network is formed by activists, academics, and collectives from Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Spain.
• Jamaica – We-Change Jamaica is a women’s-rights organization promoting gender equality & increased participation of LBQ+ women in social justice advocacy. We-Change Jamaica focuses on  sexual and reproductive health, reproductive justice, economic empowerment and holistic wellness. This includes hosting town hall events featuring presentations and discussions on the state of LBTQ and women’s rights in Jamaica.
• Serbia – Rromnjako ilo improves the lives of women in Serbia by challenging sexual taboos, promoting diversity, and advocating against early forced marriages to young people. Additionally, the organization seeks to increase the visibility of LBTI Roma women in Europe and internationally.

• Singapore – Sayoni is an intersectional queer feminist group working to build community and advocacy at local, regional and global levels. Sayoni organizes events, promotes research, and develops campaigns to support LBQ+ women in Singapore.
• U.S. (Atlanta, Georgia) – Zami Nobla operates Biggers House, a communal living and gardening space whose goal is to provide permanent, accessible, and affordable housing to Bblack lesbian elders living on fixed income, ages 55 and up. Biggers House also includes community gardens for residents, Zami Nobla members, the LGBTQ community, and the Westlake neighborhood.

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is proud to work with all our grantee partners in the fight against oppression. It’s through their work that LBQ+ people all over the world will see a decrease in the risks of broader visibility.

Resilience. Resilience, like visibility, can be challenging and complicated. We so often find resilience out of necessity. We find resilience when we face a rise in dangerous rhetoric and policy as we are in this moment. Right now in the U.S. there are 435 anti-LGBTQI+ bills working their way through legislation–the majority of which specifically target trans communities. Globally, conservative government-sanctioned criminalization and discriminatory politics and practices normalize violence towards trans communities. In moments like these, visibility feels scarier and resilience is harder to summon.

But we also get to choose resilience. We are resilient when we center care and softness, and when we build bridges and solidarity. As always, our grantees are creating change through grassroots movements and building a new political reality that is inclusive, respectful, and safe for all community members. They are doing groundbreaking work in increasingly hostile environments. As we celebrate this year’s Trans Day of Visibility, we are holding multiple truths and finding resilience in community.

Today, we are honored to share the resilient, caring, intentional work of some of our trans-led grantee partners:

• West Africa Trans Forum (West Africa-Cameroon): West African Trans Forum (WATF) is a network of transgender people and groups led by trans, intersex and non-conforming folks. Their mission is to address violence, stigma and discrimination against trans people in West Africa and Cameroon through regional advocacy and awareness raising, ensure trans-specific healthcare and HIV care and treatment through sensitization of healthcare workers and key state and non-state actors, and to improve the capacity of individuals and organizations through capacity and movement strengthening initiatives. This year, to mark TDoV, they are hosting a webinar entitled Inclusion and visibility of Trans* people in West Africa; how far have we come?

• MUDE – Movimiento de Mujeres Unidas, Diversas y Empoderadas (Colombia): MUDE organizes a community of cis and trans women and their children. Through their program TRANSformanfo realidades [TRANS-forming realities], they have designed a safe space for the exchange of trans experiences and tools for the enforceability of rights. In recent months they launched their first Afrofeminist and Antiracist School as well as healing circles for all women.

• The Foundation of Transgender Alliance for Human Rights (Thailand): Thai Transgender Alliance, or Thai TGA, supports transgender and gender diverse people in Thailand to have a better quality of life and works to advance the human rights of transgender people through policy advocacy, research, public education, network building and media advocacy strategies. In the past five years, they have led a national effort to secure legal gender recognition for trans people in Thailand. Recently they underwent a consultative process with trans, non-binary and intersex people in Thailand in order to advocate for the introduction of the Gender Recognition Bill. They have prepared a draft bill as well as a policy brief from the consultations.

• inTRANSitive (Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.): inTRANSitive’s mission is to improve the lives of Trans Arkansans through education, organizing and celebrating their resilience. They are the only Trans migrant-led organization in the state. Their work focuses on anti-violence, immigration, and community building. Their anti-violence work focuses on providing education to direct service organizations on how to serve Trans survivors and helps to hold these organizations accountable as they implement anti-violence practices. They also provide support to Trans survivors escaping violent situations and host community events to incorporate education around healthy relationships.

• TransWave Jamaica (Jamaica): TransWave Jamaica is led by trans people working to advance the health, welfare and well-being of the transgender and gender non-conforming community in Jamaica and in the Caribbean. Founded in 2015, Transwave Jamaica started as an advocacy initiative in the form of a blog. Their mission has developed to promote change which results in the social inclusivity, recognition of rights, and legal protection of the transgender and gender non-conforming community. In February 2023, they hosted a trans health and wellness symposium. Recent publications include the Human Rights Violation Report and the Case for Gender Recognition Legislation in Jamaica.

Today and every day, Astraea is proud to support and celebrate trans-led organizations, trans activists, trans communities, and trans resilience.

This Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV), we are proud to have collaborated with artist, Acacia Rodriguez, to create this brilliant illustration. Acacia can be found at IG: @BBKashe & AcaciaRodriguez.com

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, intersex and trans movements are experiencing tremendous growth as they seize political and advocacy opportunities. Yet, their progress is hindered by major resource gaps which slow down capacity building, and contribute to a general lack of visibility within the broader LGBTQI movement of the regions. 

In 2019, the European Union, in line with its values of cultural diversity, tolerance, and individual freedoms, made funds available to support the creation of Building our Movements, a collective and intermediary fund made up of transnational organizations, including: 

• Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN)
• Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
• Intersex Human Rights Fund (Intersex Fund) 
• International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World) 
• International Trans Fund (Trans Fund) 
• Support Initiative for People with Atypical Sex Development (SIPD)

Through participatory grantmaking, capacity building, regional networking, and international advocacy, Building our Movements aims to scale up the capacity of African, Asian and Pacific human rights defenders to address the rights violations faced by intersex and trans communities in these regions. The group also brings communities together across borders to strengthen the flourishing movements on the ground.

What has Building our Movements achieved since it began in 2019? 

Within two short years, in the midst of a global pandemic, the collective has increased organizational capacity to address trans and intersex issues in the three regions. For example, Trans Fund grantees reported: 

• 63% had increased capacities;
• 48% increased their capacity to budget and manage their finances; 
• 44% increased their capacity to develop and implement program strategy; and 
• 42% increased their capacity to keep themselves safe and secure.

Bolstered advocacy for intersex and trans rights at the local, national, regional, and global level. For example:

• The president of Kenya appointed the first openly intersex government commissioner, which has exciting implications for intersex persons on many fronts. A grantee of SIPD has played a big role in this gain. 
• ILGA led the way for 53 UN member states to call for concrete measures to combat harmful practices, violence, and discrimination against intersex persons.

Increased networking opportunities at the regional level, which created space for exchanging best practices on promoting and protecting trans and intersex rights. For example: 

• APTN rolled out the first framework for collecting data and reporting frameworks on transphobic hate crimes in Asia and Pacific regions, working closely at the regional level.
• Helped build a global norm about the promotion and protection of intersex and trans human rights and better national implementation of their provisions, through UN side events sponsored by 23+ Member States 

Despite the countless challenges posed by the pandemic these past two years, Building our Movements has made tremendous progress in affirming trans and intersex groups’ rights from the local to international stage. Building our Movements is grateful to the European Union’s support and invites all donors to join us in committing new and increased resources to these powerful, but under-resourced movements fighting for their rights.

In 2021, Astraea made our first open call for Strategic Communications grants to seed innovative, bold, and creative LGBTQIA organizations to deepen their approaches to advocacy and communications. Today, we’re delighted to be able to celebrate this incredible cohort of grantees and share their powerful visions and work with all of you!

Through these grants, Astraea gave a total of $500,000 in funding to 17 existing Astraea grantee partners across Armenia, Nigeria, Kenya, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago. 

Across the globe there is a rise in anti-LGBTQIA rights groups spreading disinformation campaigns. Grassroots feminist and LGBTQIA groups around the world are combating this harmful disinformation by utilizing creative storytelling and powerful messaging campaigns. By uplifting LGBTQIA peoples’ realities and lived experiences, activists are engaging in dialogue to share a vision for a more just and equitable world both within and beyond their immediate communities. Astraea’s longstanding commitment has always been to amplify activists’ voices and stories, and equip them with the tools to make their own media and control their own narratives. These strategic communications grants are a testament to that commitment. 

Each of the grantee partners in this cohort utilize strategic messaging, storytelling, and advocacy as core tools for inspiring action towards collective liberation. Their approaches are as diverse and vibrant as the many communities and contexts they represent, but here is a brief snapshot of some of their work:

• Women’s Health and Equal Rights Initiative (WHER) (Nigeria) is an organization that brings together lesbian, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary people to collectively take action to advance and promote their rights in Nigeria. The group is producing a community developed web series to reduce inequality and social exclusion in Nigeria and advance counter narratives through media production. This web series will be available on various social media platforms alongside a newsletter to promote further community engagement. 

• Intersex Persons Society of Kenya (Kenya) is an intersex-led organization that works to advance human rights and dignity for intersex persons across Kenya. Through a public education campaign, the group will focus on amplifying the lived realities and human rights priorities of intersex persons in Kenya, work towards preventing the spread of misinformation, and ultimately challenge the systemic stigma surrounding intersex livelihoods.  
• TransWave Jamaica (Jamaica) is a trans-led organization working to advance the health, welfare and wellbeing of the transgender and gender non-conforming community in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean region. The TransWave team has previously executed several powerful social media campaigns to increase awareness of the lived realities of their communities. Now, they are excited to be launching a new campaign that will highlight transgender Jamaicans and their contributions across different fields, and challenge harmful stereotypes about gender diversity in Jamaica.

Join us in congratulating these 17 phenomenal organizations for their ongoing commitment to bold and authentic storytelling!