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Description
Poland is seeing increased brutalization of language and growing homophobic and transphobic sentiment. The LGBTQIA community in small towns is suffering severe discrimination, and has limited capacity to act and obtain help. There is a higher rate of depression and increased tendency to emigrate among the young members of the LGBTQIA community whom the Foundation is helping in the south-east of Poland. Support events and campaigns are needed to restore a feeling of hope and safety for these people. Under the project, the Foundation (Fundacja Równość - Equality Foundation) will create an e-activism platform for the benefit of the LGBTQIA community. It will be created in participatory fashion - in the course of workshops. The content and tools posted will promulgate a style of communication based on hope and empathy, instead of despair. The e-activism platform will include handbooks and tools for three kinds of activism, which are advocacy, contact with the media, and public campaigns. In addition, the platform will be a sphere for presenting experiences and activities, and will also provide specific activism tools at a local level and enable people wishing to get involved in these activities to network. Thus, the platform will be a means of forging contacts, sharing know-how and ideas, and coordinating initiatives. The project will also include a campaign to encourage activism in support of LGBTQIA people. The platform will mean that the network of local leaders is expanded to include e-activists, and that tools and ideas for LGBT+ support activities can be disseminated in local communities.
Summary of project results
The project responds to the increasing brutalisation of language and the rise of homophobic and transphobic sentiment in Poland. The years 2019-2020 have been particularly tough for LGBTQIA people due to the electoral calendar and the accompanying hate campaigns targeting LGBTQIA people. In parallel, at the local level, successive local governments adopted homophobic resolutions, introducing so-called ''LGBT-free zones''. The dramatic situation of LGBTQIA people is confirmed by reports from the Fundamental Rights Agency. Those living in smaller towns are in a particularly difficult situation, as they have limited options for action and assistance.
As part of the project, the Project Promoter created an e-activism platform for and on behalf of the LGBTQIA community. It was developed in a participatory way, through focus-activist meetings and with the participation of various local LGBTQIA organisations. The milk.org.pl platform consists of a journalism module (columns, interviews, reports, coverage of queer activism) and a tools module with simple activist guides (e.g. how to organise a demonstration, how to communicate with the media, what advocacy is, how to prepare a petition). The launch of the platform was accompanied by an affirmative #SwallowActivism campaign to encourage local LGBTQIA and allied individuals to engage for change and to use the platform.
The project has created a repository of knowledge about LGBTQIA activism and a safer and braver space for the LGBTQIA community. It has succeeded in creating an affirming message that strengthens the LGBTQIA community, especially locally. Launching the platform in a year that begins an election marathon in Poland also provides additional communication opportunities in case of a possible hate campaign targeting the LGBTQIA community. The proprietary workshop programme, focusing on sharing knowledge and experience, gave those who participated empowerment and inspiration for further self-advocacy or community-building activities.