THE POLITICS OF PARTNERSHIPS AMONG LGBTI ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ON HIV/AIDS ACTIVISM IN AFRICA Focus on challenges and opportunities International Expert Meeting on HIV/AIDS prevention for MSM

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THE POLITICS OF PARTNERSHIPS AMONG LGBTI
ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ON
HIV/AIDS ACTIVISM IN AFRICA Focus on challenges
and opportunitiesInternational Expert Meeting
on HIV/AIDS prevention for MSMs, WSWs and
Trans-genders5 6 November 2009Amsterdam,
Holland

• PRESENTED BY
• FIKILE VILAKAZI
• COALITION OF AFRICAN LESBIANS

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Content

• Challenges in Partnerships among LGBTI
  organizations and with other social movements
• CASE EXAMPLE (based on real experience)
  Partnership between CAL, MTU, LLU and RHU in
  conducting research on HIV/AIDS among lb women
  and trans-diverse persons in Africa
• Opportunities for Partnerships among LGBTI
  organizations and with other social movements
• Recommendations for effective and genuine
  partnerships

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Challenges in partnerships among LGBTI
organizations and with other social movements

• Ideology
• Feminist, behaviorist, human rights, humanist,
  socialist, patriarchal etc
• Values and Principles
• Care, Support, Affirmation, Respect, Dignity,
  Collectivity, Individuality etc

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Challenges in partnerships among LGBTI
organizations and with other social movements

• Organizational Culture
• Respect, openness, transparency, accountability,
  dialogue, feminism, humanism, hierarchical,
  equality, competition, trust etc
• Vision
• Socialism, Capitalism, Monarchy, Democracy,
  Theocracy etc
• Donor and Funding Policies
• Smaller developing vs big developed organizations

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CASE EXAMPLE (based on real experience)Partnersh
ip between CAL, MTU, LLU and RHU on conducting
research on HIV/AIDS among lb women and
trans-diverse persons in Africa

• Consultation
• Build consensus on values, principles, process
  and content
• Proposal written and takes no account of the
  agreed values, principles and process due to
  donor requirements
• CAL could not endorse proposal and currently is
  uncomfortable to continue with the partnership

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Some of the principles that were disregarded in
the proposal

• There must be genuine partnership between
  research institutions, donor agencies, CAL and
  others local partners
• The role of CAL should be to lead with on the
  conceptualization, design, data collection,
  analysis, writing and dissemination of research
  findings and to advocate post research

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Some of the principles that were disregarded in
the proposal

• There must be strong links between the research
  project and advocacy both during the process of
  research and after
• We must begin thinking about what happens after
  the research both in terms of increasing access
  as well as any backlash in the public domain
• We must ensure inclusivity, accountability,
  transparency

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Some of the principles that were disregarded in
the proposal

• We must work as a feminist collective with other
  social movements who are committed to feminist
  thinking and eradication of patriarchy in our HIV
  work
• What we know (our analysis) must be used to
  transform policy through advocacy and movement
  building
• We must be vigilant that what we know is not
  written on behalf of us but with us on the lead
  as part of the collective. This is knowledge and
  knowledge is power

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Our standpointCAL Philosophy and Vision

• PHILOSOPHY
• The Coalition of African Lesbians subscribes to
  the philosophy of African Radical Feminism
• VISION
• The Coalition of African Lesbians CAL is a
  network of organizations committed to African
  lesbian equality and visibility. We work to
  transform Africa into a place where all lesbians
  enjoy the full range of human rights, secure in
  the knowledge that we are recognized as full
  citizens, with rich and diverse cultures, and a
  significant and respected presence in all spheres
  of life, through personal and organizational
  growth. Our work is shaped by an African radical
  feminist understanding, informed by research, and
  strengthened by the claiming of social and
  economic power.

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Some of the things we know and were not included
in the partnership proposal after an agreement
was made

• We know that LB women and trans-diverse persons
  have sex as a matter of fact and some of us are
  infected and living with HIV and AIDS
• We name ourselves with certain terms as an act of
  political consciousness based on the context of
  exclusion, marginalization and injustice. It is
  critical that we name ourselves for what we think
  and know that we are.

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Some of the things we know and were not included
in the proposal

• WSWs is not a homogenous group. We must
  recognize the diversities that exist, name them
  as an act of claiming our power
• The terms we claim
• (WSWs, LB women, GN, BF, PPNT) ,
• Women who have Sex with Women Lesbian and
  Bisexual women,
• Trans-diverse persons (Gender Non-conforming
  persons, Biological Females, Pre, Post and Non
  Operative Trans persons).

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Some of the things we know and were not included
in the proposal

• Many of us are HIV positive and are silent about
  it but we can explain why we are at risk and
  vulnerable
• We have sex
• Our sex and our sexuality is complex and
  textured We know what we do when we have sex,
  its our dance, our rhythm and non of it is
  homogenous.

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Some of the things we know and were not included
in the proposal

• We know that we have sex for different reasons
  desire, pleasure, transaction, intimacy,
  curiosity, even solidarity and other reasons
• We also know that the majority of us live in the
  margins of society (homophobia, patriarchy and
  sexualized misogyny , race, economic status,
  extreme destitution and poverty,
  un-employability) and how this makes us
  vulnerable and increases our risk

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Some of the things we know and were not included
in the proposal

• Being on the margins makes us vulnerable but it
  also makes us powerful because we know that we
  shifting and pushing boundaries, we living the
  shifting
• We are conscious, we not just living, we also
  analyzing, thinking, reflecting and making sense
  of our realities

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Our personal is political

• Our sex lives in our bodies and our bodies are
  our frontline in our communities
• Our bodies trans-port us to various spheres in
  society, home, school, clinics, taxi ranks,
  church, work, clubs.
• Because of the hostile context in most of these
  spheres, we constantly and consciously negotiate,
  exert, insert, ourselves and our sex in the way
  that we present and express ourselves. We are in
  constant transgression

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Our personal is political

• Trans-gressors are pervasively punished and
  violated in the spheres that we live in because
  most of us do not conform
• This context and our experiences within it poses
  a barrier for us to access health care services
  and we are therefore not in the written numbers
  and records/ we are treated as non-entities and
  that is political for us because we see this as
  informed by patriarchy, misogyny and forced
  heterosexualization

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WE KNOW ABOUT US AND WE WANT TO LEAD WITH

• The level and depth of feminist analysis and
  debate in our spaces about our vulnerabilities
  and risks to HIV must be the drive to make sense
  of the problem of HIV
• We know, we think, we are aware, we are conscious
  and we must lead with on any knowledge
  development process
• We must be driven by feminist thinking, analysis
  and sexual health and rights framework in making
  what we know public

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Opportunities in Partnerships among LGBTI
organizations and with other social movements

• All of us are affected by HIV/AIDS
• The majority of us are infected with HIV/AIDS
  regardless of our different sexual orientation
  and gender identity
• This creates a sense of collective urgency in
  addressing the HIV pandemic within our
  communities
• We cannot afford to work in isolation, we must
  work as a collective. This will always be an
  opportunity ( as long we respect collective
  values and principles in the process of
  partnerships and movement building)

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Recommendations for effective and genuine
partnerships

• Inclusivity and collective dialogue from the
  beginning of anything and everything
• Consultative and participatory approach
• Collective decision making including all
  stakeholders
• Treat each stakeholder as an equal in the process
• Establish shared principles from the beginning
  and adhere to them throughout the process
• An environment that is based on trust and
  transparency is key