Welcome and thank you for joining us, as we launch ILGA-NAC’s engagement platform.
Sharon mottley, ilga-nac regional program manager.
As an organization whose membership spans the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States of America we are uniquely poised to provide insight into the 2SLGBTQIA+ landscape which we hope will stimulate and encourage regular site visits, thoughtful feedback, and valuable input and contribution. As a collective, we envision a region where the lives and rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities are supported, protected, and celebrated.
Our strength resides in our diversity and inclusivity, we will uplift each other while breaking down the barriers of injustice and discrimination.
We are under no illusion that the immense strides made towards advancing the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the Americas since the 1960s and more recently in the Caribbean are under threat. In June 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared publicly that transphobia, biphobia, and homophobia were all on the rise. Three months later, far-right, conservative, and anti-transgender groups organized a nationwide protest against teaching 2SLGBTQIA+ content in Canadian schools. Across the border, also in mid-2023, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), for the first time in its 40+ year history, declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States, citing “an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses”. In the Caribbean after more than a decade of concentrated and collaborative efforts by regional and community-based organizations, strides have been made towards ensuring that LGBTQI+ people are recognized, protected, and afforded protection under the law. Decriminalization has gained a foothold in the region. Given the influence of Americanism in the Caribbean, it is not far-fetched to anticipate that the current assault on rights and freedoms will extend southward. Stemming the tide of anti-LGBTQI+ sentiment and violence requires concerted attention and collective action.
Together we will fortify communities across our Region ensuring the sustainability of our collective achievements while charting paths that yield tangible benefits.
Our mandate is clear. We must collaborate to positively and purposefully improve the lives of 2SLGBTQIA+ people while stemming the tide of chronic violence, systemic discrimination, unemployment, and homelessness. Since operationalizing NAC in August 2023, we have engaged in several member and ally engagement activities, including updating our members’ database, co-hosting our first regional conference, Stronger Together in March 2024, and developing our 2025-2029 Strategic Plan. Over the last six (6) months you would also have noticed increased activity on our social media platforms all part of our comprehensive communication strategy. We are rounding off 2024 with the launch of our website, the ILGA-NAC LinkedIn page, awarding sub-grants to four (4) organizations to strengthen their decriminalization efforts and the Board of Directors election in November. Through these efforts ILGA-NAC will strategically build and strengthen alliances, acknowledging the intersectionality of issues that directly and indirectly impact the lives of our community members. Together we will fortify communities across our Region ensuring the sustainability of our collective achievements while charting paths that yield tangible benefits.
We are all called to serve in one way or another. My ikigai continues to be advocacy and activism which will be reflected in my tenure at ILGA-NAC. We are making space for YOU. Join us as we make liberation a reality for all 2SLGBTQIA+ people. Forward Ever Backward Never.
