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Description
The aim of the project is to provide support to the most discriminated groups that make up the LGBTQIA+ community, i.e. gender-diverse (transgender, non-binary, intersex, queer) persons representing the letters ''TQIA+'' in the LGBTQIA+ acronym. We provide these people with legal and psychological support, raise public awareness and knowledge about their needs, problems and daily life. We support "TQIA+" persons who need legal assistance, experience violence or discrimination at work, university or other institutions, including medical care. The Legal and Psychological Counselling Centre, which was set up as part of the project, provides them with the support of professional lawyers and psychologists, in particular on how to carry out the legal transition process. We are initiating a change in the perception and understanding of TQIA+ people through education and experience-building. We see a slowly growing understanding of the needs of lesbian, gay or bisexual people, while due to a lack of knowledge, low public awareness, and widespread disinformation, the situation of TQIA+ people is dramatic. Education based on experiential learning and skilful responses to questions about gender, identity and expression will increase understanding and acceptance of diversity. The direct beneficiaries of the project are primarily TQIA+ persons and their families who will benefit from the Legal and Psychological Counselling Centre, and people who will gain or develop knowledge about the needs and social situation of LGBTQIA+ people.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to provide support to people belonging to the most discriminated groups within the LGBTQIA+ community, i.e. people of various genders (transgender, non-binary, intersex, queer) and others experiencing systemic discrimination. The main problem is the lack of appropriate legal solutions, especially in the transition process.
The project provided basic psychological and legal support to queer people experiencing problems with legal transition or other accompanying problems (family conflicts and/or violence, discrimination at work/university, institutions, improper use of medical procedures, etc.).
In addition, the second important problem is the lack of widespread knowledge and education about the social situation of LGBTQIA+ people in the majority of society, especially among experts, specialists and service workers. Consequently, the project also envisaged initiating social change regarding the perception and understanding of queer people through education and building experiences.
In response to the needs, a Legal and Psychological Clinic for Queer People was launched, with particular emphasis on transgender and non-binary people, providing free advice from lawyers and psychologists - the Clinic operated from January 2023 to April 2024. A total of 63 people took advantage of the Clinic''s help.
In addition, five discussion panels/lectures were organized with the participation of experts and/or people from the community, regarding the social situation and the current state of medical/psychological knowledge related to transgender, intersex and asexual people; over 200 people took part in them.
Ten training courses were conducted for people working in professions in everyday contact with people, building sensitivity and empathy in contact with LGBTQIA+ people; five entities took advantage of the training and a total of 134 people were trained; An evaluation report was prepared from the main activities of the project, available on the project subpage: https://tolerado.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Tolerado_raport_ewaluacyjny-3.pdf
The activities in the project created a change that was difficult to capture, because it concerned specific, personal experiences of the Users. It should be remembered that in Poland the transition process is not regulated by law or reimbursed. Therefore, all activities supporting this process should be treated as a positive result for the Users. Each case that the Clinic dealt with was, in principle, different. People and their families with varying knowledge of transition came to it. The course of transition also depends on the court to which the lawsuit is filed, therefore, in general, the Clinic served people until the stage of filing a case in court. Information about completed proceedings reached us relatively rarely.
The result was primarily an increase in the availability of psychological and legal services for queer people, who, due to the specificity of their situation, would not be available free of charge or would be available to a very limited extent.
The positive impact of the Clinic was also demonstrated in the research sample of the Summary Report. 92% of surveyed people declared that using the Clinic helped them better understand the legal transition process, 85% of people indicated that they felt relief in connection with starting the transition process. In the area of psychological support, which in itself is even more complex and individual, 66% of users declared that psychological help allowed them to better understand themselves and improve their well-being.
As part of the trainings conducted, the topics of transgender and non-binary were particularly popular. In the evaluation survey, this area was indicated by 50% of people. 75% of people indicated that thanks to the training they better understood the difficulties LGBTQIA+ people face in everyday life, while for 67% of people the training provided tools for better communication. It should be noted that these are voluntary indications, and the survey was conducted at various times after the training (from almost a year to several days).