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Description
The "LGBT + Lives Get Better Together" project aims to empower LGBT+ people through the support to and development of their communities. The main tools for change are activities in the areas of relief, education and leisure aimed directly at LGBT+ people, as well as creating strategic partnerships with other civil society organizations, communication with the majority and support to systematic change to improve lives of LGBT+ people. In the Czech Republic, there are only a few CSOs working with LGBT+ people and until now, there has not been any community center focused on LGBT+ people at all. There are several specific projects supporting LGBT+ minority (such as Prague Pride festival, Rise Up campaign against hate speech and hate crime, online counseling service Sbarvouven.cz, networks for christian and trans gender people). However there is no year-around safe space empowering the minority members, providing them social care or systematic education and offering them a place where they can be who they are without fear of rejection. In December 2021, our organization opened the only LGBT+ community center in Czechia on a trial basis. This happened not only because of the pilot project "Solid roots for LGBTIQ rights in Czechia" (funded by US Embassy, ending in summer 2022), on which we are now building this project "LGBT+ Lives Get Better Together". This project is going to offer LGBT+ people year-round activities (social worker counseling, lifelong learning night school, public events) in order to empower them and improve the quality of their lives. We will also build up on the results of the pilot project mentioned above and strengthen the strategic partnership between Czech CSOs in favor of better and systematic advocacy work for LGBT+ people and their rights.
Summary of project results
In the 11 years of its existence, the organization has grown from the original festival to several programs (PP Festival, Sbarvouven.cz coun seling center, education program, Pride Business Forum, Fun&Run, Jsme fér, LGBT+ Community Center) and it is becoming more and more difficult to coordinate together and also monitor impacts of cross-cutting activities and carry out a joint evaluation. In addition, the organization is currently in a stage of transformation, when some long-term members are no longer active in the organization, and the organization therefore needs to set up a process of regular joint strategic planning, to set new common goals of the organization, to introduce a system. One of the separate project activities is the updated strategy of the organization and the existing joint fundraising strategy. As part of this activity, participative planning takes place with members of the organization, who thus become part of the dialogue about the direction of the organization. This activity naturally strengthens the capacity of the organization, as more people are actively involved in management processes and acquire rich know-how related to the operation of the organization, thus contributing to greater sustainability of the organization.
Thanks to the project, our organization had the opportunity to go through the strategic planning process and identify previously undescribed needs. Thanks to this, HR coordinator is part of our organizational structure, which enabled the creation of job descriptions, the setting of a fair remuneration system, the setting of internal communication mechanisms and the emergence of a new organizational chart.
As part of the strategic planning process, we also had the opportunity to describe our shared values and make sure of our orientation towards help, support and education. A significant part of the activities related to the development of the organization was the revision of fundraising and its strategy. We have identified four significant sources of income and proposed a plan for their development. As part of this development, capacities for individual fundraising and institutional fundraising were increased and a plan for generating our own income was created.
Within the LGBT+: Lives Gets Better Together project, we mainly monitor three positive impacts.
The first is the existence and functionality of the LGBT+ Community Centre, which has seen an incredible 5,000 people pass through it in the last two years and more than 500
events. The centre is open every day and a large proportion of events are not organised by us, but are events organised by people who have come to us wanting to do their
activities with us. For example, the creation of Queer Literature Book Club, the “Vměstě” meetings for Russian-speaking LGBT+ people or the Queer Christian Meetings.
This phenomenon is the best indicator of a functional community centre that is alive and the visitors bring their own ideas to it. With the wide support of the visitor base, this is
also a sign of its longevity and sustainability.
Another significant impact of our work is the changes at the legislative level. Thanks to long-term participation in advisory groups, we have been able to support the adoption
of the new partnership law which makes life easier for thousands of homoparental families. And, as part of the positive changes planned, we know that new blood collection guidelines will soon be issued, which will remove the dicriminalizing condition stating that men who have sex with men must not donate blood.
Activities implemented in the regions of the Czech Republic will also have a significant impact. It is often mentioned that it is easier for LGBT+ people to live in Prague than
than anywhere else. It is certainly good to have a refuge, but the situation for LGBT+ people will not improve until it happens everywhere. That''s why we consider the activities
of regional oranizations to be extremely important and useful. For many, especially young LGBT+ people, these meetings were the first opportunity to feel safe and accepted with their identity. The impact of such experience on an individual''s life experience is immeasurably great.
Summary of bilateral results
An important part of our project was the exchange of foreign experiences in partner organizations in Oslo and Reykjavík. The strongest impression when visiting both countries was learning about the different mood in society towards LGBT+ people. Oslo has its own rainbow district and Pride is the biggest social event in Iceland, attended by two thirds of the population. Unfortunately, the first of the study trips was affected by an unfortunate event in the form of an attack on one of the businesses in which Oslo Pride was taking place. Our team, like everyone present, was shaken by this, but described the unprecedented level of solidarity that erupted in Oslo. Despite this difficulty, this visit was a lesson in safety and communication of risky situations for us. The second study path was much calmer and mainly brought us knowledge in relation to the fight against the growing hatred towards trans people and the care of young non-binary and trans people. Iceland has its own government representative for this agenda, and the fight against prejudice is thus actively advocated at the highest levels of politics.