Globally over 65 countries still criminalise LGBTIQ+ relationships whilst the death penalty is a living reality in 14 of these countries. Recently, we’ve seen shifts in countries like the UK and US that were once seen as progressive in the support and promotion of LGBTIQ+ identities regress in their progressive laws.  

On 16 April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled the legal definition of a ‘woman’ which according to the Equality Act 2010 is based on biological sex. In essence this means that a trans woman with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) is not considered a woman under the Equality Act 2010.  

This ruling has raised a lot of questions and concerns about how the UK will protect the human rights of trans people. It leaves us with chilling questions such as:  

• How will people be able to access vital services like healthcare? 
• How will people access refugees and homeless hostels if they are perceived as trans?  
• How does this impact people’s wellbeing if they are excluded from society? 
• What does this ruling mean to the society in general and trans people in the UK today? 
• Why are people choosing to demonise trans people despite the evidence that trans people are 4 times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent crime? 

With this being the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action- it’s quite concerning that the UK- an ally of human rights has been quick to rescind its duty of care towards citizens regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation. 

We also welcome the latest move by the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, TransActual, Equality Network and Scottish Trans, Trans Safety Network and Feminist Gender Equality Network– through a joint letter urging the Council of Europe to lodge investigations over the supreme court ruling. 

In addition, feminist movements, charities and service providers have encouraged the equalities watchdog to extend the consultation period that will inform the guidance regarding the ruling – as it will have a huge impact on the lives of trans people and needs sufficient consideration.  

At Womankind we are proud to be working with incredible women’s rights organisations that focus on LBTQI+ identities including Mitini Nepal, FARUG in Uganda, Minority Women in Action in Kenya and Pakisipiti in Zimbabwe. 

Pride month is always an avid reminder about  how we show up for our trans colleagues, friends, neighbours, and family members to promote inclusion in the face of continuous adversity. 

Diana Njuguna and Disha Sughand are the Co-CEOs of Womankind Worldwide 

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For the past year, MN has been part of Womankind’s Strategic Partner Support Grants pilot project. Through this, Womankind have funded 24 partners, with a focus on historically excluded and marginalised groups. These grants enable partners to work flexibly and strategically according to the needs of their local context and the individuals and communities they serve.  Without project-based restrictions or the burden of onerous application or reporting requirements grantees can focus on their work. 

This Pride Month, we are celebrating Mitini Nepal and shining a light on their powerful work for the rights, freedom and joy of the LBTQI+ community in Nepal. 

Funding space for strategy, connection and clarity

Globally, the backlash against both women’s and LBTQI+ rights has been growing. Anti-gender and anti-rights rhetoric and policies have real and damaging impact on how feminist and LBTQI+ organisations operate. But, with flexible and unrestricted funding, organisations like Mitini sustain and expand their work. 

“The Strategic Partner Support Grant from Womankind Worldwide has significantly strengthened Mitini Nepal’s institutional capacity, advocacy efforts, and direct community impact over the past 12 months. With this support, we were able to deepen our commitment to the rights, dignity, and wellbeing of sexual and gender minority communities in Nepal.” – Mitini Nepal 

MN took a multifaceted approach that blended strategic capacity-building, direct humanitarian and community support. They organised their annual Board and Staff Retreat together with training on self-care and wellbeing in Pokhara. This three-day event created space for critical reflection on institutional direction, the challenges and opportunities of advocacy in a rapidly changing political and social environment, and how to adapt their strategy. The retreat “not only provided intellectual and emotional nourishment but also contributed to strategic clarity, team solidarity, and a renewed commitment to long-term impact.” 

This type of deep, organisational work is something that many funds and funders do not support. But, this work is crucial for the sustainability and thriving of feminist organisations. 

Emergency support for the community

Mitini Nepal’s holistic support of the LBTQI+ community includes responding to emergency support needs. MN found that their Strategic Grant “has been vital in addressing urgent needs within the gender and sexual minority community.” 

With the strategic grant, Mitini were able to provide financial assistance to  

• an elder in the LBGTQI+ community ensuring uninterrupted cancer treatment 

• an elder in the community with medical support for pneumonia, saving her life as an elder without family support;  

• wheelchair support to a trans activist and GBV survivor, after a police assault; 

• livelihood support to an elder in the community with agricultural tools and seeds for kitchen gardening, enhancing their ability to generate sustainable income. 

These interventions highlight MN’s role as a critical first responder, meeting the pressing needs of LBTQI+ individuals during times of crisis. This type of immediate response is often hindered by rigid funding structures. With the flexibility of the strategic grant, Mitini were able to respond to these urgent challenges for members of their community.  

“By providing financial assistance for urgent medical treatments and advocating for the rights of these individuals, we have directly addressed pressing human rights issues within the gender and sexual minority community. This financial and moral support helps mitigate some of the discrimination and marginalization our community members face, reinforcing our commitment to the protection of their rights.” – Mitini Nepal 

Pride and Partnership

Mitini’s role and impact in the lives of LBTQI+ people in Nepal is undeniable. As we celebrate Mitini Nepal and and our partnership with them, we also reflect on meaningful solidarity and allyship. We believe that flexible, sustainable and unrestricted funding is a key way that funders can be true allies to LBTQI+ organisations and movements. The value that this type of funding brings to supporting rights and freedom is clear. Mitini shared, “the Strategic Partner Support Grant from Womankind Worldwide has had a profound impact on Mitini Nepal’s ability to execute our strategy, directly supporting our three key pillars: ensuring human rights, fostering social mobilisation and creating economic opportunities. It has also significantly bolstered our core programs including advocacy, social awareness, skill and capacity building training and research and publications.” 

“To the LGBTQI+ community in Nepal: You are seen, you are valued, and you are not alone. In the face of social stigma, discrimination, and institutional barriers, your resilience continues to be a powerful force for change. At Mitini Nepal, we believe that living your truth is an act of courage, and every step you take—no matter how small—is part of a collective journey toward dignity, equality, and justice. Keep speaking, keep showing up, and keep shining. Change is not only possible—it’s already happening, because of you.” – Mitini Nepal

Join us in celebrating Mitni Nepal and the LBTQI+ community in Nepal this Pride Month.

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This Pride Month, we celebrate Pakasipiti and all the work they do for LBQ women in Zimbabwe. Patience Mandishona, Director and Nomthandazo Tshuma, Wellness Officer at Pakasipiti spoke to us about the current context for LBQ women in Zimbabwe and how Pakasipiti are providing them with a holistic and safe home. 

A safe space for queer women

“Our work centres on raising the voice and visibility of queer women in Zimbabwe. As one of the founding members of Pakasipiti, it was really out of anger that we started the organisation. We started formally organising 10 years ago and this came from the fact that, for the longest time we were fighting for spaces as queer women. There were no safe spaces to come together and no support or funding. Because of this, we decided it was time to find our own voices and our own space where we can speak, organise, start mobilising for the rights of the LBQ community in Zimbabwe and find our own agency.” – Patience   

“Our work has always been grounded in feminism and organising around movement building but it was important for us to look at the bigger picture. As a result, we have shifted to look at advocacy, economic justice, collective healing, wellness and wellbeing.” – Patience  

“We are based in our Wellness Centre where psychosocial support is at the centre of our work. We have a dedicated psychologist for community members and provide health referral and legal services too. In our space we hold trainings, workshops and programmes for the community, and we offer the space to other LBQ organisations. Our Centre is there for the community members themselves and we have set it up so that if they just want to come and sit, have informal conversations, have a coffee, read a book or speak to a therapist, they can.” – Patience  

The everyday context for LBQ organisations

“Just like for any other Zimbabwean, living is intense, it’s pretty hard. We are all facing our economic challenges, hardships and a whole lot of other challenges but the LBQ community face an additional layer of challenges. Simply existing as an LBQ person is not only hard, but it’s perceived to be against some of the laws in the Constitution. We are constantly facing stigma and discrimination as an LBQ community in our workplaces and in educational institutions. We also face an increased risk of violence and harassment in public. As LBQ organisations, we face exclusion in the women’s movement spaces also.” – Nomthandazo 

“A lot of the challenges or from an organisational perspective, are trying to fight patriarchy and dominance within spaces as LBQ women. We find this generally but also within the broader LGBTI community itself.” – Patience  

A voice for the community

Pakasipiti’s holistic work spans many different areas of direct support, advocacy and movement building for LBQ women.  

“We were the first organisation to form for LBQ women outside the broader LGBT+ movement in Zimbabwe. Our work is important because initially it gave voice to a lot of LBQ people and organisations, and it is about the linkage and the intersectionality that we bring to issues around women’s rights. Our work does not only look at our rights as queer women or just place us within the components of gender-based violence or health. We advocate for the active participation of women within Zimbabwe, for example, for women in land, leadership and political participation as a queer woman in Zimbabwe.” – Patience  

“My hopes and dreams for Pakasipiti are to see young voices and activists pushing their agenda and being able to take on the space. For me, it’s about mentorship and growing young feminist leaders coming to the forefront and organising in creative and different ways.” – Patience  

Taking pride in Pakasipiti and the community

“This Pride month I am celebrating resilience. We’ve been able to be here for a long time and managed to keep being here. It’s not easy and there are lots of challenges, especially organising in Zimbabwe. We are dealing with economic hardships and with a lot of things mentally. It’s not just about your work because a whole other part of you is trying to survive. I celebrate still being able to be here and still continuing to create the space for the community and how more LBQ women are coming together joining our platforms and spaces.” – Patience  

Finally, Patience and Nomthandazo leave us with these messages: 

“I want to speak around the book, ‘What’s the Point of Revolution If We Can’t Dance?’. My message for Pride is yes, the revolution is there and it’s happening. But let’s dance along the way and enjoy it.” – Patience  

“I think there is a lot wrong with the world that you’re living in but there’s nothing wrong with who you are. So be proud of who you are.” Nomthandazo 

From supporting Pakasipiti to hold intergenerational conversations through the Movement Strengthening Fund (MSF) and to advocate for LBQ rights through Her Voice fund (HVF), to them now being one of Womankind’s Strategic Grant Partners, we invite you to join us in celebrating Pakasipiti this Pride Month and beyond. 

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This Pride Month we are celebrating the work of Mitini Nepal – a long term partner of Womankind and pillar of support for the LGBTQI+ community across Nepal. Jeshika Gautam, Outreach Officer and Samjhaana Bishwakarma, Bagmati Province Coordinator at Mitini Nepal shared their reflections and experiences with us.  

The LGBTQI+ experience in Nepal today

In Nepal, though life for the LGBTQI+ community has improved over time, there are still challenges when it comes to living freely and thriving.  

“The Constitution of Nepal 2015 guarantees and protects the rights of the sexual and gender minority communities under several articles: Article 12 (right to citizenship with identity of descent and gender), Article 16 (right to live with dignity), Article 18 (right to equality), Article 42 (right to social justice), and Article 43 (right to social security) for all Nepali citizens. However, in reality, numerous discriminatory laws contradict these constitutional commitments to inclusion, participation, and equality. As a result, LGBTQI+ communities in Nepal face significant legal and social challenges, including discrimination, violence, and inequality. We see this within social security, employment, health, education, marriage and equal participation and representation.” – Jeshika 

“Within a couple, in the event of one person dying, that person’s family can claim ownership of everything instead of the partner. LGBTQI+ couples also cannot adopt children. Additionally, only heterosexual marriage has been accepted and given validation but it’s not the same for LGBTQI+ marriage.” – Jeshika 

Education and employment are also issues for the Nepali LGBTQI+ community. “There are limited employment opportunities, and even when we secure jobs, we often encounter harassment. Additionally, there is disparity in income, with non-LGBTQI+ individuals earning higher salaries than us for the same positions.” – Jeshika 

“When it comes to health rights, LGBTQI+ individuals face unequal treatment and are frequently subjected to domination and harassment. Also, regarding political rights, there is extensive discussion on women’s rights, however, lesbian, bisexual, and queer women often face marginalisation, with lawmakers frequently overlooking their specific rights due to their identities.” – Jeshika 

“The knowledge about the LGBTQI+ community varies between geographical locations. For example, within the capital city, Kathmandu and outside of the province, then also between cities and rural areas. This variance significantly impacts people’s knowledge about the LGBTQI+ community and their rights.” Samjhaana 

 “Because of all of these things, there have been members of our community who have attempted suicide. Surviving in Nepal remains very challenging due to ongoing discrimination.” – Jeshika 

Mitini Nepal’s work

Mitini Nepal was formally established in 2005, after operating as a support group for three years. Started by Laxmi Ghalan and Meera Bajracharya, the first openly lesbian couple in Nepal, Mitini has been advocating for the rights of the LGBTQI+ community for over 20 years, becoming instrumental in achieving significant milestones. Mitini’s work has directly contributed to two major changes for the LGBTQI+ community: the decriminalisation of identifying as homosexual in 2007 and the legalisation of living together as an LGBTQI+. In 2012, Mitini Nepal took a case involving a lesbian couple to the Supreme Court. The court ruled in favour of the couple, allowing them to live together, marking a significant victory for the community. 

“Nepal is a country driven by religion and marked by strong patriarchal values, making it difficult to gain support for the LGBTQI+ community. However, Mitini Nepal is tackling this challenge head-on. At Mitini, our advocacy is clear and direct about the community’s needs. We stand up for our rights and demonstrate courage.” – Jeshika 

A cycle of support

For Samjhaana, Mitini’s Bagmati Province Coordinator, Mitini has evolved from a place of support when she needed it to the place where she now provides support to others in the LGBTQI+ community. 

“I am a survivor. Before I ran away and came here, I had no support and didn’t even understand my own sexuality. After searching for help, I found Mitini Nepal and came to understand my sexual orientation. Mitini has created a very homely environment where we can come and talk.” – Samjhaana

The power of claiming your identity

“In the 2021 census, only 2,928 LGBTQI individuals were counted, categorised under ‘others’ rather than separately identifying the LGBTQI+ community. This approach prevents accurate data collection specific to LGBTQI+ individuals. To have precise data and validation is crucial for us to come out openly. Only then will the true number of our community be known and acknowledged. Otherwise, we will always be pushed back.” – Samjhaana 

“We organised a rally for Lesbian Visibility Day in Pokhara because we believe it’s important for the government to recognise our community and this day. They should accept, respect, and celebrate diversity.” – Jeshika 

It’s clear that Mitini is a vital cornerstone of the LBTQI+ community in Nepal. Womankind continues to support their work and at present Mitini are one of our Strategic Grant partners. 

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This Pride Month we are celebrating the work of Freedom and Roam Uganda – a long term partner of Womankind. Biggie, Gloriah and Amor from the FARUG team shared with us their reflections on two decades of groundbreaking work. 

Holistic care, support and advocacy for the LBQ community

“We made it to 20 years on the 4th of July last year and we happen to be not just the oldest LBQ organisation in Uganda, but also in Africa as well. Most of the work that we do is focused on empowerment and rights for LBQ womxn through movement building, feminist​​​​​ popular education, raising  political  consciousness,creating  brave spaces, organising-bridging the local, national and global,strategic political action at key moments ​and providing access to ​safe and affirming ​healthcare through our mini clinic and drop-in centre. We research and document lived realities whilst empowering communities with information, resources and tools on how to respond to violence.” – Gloriah  

Much of FARUG’s work focuses on sexual and reproductive health and rights for LBQ womxn including the areas of HIV, reproductive diseases, menstrual and mental health. “We’re the first organisation in Uganda that started conversations around HIV​ and menstrual health​ within LBQ communities and the programming around it. We’ve also taken up the mantle of advocacy around inclusion of LBQ womxn in broader HIV spaces and for the first time we are going to be present at the International AIDS conference​ in Munich Germany​.” – Gloriah 

FARUG also runs the first ever HIV support group for LBQ people, the LBQ legal desk and the gender-based violence support line.  

From policy to creativity

FARUG ​is ​​t​he beating heart of the LBQ movement in Uganda, mentoring other organisations and sharing good practices. “We currently exist in a context where there are so many young, emerging queer leaders. We’ve taken up the role of mentoring those upcoming leaders and organisations and now, there are over 15 organisations that have been birthed out of FARUG.” – Gloriah 

“We work on economic justice and we continue to network with LGBTQ organizations within the country, regionally and internationally. We’ve recently had engagements at CSW with support from Womankind and that’s a space that we are pushing back more on where our voice can be heard. ” – Biggie 

“We also use creativity to tell our stories through music and art and encourage our members to engage in creativity. We run a podcast called Ba Queer Twogere ​a lesbian visibility podcast celebrating queer love, exploring life experiences, representation and busting queer myths. ​​– ​ Biggie 

The current climate for LBQ womxn in Uganda 

Life for LBQ womxn​​​​ in Uganda has always come with challenges due to the legal and social implications linked to their identity.  

“You need to survive. But then how do you survive and not be who you are because you’re scared to be who you are? There’s a lot of people wanting to seek asylum, a lot of evictions and homelessness. There is an increase in drug and alcohol abuse because people are lonely and looking to survive in the best way they can.” – Amor.  

FARUG are now convening their members online due to being evicted from their premises. “Since the eviction, it’s been very hard for us to find a new space because people are not willing to rent to us. Previously there was a lot of threat around the clause in the bill**, which had an obligation for people renting out premises to queer organisations to report it. Even after the court ruling where that part was extracted, people are not yet aware that it’s not there. And more so, they’re still scared to rent out their premises to us.” – Gloriah. 

“Right now, if we had a ​physical ​drop-in centre (DIC) – a friendly safe space where our community members who suffer from stigma from other health centres come to access health services – people would be scared to come. Because if people see us, they raise the alarm and it’s not safe for our community. Now we don’t have space for our DIC, we are having to do home based care and it’s hard for members to access the healthcare that we have. We’re in more of a survival mode than before, but we are here and we keep doing what we have to do” – Amor 

“There’s a lot of hate speech online and outing on social media. It’s scary and insecure. Right now, there’s a lot of forced marriages and pregnancies because they think that’s the only survival mode that they can use. When you have a child, you​ are perceived to be​ less of a lesbian.”​ There is even a popular saying right now that “pregnancy is the new closet”​– Biggie  

FARUG’s crucial work

It is clear that FARUG are a pillar of support and connection for the LBQ community in Uganda.  

“We have the reputation of being a movement building entity because of how much we have sustained and grow healthy​ and resilient​ movement by our existence. The work that we do in one way or another is very important to sustaining LBQ community organising.” – Gloriah 

From supporting FARUG to hold the Ugandan Lesbian Forum (UGALEF) to them now being one of Womankind’s Strategic Grant partners, this Pride Month we’re celebrating FARUG and all the work they do to support the LBQ community in Uganda.  

*womxn is used throughout this piece as this is FARUG’s preferred terminology. 

**The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023  

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“In a world of possibility for us all, our personal visions help lay the groundwork for political action.” – Audre Lorde  

A Black, lesbian, mother, warrior and poet is how Audre Lorde described herself. Her profound teachings about humanity, feminism, liberation and sexuality were rooted in her experience of all five of these interconnected identities.  

Ahead of Pride month 2024, I interviewed women and activists in Nepal, Uganda and Zimbabwe, all part of the LBTQI+ organisations and feminist movements that Womankind partners with and funds. Across the experiences, roles within their movements and geographies one thing is clear: that just like Audre Lorde, their work is born from both a personal calling and an urgent necessity.  

Pride month is a global celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community that emerged after the 1969 Stonewall riots. Throughout Pride Month, we will be sharing stories of activists at the forefront of LBTQI+ justice work, and celebrating the LBTQI+ organisations that we partner with. 

But first, some context on why Womankind funds, stands with and advocates alongside feminist LBTQI+ movements. 

Being LBTQI+ in our focus countries

Colonial legacies continue to shape and perpetuate laws, attitudes and treatment towards LBTQI+ communities. In Africa, more than 30 countries still criminalise consensual same-sex sexual activity, despite “the clear contradiction with established African Union and international human rights standards” including three of our focus countries – Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe. 

In Nepal, despite some progress, there are still challenges for the LBTQI+ community in fully claiming and enjoying their rights. According to Mitini Nepal, the Constitution does not clearly spell out the rights of the LBTQI+ community, marriages between LBTQI+ couples do not hold legal validity and they are unable to adopt.

In Afghanistan, LBTQI+ people and “others who do not conform to rigid gender norms, have faced an increasingly desperate situation and grave threats to their safety and lives” since the Taliban regained control in 2021. 

In our focus countries and across the world, LBTQI+ women face the layered and compounding discrimination of misogyny on top of their gender identity also. However, grassroots LBTQI+ organisations and feminist movements continue to be beacons of hope and support despite the deeply challenging contexts that they operate within. 

Feminism and LBTQ+ rights

“It’s a struggle but that’s why we exist, so that another generation of lesbians of color will not have to invent themselves, or their history, all over again” – Audre Lorde 

LBQTI+ rights are a feminist issue because we are all striving for freedom – freedom from the patriarchy and the harmful systems of misogyny, racism, homophobia and transphobia it perpetuates. At Womankind, we envision a world where women, girls and people of all genders enjoy equal rights and freedoms and live with joy, choice and dignity. But globally, many LBQTI+ women and communities continue to experience multiple and intersecting challenges like discrimination and abuse. 

Womankind works with LBTQI+ organisatons and movements where intersectional feminism is thriving. We do this through; providing flexible funding to strengthen their movements and influencing opportunities, supporting spaces for learning, exchange, inclusivity, wellbeing and action and partnering on projects that support LBTQI+ women and communities. 

A safer and joyful future

This Pride Month we are celebrating three of our partners: Mitini Nepal, Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) and Pakasipiti in Zimbabwe. All of these organisations are providing holistic support for the diverse LBTQI+ communities in their contexts, through psychosocial support, healthcare, safe spaces, creativity, advocacy and beyond. We will be sharing insights into their work, the stories of the women making it happen and of those they support. 

Throughout my conversations with these activists, one thing was clear: the LBTQI+ community is an ecosystem of care with the organisations at the heart of these communities built on a foundation of love, connection and a need for survival too. The staff members and volunteers working to create a sense of home and safety for those they serve, often arrived there seeking the same for themselves. In this way, just like Audre Lorde said “the question is a matter of the survival and the teaching. That’s what our work comes down to. No matter where we key into it, it’s the same work, just different pieces of ourselves doing it.” 

*Terms LGBTQIA+, LBTQI+ are both used here depending on the context. Our partners frequently use LBQ. 

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Life is rarely straightforward for queer feminists in Uganda and the past few years have seen more dramatic challenges emerge. But with flexible funding from Womankind, this community has been able to truly focus on taking care of themselves and each other. 

‘It was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream,’ says Gloriah Mutyaba, programme director of Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), speaking about the Ugandan Lesbian Forum (UGALEF) in 2021, which she helped to curate. 

‘It was a beautiful event. Three days of sharing and a space where LBQ womxn, activists and leaders co-created an innovative space for soul restoration, healing, wellbeing for themselves, their organisations and the movement, to heal, love and laugh together.  

‘We shared our journeys of wellness, laughed together and found out what support and healing is needed at an organisational and individual level. Women loved the space.’ 

‘I felt safe, comfortable and alive at UGALEF. The space brought each person’s individual struggles, so we could see we are not struggling alone,’ adds Ruth Amor from FARUG, the first and longest-serving LBQ rights organisation in Uganda. 

Inspiring experiences in a tense environment 

Gloriah and Amor were sharing their frank and inspiring experiences at a recent online event organised by Womankind Worldwide and FARUG: Queer feminist organising in Uganda – safe spaces and self-care.  

The event covered included self- and collective care, the importance of flexible funding and the major impact of COVID-19, new legislation and political events on LBQ communities in Uganda. 

Uganda is well-known as a repressive and dangerous environment for sexual minorities, including the LBQ community.  

The country’s Sexual Offences Bill (SOB) – passed in May 2021, although subsequently rejected and returned to parliament by President Yoweri Museveni months later – further criminalises consensual sex acts and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and sex workers. 

Gloriah describes how FARUG and ally organisations in the feminist movement sought to engage women parliamentarians on how the SOB would affect the lives of ordinary Ugandans and the work of organisations like FARUG. 

‘We invited the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) to have a conversation, to share our lived experiences and explain how problematic the bill would be,’ Gloriah says. 

‘Halfway through, one MP stood up and started praying for us, telling us to repent, that we don’t deserve to live in this country, that we are evil, beasts and a shame to Womankind. They were “laying hands” on queer women. It was very annoying.’ 

Tensions for LBQ communities and sexual minorities in Uganda continue unabated, exemplified by the closure of the leading organisation SMUG (Sexual Minorities Uganda) this August. Religious fundamentalists repeatedly target LGBTQI+ people, while workplaces can often be toxic environments for sexual minorities, with bullying and sexual harrassment rife. 

COVID’s disproportionate impact on LBQ organisations

Gloriah believes the FARUG offices are being watched and staff are being stalked and having their emails hacked. Threats have been received by phone and on social media. 

‘They say they know what we are doing, it’s not right and our days are numbered. It’s a very tense and scary time for us and we have become very paranoid,’ Gloriah says.

The COVID-19 pandemic also had a different and disproportionate effect on queer women. While lots of funds were available to support activities for key populations – access to vaccines, personal protective equipment and home-working support – LBQ organisations seemed to miss out. 

‘We were not able to do as much work as we would have wanted,’ adds Gloriah. ‘So many queer organisations who work with women deeply felt the impact of COVID. It was important for us to convene queer women to share and heal and talk about how the pandemic affected them on an individual and institutional level.’ 

A vital space for LBQ womxn, activists and leaders

In 2021, Womankind supported FARUG with flexible funding, money made available for feminist organisations to pursue their own agenda, giving them the freedom to be adaptive to challenging contexts. The Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA) also provided support.  

This enabled FARUG to organise the second ever UGALEF with the theme ‘collective healing, love and care’, providing a vital space for LBQ womxn, activists and leaders to politicise how they treat themselves, how they treat each other, how they move through, manage and resolve conflict and how to pick themselves up in the pandemic.  

‘Womankind asked us what we needed funding for – they offered financial and technical support. Self-care and wellbeing is a priority for us so we asked them to fund that,’ Gloriah adds. 

‘Flexible funding enables you to do things that typically funders will not support. Womankind’s investment has made it easy for us to talk, provide self-care to staff, energise them, which enables them to work better and also contributes to the bigger picture of dismantling the patriarchy.

‘The two UGALEFS are testament to how flexible funding can work. We would like to do this annually to allow more women to heal and prioritise self-care.’

Transforming the narrative around self-care

Gloriah explains: ‘Self-care is about caring for ourselves as a responsibility we have to the movement, not as a luxury but a political act. We live in a society where women are expected to look after everyone else. We spend more time taking care of others instead of ourselves. This leads to stress and health problems. We need to transform the narrative that makes women feel guilty for taking care of themselves. 

‘Self-care is about taking time to preserve and protect ourselves. We carry a lot because of the kinds of work we do. We feel the realities and pain of the situations and because of that you can end up breaking down.  

‘We experience or witness violence. The impact of that is long-term. It’s not something you can easily let go and forget. You end up doing much more than you should and you can end up burning out. We need to be intentional about our wellness  

‘Taking in and acknowledging our experiences frees us from oppression, directs us towards healing, reminds us of our self-worth and that we deserve love and care.’ 

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The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on women and girls around the world, deepening existing inequalities and accelerating the rollback on women’s rights. For women’s rights organisations this has meant an increase in demand for their services at a time when resources are even more limited. Last year, in response to the pandemic we launched the Womankind Worldwide COVID-19 Resilience Fund to support 42 of our partner women’s rights organisations and the women and girls they work with.

Adapting to a shifting landscape

The pandemic has meant ever-changing needs for communities. With rules and restrictions changing constantly, the social and economic landscape for women and girls has been harsh and volatile. To meet these varying needs, women’s rights organisations have needed a greater level of flexibility, something which the Womankind resilience grants have enabled our partners to do. Our partners have been able to act quickly whenever it is needed, responding to the continually shifting landscape of disaster management.

Womankind partner TEWA used the resilience grant to meet the immediate needs of the women in Nepal by raising awareness of COVID-19 and providing hygiene kits.

“The funding focused on meeting the emergency needs of our partners during COVID-19. The resilience grant support made us feel relieved. When the pandemic started and with the initiation of lockdown, our partners and the lives of vulnerable people were impacted”.

-TEWA

They have also been able to address some of the social  impacts of the pandemic, including providing counselling and mental health support for women who have experienced violence. With the ‘shadow pandemic’ seeing violence against women surge during lockdowns services like this are vital.

Supporting marginalised identities

 COVID-19 has exacerbated pre-existing social inequalities leaving women and girls most marginalised hardest hit. Flexible funding provided by the resilience grants has helped partners respond to the specific needs of those most disempowered.

“Due to the pandemic situation, women with disabilities are confined at their own home because of which they are not being able to purchase their daily needs like diaper, sanitary pads, hygiene materials  their own”, – Nepal Disabled Women’s Association (NDWA)

For NDWA the Womankind resilience grant allowed them to adapt their services and provide essential hygiene materials for the women they support.

In Uganda Womankind partner Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), has used Womankind resilience funds to support LBTQ+ people. During the pandemic they have worked hard to ensure that their services continue to support women dealing with forced marriage, domestic violence and rape by turning their office into a safe space. In Uganda LBTQ+ women who are ‘masculine presenting’ have also been denied emergency supplies. FARUG have been working to support the women that have been left out of emergency food funds by supplying food packages and relocating them when they are not safe.

“LBQ women have been hit so hard by the pandemic, so hard. It’s now very common for someone to just call you and say, “I have not eaten for three days. I’m starving, could you please give me something to eat?” So, we appreciate organisations like Womankind for funds that are flexible like the Womankind resilience grant, it has helped us counter the implications of COVID-19.”

-Freedom and Roam Uganda

Women’s movements: strengthening whole communities

The rights of women are inextricably linked to the rights and lives of the wider community. History tells us that when women respond to crisis or create change, whole communities benefit. This is true for our partners who have used Womankind resilience funds to reach more people in the wider community.

“As a women’s fund, most of our support only goes through grants to address the need of the women and their initiatives, and support their movement, but the resilience grant has helped us expand our supporting horizon”.

-TEWA

Powering movements

Not only have the Womankind resilience grants enabled partners to respond and adapt to the crisis, support women and girls, and benefit their communities, it has also ensured the work they are doing is able to continue. With demand surging and resources limited, many women’ rights organisations have found it difficult to continue their operations. The flexible nature of the Womankind resilience grants mean that organisations have been able to cover staff costs. For NDWA, the flexible funding allowed them to pay the wages of staff who were doing three to four times the work they used to do.

For the Young Women’s Leadership Institute (YWLI) in Kenya the Womankind resilience grant they received meant they were able to pay their bills and pay staff for their community outreach.

“We really appreciate that we had partners like Womankind who really supported in terms of resilience funds. Because for us I think we could have [had to] shut down our organisation because we had to keep on paying rent for our offices. [Staff also] needed to get a pay check to support themselves.”

-Young Women’s Leadership Institute (YWLI)

Acting now for an equitable world

“I can hardly remember a grant that has had such a large impact”

-Freedom and Roam Uganda

From being able to adapt quickly to changes, to supporting women who have been hardest hit by the pandemic, and ensuring that women’s rights organisations are able to continue to survive, the Womankind resilience grants have impacted our partners and the women they work with. As we continue to see the rollback on women’s right accelerated and face mounting threats to women’s rights organisations resisting the rollbacks, the need for core, flexible funding becomes more urgent. We must properly resource women’s rights organisations now if we’re to have an equitable world post-COVID.

Nepal is experiencing a deadly surge in COVID-19 cases as the outbreak in India spreads. We’ve launched an emergency appeal to support partners in Nepal on the frontline. Find out more and donate.

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The lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (LBTQ) community has been hit hard by the uncertainty, not being sure if you will still have a job and be able to put food on the table is causing huge anxiety that is taking its toll. As most members of our community are in informal employment they have seen their source of livelihood gone and are stuck at home with no income and food.

The impact of COVID-19 on mental health

“Life is very hard for me [I can’t] come out, because once my family knows I will be thrown out of the house and there’s nowhere to go. [The] worse thing is I’m not employed.” – Anonymous person supported by Pakasipiti.

Mental ill-health and social isolation have been worsened in the context of quarantine and restricted movement. Many LBTQ people have been forced to return to the parental or familial home and be in confinement with invalidating or even abusive family members. Home is not a safe haven for many but a war zone. This period has been particularly difficult for people in the closet hiding their sexuality who have had to further isolate themselves from the prying eyes of their families. Access to safe spaces is of paramount importance to the well-being of the LBTQ community and not being able to go to support groups may result in anxiety, breakdowns, depression and violence.

As well as impacts to their mental health LBTQ people face barriers to accessing healthcare due to discrimination, stigmatisation, or healthcare providers’ lack of understanding of LBTQ issues. This means LBTQ persons are more reluctant to seek medical care. The traumatic emotional and psychological experiences they have faced has resulted in a reduced access to health services in general and sexual and reproductive health services in particular, putting the health of already stigmatised groups at increased risk.

With limited access to in person community spaces LBTQ people have turned to online communities for safe spaces and as a way to advocate for LBTQ people. Yet we know that LBTQ people face increased levels of online violence and abuse. COVID-19 has further highlighted the underlying vulnerability of LBTQ people and the need to safeguard online spaces. The online spaces also come at a high financial cost and many LBTQ people cannot readily and easily afford and access the spaces. For online spaces to be safer for LBTQ people the Zimbabwe government must invest more on digital spaces so that they are widely available and free from online violence and abuse.

Making our voices heard

“Keeping a good mental health is a bit of a challenge during this period, especially being in a hostile environment, where there’s always tension. I have to keep to my room to avoid unnecessary conflicts. “– Anonymous person supported by Pakasipiti

Since the beginning of the pandemic Pakasipiti has worked to ensure that the specific needs of LBTQ people are accounted for as countries adjust and develop their responses to the pandemic. We are working with the broader women’s movement to make sure that the national response plans prioritise support for women e.g. inclusion of prevention efforts and services to respond to violence against women and girls into COVID 19 response plans. We have continued to align and create comprehensive partnerships with progressive organisations who have opened up their spaces to provide psycho-social support to LBTQ people, even in areas we cannot access across the country.

Rediscovering hope: A safe community for LBTQ people

We have created safe online platforms for wellbeing including help lines and befriending services where members can join group conversations and share strategies on coping with issues. We have used these platforms to get feedback from community members around their experiences during the lockdown especially of violence and have also assisted a few community members to relocate from homes where there were under sever threats of GBV.

We also use these online groups as a way to keep the LBTQ community updated and check in on the needs of people daily. Vital verified information on the pandemic as well as issues around safety and security is being affectively shared this way.

The Womankind COVID-19 resilience grant has enabled us as an organisation to create alternative work spaces in homes for staff to work remotely, helping to reduce exposure to the virus while continuing their important work. It also enabled us to strengthen our online community to continue to provide a safe space where LBTQ people can seek help for their physical and mental health, including access to online psychological support.

The important element around wellness, wellbeing, healing and care has been at the core of all of our COVID-19 strategies and interventions. With the support of The Womankind COVID-19 resilience grants we’ve been able to hold virtual conversations that have helped our community members find that sense of healing and security in times when they had lost all hope.

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