5 Organizations Making an Impact In the LGBTQ+ Community
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
written by Tiara Jade
In honour of Pride Month, here are five organizations in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States that have supported the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. Each of these organizations not only provides life-changing services, but also works to help BIPOC LGBTQ+ communities subject to harsh cultural and religious standards. Take a look at each organization below.
The Caribbean Equality Project was founded in 2015 by Mohamed Q. Amin as a result of a violent act against the LGBTQ+ community in Richmond Hill, New York in the summer of 2013. The event exposed the need for advocacy and education in the neighborhood. The community-based organization empowers, advocates for, and represents Black and Brown lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming, and queer Caribbean immigrants in New York. The Caribbean Equality Project focuses on providing public education, community organizing, civic engagement, storytelling and cultural and social programming. The organization’s work focuses on LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights, gender equity, racial justice, immigration and mental health services, and ending hate violence in the Caribbean diaspora.
2. The ArQuives
The ArQuives is a Canadian based independent LGBTQ+ archives with a mandate to collect at a national level. The archive was founded out of The Body Politic newspaper collection in 1973 and strived to protect the LGBTQ+ history of Canada. The archive was formally incorporated in 1980 and was granted charitable status one year later. The ArQuives preserves a variety of material including personal and organizational papers, books, monographs, photographs, moving images, sound recordings, periodicals, artifacts (like buttons, board games, t-shirts, and banners), and other reference material. The organization also hosts events, programming and exhibits and strives to ensure the LGBTQ+ community is accepted, valued and celebrated.
3. OutRight Action International
OutRight Action International began in 1990, recognizing the human rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ people are abused everyday. With their headquarters in New York, and staff in eight countries, OutRight Action International focuses on advocacy, movement resourcing, and research to achieve their goals.The organization has worked alongside LGBTQ+ activists, organizations, diplomats, policy makers, and other partners to develop community-focused solutions that create legal and social transformation. The Caribbean is one of the regions they work in; OutRight helped to support registration and formation of the region’s first transgender network and contributed to strengthening partnerships.
The UK-based group supports members of LGBTQ+ community by providing immigration and asylum services. While asylum can be a long process, Rainbow Migration offers legal services that can help. Additionally, the organization helps in providing both emotional and practical support via phone call or Zoom.
The fight for equality continues. These organizations are working to create inclusive futures for LGBTQ+ people everywhere. If you would like to learn more about each organization, please click their links. Feel free to reach out to local organization without your own community in honour of this Pride Month. Happy Pride!
5. Alliance for South Asian Aids Prevention
ASAAP is a non-profit organization based in Toronto that focuses on providing culturally responsive and holistic health promotion, support, and settle services for people from South Asian, Indo-Caribbean, Middle Eastern and related communities who are living with, at risk, or affected by HIV and related health conditions. ASAAP focuses on advocating for racialized LGBTQIA+ communities in the areas of sexual and mental health. Some of their programs includes the Indo-Caribbean Women’s Group, Connecting to Care program which connects men and women living with HIV and offers them health services and resources, and a Safe Program which protects community members who may be meeting people for the first time, experiencing harassment or feeling unsafe when alone.
