The International Trans Fund (ITF) welcomes applications from trans-led organisations for it’s Fourth Grant Cycle with budgets below $150,000 USD based in any region of the world. The deadline to apply is December 2, 2019 at 5pm (EST/New York time).
Please visit the call page for more information and to see if you are eligible: https://www.transfund.org/2019/11/two-weeks-left-to-apply-to-the-itfs-fourth-grant-cycle/
Wednesday 20 November 2019
Bangkok, Thailand,
Stigma and discrimination against trans and gender-diverse people results in horrifying violations of human rights, including violence, extortion, physical and sexual assault, and murder. Every year, we gather to mourn and commemorate those who have lost their lives to transphobia.
This day, the 20th of November, is Transgender Day of Remembrance. This day reminds us that trans people still experience disproportionate injustice and violence. This day reminds us that we must continue to create space for transgender people and prioritise our community members’ well being.
Between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2019, a total of 331 killings of trans and gender-diverse people were reported worldwide, bringing the total number of reported cases since 2008 to 3317. It is impossible to estimate the actual number of cases as data on trans people who are murdered are often not systematically documented.
In spite of the difficult circumstances, we continue to fight. The strength and resilience visible within trans communities is unparalleled, and we stand together against injustice, declaring our solidarity. From now until the end of the year, APTN and a number of organisations in the region are raising awareness about hate crimes against trans and gender-diverse people, and honouring the lives of those who might otherwise be forgotten.
There are actions that governments, institutions, and society-at-large should take to reduce violence and protect trans people. Legal gender recognition based on self-identification, decriminalisation of sex work, and non-discrimination laws based on SOGIESC principles would improve the quality of life, dignity and safety of trans people. Sensitisation of police, government, health providers, and journalists is important to ensure that trans people receive appropriate and comprehensive care in any situation. Collecting information on the violence and deaths of trans people using gender sensitive terms is key to ensure that trans people are treated with dignity.
APTN, with its community members, urges all countries to step up and monitor cases of violence and discrimination against trans people, offer sensitive and appropriate support following any cases of violence, and enact critical policies that ensure no more lives are lost and justice due is served to perpetrators.
Demand justice for the trans lives lost, demand systemic changes so this never happens again.. Stand up for Trans Rights.
Additional References
Transgender Europe’s 2019 Trans Murder Monitoring report
How to be a Trans Ally, as written by a trans person
Hashtags
#translivesmatter
#transrightsarehumanrights
#WeareAPTN
#TDOR2019
#TDOR
Download the Statement in PDF format.
The Asia and Pacific Transgender Network (APTN) was launched in 2009 and over the years has worked to build relationships with trans communities, organizations, governments, healthcare providers and other key stakeholders throughout the region. APTN’s reports and publications have helped guide social policy reform and human rights advances for trans people in many countries in Asia and the Pacific. Today, APTN is a leader in advocating for the rights of trans and gender diverse people throughout Asia and the Pacific.
APTN is currently seeking ONE Regional Steering Committee (RSC) Member to join the organisation. Members of the RSC must be from the Asia Pacific region but can be based anywhere else in the world.
Application Deadline: 13 November 2019
Key responsibilities
The RSC responsibility will be to highlight the work of APTN and provide mission-based leadership and strategic governance. While day-to-day operations are led by APTN’s Executive Director (ED), the Board-ED relationship is a partnership, and the appropriate involvement of the Board is both critical and expected. Specific Board Member responsibilities include:
Leadership, governance and oversight
– Serving as a trusted advisor to the ED and guiding the projects based on APTN’s strategic plan
– Reviewing outcomes and metrics created by APTN for evaluating its impact, and regularly measuring its performance and effectiveness using those metrics; reviewing agenda and supporting materials prior to board and committee meetings
– Support the Thai Foundation Board in ensuring that fiduciary responsibilities and compliance are met
– Contributing to an annual performance evaluation of the ED
– Assisting the ED and RSC Co-chairs in identifying and recruiting other RSC Members
– Partnering with the ED and other board members to ensure that board resolutions are carried out
– Serving on committees or task forces and taking on special assignments
– Representing APTN to stakeholders; acting as an ambassador for the organization when assigned
– Ensuring APTN’s commitment to a diverse board and staff that reflects the communities APTN serves
– Support the ED in fundraising to carry out APTN’s strategic plan
– Attend at least 95% of all board and assigned committee meetings, including but not limited to; remote calls, physical meeting
– Takes on a proactive approach and be informed about APTN’s mission, policies, programs and strategic priorities
Nominate a community leader or submit yourself today!
Please submit your CV, cover letter, and a completed nomination form to RSC@weareaptn.org by 13 November 2019. Shortlisted candidates will be notified.
Read more details by downloading the application.
Dr. Chamindra Weerawardhana is a researcher, educator, political analyst, international consultant and journalist, specialising in the areas of gender politics, the politics of deeply divided societies and international relations. Originally from Sri Lanka, APTN is excited to have her join the APTN Regional Steering Committee. The RSC responsibility will be to represent the work of APTN and provide mission-based leadership and strategic governance.
We look forward to the insight she will provide APTN and we are excited to share an interview with her!
Interview:
I am a board member of Venasa, Sri Lanka’s oldest trans rights advocacy group that works at the grassroots with a bottom-up approach, focusing on empowering non-cisnormative Sri Lankans. I was the LGBT+ Officer of the Labour Party of Northern Ireland, where my work carried a strong movement-building dimension, bringing in a transfeminist conversation on reproductive justice, and centring people of colour, and people from migrant backgrounds in my work. I am also an advisor to the Community Welfare Development Fund, a rapid-response fund – the first of its kind – intended at providing immediate support to trans and queer Sri Lankans in situations of urgent distress.
In addition, one of my major community engagement initiatives has been an effort to develop a dialogue on trans and queer liberation, through a series of articles written to the Sri Lankan press since 2016. It was perhaps the first time at which a trans woman, a Sri Lankan citizen and someone with a specialisation in international politics would publicly engage with Issues such as trans politics, trans-inclusive reproductive justice, queering the Sri Lankan polity, a queer critique of political advocacy. This body of work has had a strong public outreach, and is increasingly getting translated into Sinhala and Tamil. A collection of my writing on Sri Lankan politics [which is very much a collection of a queer-feminist reading of Lankan queer politics and ‘queer-ing’ Sri Lankan politics, will be published before the end of 2019.
Sri Lanka is home to a highly literate, educated and diverse people. Our diversity in terms of our ethnicities, religious traditions, languages and backgrounds is our primary strength. The trans community in Sri Lanka is very vibrant and as diverse as Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan society in general. We have trans rights advocates working for the welfare of trans people through organisations they have created, as well as trans people who may not be very vocal in trans rights advocacy, but are nonetheless making a very important imprint, by living their lives, studying, entering many professions and making their mark.
However, we still have a long way to go, especially in terms of empowering fellow community members from socio-economically marginalised backgrounds, especially in provincial areas, and also in empowering trans and queer people in the predominantly Tamil-speaking and Muslim Eastern Province, as well in northern Sri Lanka. I see trans rights advocacy as carrying a great deal of input and strength to challenge forms of ethnoreligious extremism. In terms of the Asia-Pacific region, we are talking about a very big part of the world. Diversity is the key word here. It is beyond fathomable. Our communities, especially indigenous trans/queer/gender-plural peoples continue to live very challenging lives – hence the importance of focusing on people, communities and developing bottom-up strategies for empowerment in our work throughout the region, from Pakistan to Fiji.
Out of all the trans rights organisations in the world, APTN is one organisation that I hold in very high regard. Many trans rights, and broadly-speaking LGBT+ rights organisations and movements often originate in the West and then move on to, or trickle down to, places in the global South. The APTN, however, was founded by trans women, especially Thai trans women, and other trans women from indigenous backgrounds, who understand, and have direct insights to trans-specific realities in the global South, and the intersections of trans rights advocacy and the rights and empowerment and dignity of indigenous peoples. This is why I have a great deal of respect for APTN.
Today, APTN does great work in the Asia-Pacific region, working effectively with our country partners, developing our global donor networks, and focusing in communities in all our work. Although APTN is indisputably an Asia-Pacific, and consequently an ‘international’ platform. However, it is also an organisation that is rooted in the Kingdom of Thailand. As Sri Lankan woman, I must affirm that my country shares extremely strong ties of kinship, shared his/herstories, cultural and religious traditions with Thailand. This I believe is yet another personal reason that drew me to APTN.
One key thing that I bring with me is a focus on internationalism. As someone who has spent a lot of my adult life outside my own country, navigating different languages, cultures and knowledges, I am very keen to focus on international cooperation in all the work I do. Another inter-connected point is the body of work I have produced on de-colonial transfeminist perspectives and trans/queer feminist perspectives on decoloniality. These perspectives a strong sense of internationalism, and intercultural communication skills are absolutely vital to any role with APTN, as we are dealing with two of the most diverse regions of the world.
My focus on ‘locally grounding’ all our trans and queer liberation work, focusing on empowering grassroots communities, and strengthening their capacities an agency.
I hope to work productively and proactively with my RSC, TFB and Secretariat colleagues in ensuring efficient delivery, developing strong policies and in strengthening APTN.
Primarily because of the large numbers of people and communities concerned, and because of continuing forms of misunderstanding, misinformation and ill-treatment of our communities. So there is a great deal of work to be done, in terms of understanding specific local challenges, and providing meaningful forms of support.
We can see a good deal of progress, although there is still a very long way to go. For example, Sri Lanka today has a system of legal gender recognition which works quite well. Although we are still in a system that ‘pathologiszes’ trans people, it is a system that benefits the community. Similar legislative developments have also taken place in Pakistan, as a result of the tireless work by our community members there, including organisations such as Wajood.
We also see increased preparedness for trans people’s empowerment in India, especially in the aftermath of the emphasis on the spectrum of LGBT+, or SOGIESC rights that we can observe since the Indian Supreme Court took repealed Section 377 of their Penal Code. In terms of indigenous peoples, especially in the Pacific, there is increased focus on Indigenous gender identities, and in ensuring the agency of Indigenous traditions. However, we have ‘miles to go’ to quote American poet Robert Frost.
Continuing advocacy and effective strategising. We have a lot to learn from the work done in different countries, and we need to emphasise the absolute necessity of framing trans rights as a crucial element of fundamental human rights, and also in ‘locally-grounding’ trans rights advocacy, coming out of NGO-focused moulds.
A commitment to the empowerment of trans and all non-cisnormative peoples – this has to be a critical commitment – with a strong focus on empowering, and ‘normalising’ the existences of trans peoples [as opposed to the popular inclination to sensationalise trans peoples lives and existences]. This focus should be able to drive us forwards in a constructive way.
Everything. All of APTN’s work in the entire region.
liberation… How will that happen? by working to ground our trans rights work in local contexts, challenging cisnormativities, political and legislative strategising, supporting each other, and focusing on empowering as well as normalising the existences of trans people.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
The ICD-11 is about to be voted in at the World Health Assembly, after being completed last year by the World Health Organization. After moving trans-related categories out of the Chapter on Mental Health, the next steps in the process include getting rid of the remaining pathologizing language and advancing towards legal depathologization and universal health coverage.
The following briefing provides in depth information and a Call to Action. For further details, please contact us at icd@transactivists.org.
In 2018, the technical process on the ICD-11 (International Classification of Diseases – 11th Revision) was completed, and outcomes publicly announced.
It has taken us a long time to get here. Until a few years ago, removing pathologizing categories affecting trans and gender diverse people from the ICD-10 list of mental disorders seemed impossible. Today, we know that full depathologization can be achieved and will be achieved in our lifetime.
Dealing with medical classifications can be personally and politically challenging. You are not alone. Share your doubts, concerns and frustrations with others, including those of us working on the ICD process. Let us support one other in overcoming the negative effects of pathologization while working together to dismantle it.
Although the ICD-11 process appears to have finished, in reality it is just starting. We have everything to gain from engaging in the ongoing review process.
May 17, 2019
APTN is proud to join the global movement celebrating International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT). The theme for this year’s IDAHOT is Justice and Protection For All, an important and meaningful topic that is intertwined in all the work that APTN does.
Trans people experience lack of protections that extend to many areas of their lives and affects their personal safety and security, opportunities for meaningful and fulfilling employment, access to education, legal gender recognition, adequate housing, and appropriate and compassionate healthcare.
Throughout the region of Asia and the Pacific there are minimal protective laws throughout the region that ensure protection and non-discrimination of trans people. Many countries continue to use laws that criminalise and discriminate against trans people, including cross-dressing or impersonation laws and laws that criminalise sexwork. Violence against trans community members too often goes unresolved and redress is not obtained, resulting in trans communities to carry the burden of pain and injustice. There continues to be much progress that needs to be made to ensure trans people have equal rights and protection before the law and access to justice.
This IDAHOT, we urge governments work closely with trans communities to develop comprehensive protections for trans people. APTN is committed to working closely with trans communities, policymakers, government and civil society organisations to ensure justice and protection for the LGBTI community to ensure no one shall be left behind.
We, the undersigned civil society organizations in the ASEAN region, urge the government of Brunei to immediately halt the full implementation of the Sharia Penal Code (SPC). The said law entails provisions that contradict international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) and the ASEAN Charter. Brunei has signed and ratified these instruments, and thereby must show commitment to respect, protect and fulfill its obligations. Moreover, Brunei should recognize the importance of progressive development of human rights therefore moving away from corporal punishment and death penalty.
By enforcing the SPC, Brunei will set a dangerous precedent for its neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia and broader Asia as it perpetuates the practice of violating fundamental freedoms, particularly freedom of expression, in the region.
We acknowledge the Brunei government’s intention to “maintain peace and order and preserve religion, life, family and individuals regardless of gender, nationality, race and faith” being a rationale behind the SPC. However, there are provisions in the law that provides excessive penalties, including whipping, imprisonment and death penalty, against those who commit adultery, consensual same-sex relations, pregnancy out of wedlock, access to abortion, and acts critical of state-interpretation of Islam.
The SPC inevitably ends up disproportionately targeting those who are already vulnerable and socially marginalised, including women, children, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, the economically disadvantaged, religious minorities, and dissenting voices. The penalties imposed by the law, including whipping and stoning to death, constitutes torture, ill-treatment, and inhumane and degrading punishment. As a consequence, this will further silence dissent, create a culture of fear among its people, and further shrink civic space in the country. A country that cares for its citizens needs to look out for those more vulnerable to discrimination, violence and injustice, and seek to protect them first.
By adopting conservative views of morality and excessive punishments, Brunei essentially legitimizes violence. The law and its enforcement will encourage extremist and fundamentalist groups in the region to continue sowing fear, social discord and violence.
We reiterate the commitment of ASEAN Member States Leaders under the ASEAN Community 2025 to realise a rules-based, people-oriented, people-centred community bound by fundamental principles, shared values and norms, in which our peoples enjoy human rights, fundamental freedoms, and social justice. The current situation in Brunei reflects the contrary, and will have negative implication to jeopardise the vision of ASEAN and consequently the identity of ASEAN as a collective region.
We urge Brunei to uphold its name being an “abode of peace”, a society that upholds and respects diversity, where difference is approached with compassion.
We look forward to seeing Brunei become a role model in ASEAN, as the region strives towards the better practices of democracy in partnership with civil society. We hope Brunei will strive to achieve this through the sharing of prosperity and by respecting the equal rights of all.
Signed:
On March 8 we gather throughout the world to celebrate International Women’s Day. The theme for IWD 2019 is #BalanceForBetter and calls for a global push for professional and social equality.
We celebrate the women that have progressed rights throughout the region and urge governments, policy makers, and employers to address discrimination and develop innovative policies and programs to advance women’s economic and employment parity.
Discrimination and lack of equal employment opportunities are common experiences of trans people. Employment discrimination in trans communities is a human rights and public health issue. Yet, few countries in the region have anti-discrimination legislation to provide protection against discriminatory hiring practices. Lack of gender recognition and systemic barriers often ‘out’ trans people in the employment process. Lack of employment directly impacts other areas of their lives, where trans people continue to experience significant challenges and compounded discrimination that impacts their personal safety and security, access to education, adequate housing, and appropriate and compassionate healthcare. Solutions must be developed that address the many co-existing layers of that impact the lived realities of trans people.
APTN publication “Denied Work: An audit of employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity in South-East Asia” is the first research project of its kind on such a scale examining discrimination against trans people seeking employment in the region. As evidenced by the report, trans people experience significant barriers to even obtain interviews for jobs compared to similarly qualified cisgender applicants. This study is indicative of discrimination faced by trans people at the initial stages of job application. There needs to be continued research and dialogue on employment discrimination of trans people.
There are recommended actions that society, government and institutions can be enact to reduce violence and protect trans people. It is critical that trans people are the leaders in these solutions and meaningfully incorporated in everything step of the decision making process.
Today and moving forward, we urge countries and allies to step up in taking action. Ensure that in dialogues surround feminist ideals and women’s rights that these dialogues and recommendation improve the quality of life, dignity and safety of trans women.
I was invited to attend the 2nd Asia Pacific Rainbow Family Forum in Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China, 11th – 13th May 2018, which coincided with the International Family Equality Day (IFED) and International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT) and it was certainly a refreshing new experience.
Let’s face it, most of us who are activists or advocates, are oriented to action, with the usual focus is on “what’s out there”, and we usually put aside our own personal challenges thinking that the ‘cause’ is bigger than ‘me’, thus sacrificing the need for happiness and accepting burnout and anger as part of lived reality of an activist / advocate.
Coming from Malaysia, a South East Asian country where emotions are not usually uttered in ways that would be beneficial or emotionally supportive for an individual, to be included in forums and conversations that incorporated the most pertinent situation in an individual’s lives into the ‘cause’ that one is advocating for, can be confusing and welcoming at the same time.
Confusing because there’s so much of emotion being shared freely among participants and welcoming because it’s warm and uplifting. The most apt description that I can think of is similar to the warm embrace of a mother.
When I was offered to write a few words, I was torn between writing a report that’s filled with text or a personal feedback of my experience throughout the forum and I decided that I may not be able to do the APRFF 2018 justice in any form but by being honest in my feedback.
As in any forum, workshops and events, there will be speakers and topics that have been set that’s according to the theme but what makes APRFF different is that, the forum is not just talk…its about living the experiences. The close relationship and how hospitable they are that you immediately feel a sense of belonging.
As in any forum, workshops and events, there will be speakers and topics that have been set that’s according to the theme but what makes APRFF different is that, the forum is not just talk…its about living the experiences. The close relationship and how hospitable they are that you immediately feel a sense of belonging.
One of the most emotional and meaningful session for me was during the breakout of Global Interfaith Discussion where we were encouraged to continue our sharing and conversations with any of the faith leaders / speakers. We spoke about our deeply personal issues and for me, to be able to share my concern on being a transgender parent, having a child who is ‘ADHD’ and dyslexic, knowing that I can share my deepest fear, with people who understand and are in the same boat…..it was freedom.
Asia Pacific Rainbow Family Forum creates a platform like no other, especially for LGBTIQ parents, a platform that’s solid and supportive, in creating a better and brighter future fill with love and hope for our children.
