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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Chennai Dost Projects - 2012

Chennai Dost Projects - 2012

Chennai Queer Fest Project

Chennai Dost would like to organize yearly Queer Festival along with its allies to showcase the art & literature talents of the community. This will include Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual men and women, Bi, Gay-curious etc. The events will comprise of Queer themes and will be organized every year.

Objective

To begin with Chennai Dost along with its allies would like to organize Queer Festival 2012 to showcase the artistic skills of the LGBQ community. This will help them to provide a platform to exhibit their talents and also help the public to have awareness on Queer issues and talents.

Queer Fest Programs

To begin with Queer fest 2012 will provide an opportunity for the people who would like to exhibit their talents in areas like Dance, Drama, Paintings, Photography, Video, Music and Poetry. Queer themed drama and video will be encouraged to be on stage at Queer Fest 2012.

Queer Fest Competition

Queer Festival will conduct a competition for the performers. Exciting prizes will be given which will encourage them to showcase their talent. Announcement about the competition will be circulated to the community through Chennai Dost's media and online presence.

Need for the project

As we understood the enormous financial and manpower need for this project, Chennai Dost is currently looking for funds to conduct Queer Festival in 2012.


GLB Stop Violence Project

Violence against homosexual men and women can be difficult to identify and on most cases not being recorded or approached in Police stations by the victims fearing on social environment in India. Since the Delhi High court judgement on Section 377 (Criminalizing homosexuality), the number of homophobic incidents, gay extortion, harassment, blackmailing, identity theft of personals in online media, forced marriages, forced medical therapy, emotional blackmailing by the family, forced religious rituals and prayers against homosexuality are increasing. From 2009 - 2011, Chennai Dost alone have recorded more than 21 such cases in and around Tamilnadu. Recently we have done a sample survey and we believe that there are 7 to 10% LGB population in Chennai alone, which is approxiamately 700000 to 1 million LGB people in Chennai. Also we would like to take this project to non-metropolitan cities such as Hyderabad, Vizhagapattinam, Pondicherry, Coimbatore, Madurai, Thrissur and Calicut which will cover four major states in India.

Objective

Chennai Dost would like to stop these violences against fellow homosexual men and women, hence our GLB Stop Violence project will focus on helping, supporting and preventing such victims from their emotional, physical, financial, educational and mental stress.

People sometimes misunderstand violence and think it is only physical abuse when actually it can be emotional, financial and/or sexual abuse as well. It can be of any form harassment,

Stop Violence Project

GLB Stop Violence Project works directly with victims and survivors.

Our direct services include:

Legal advocacy and court accompaniment
24-Hour emergency helpline
Crisis intervention and safety planning
Housing and employment advocacy
Emergency safe home
Emotional support and support groups
Counseling

Education and Outreach

Equally important is the work Chennai Dost conducts to raise awareness – empowering victims/survivors to self-identify the abuse in their lives, educating the service providers they will encounter so the service providers respond appropriately, and educating the GLB community so it can provide support and acceptance. Chennai Dost offers community organizing and education; and professional training in GLB cultural competency and violence.

Political Advocacy

Additionally, Chennai Dost advocates for policy reform to ensure that GLB victims of violence have access to equal government-funded services and to ensure that government policies on GLB violence are written or re-written to be inclusive of all violence victims regardless of their sexual orientation.

Legal Assistance for Victims

The GLB Stop Violence Attorney Program provides free and sliding-scale legal assistance to eligible gay, lesbian, bisexual men and women victims of such violence in and around Tamilnadu. Through direct representation and the utilization of a pro bono network of attorneys, the program aims to ensure GLB victims of violence are able to enjoy full access to the legal system and allow victims to pursue all legal remedies. The program provides safety planning, referrals and legal representation.


Need for the project

For the above services Chennai Dost needs funding for counselors, legal advisors, outreach workers, helpline attender. And also it needs funding for renting an emergency safe home, helpline centre and monthly helpline phone bill. Currently Chennai Dost has been a self-funded organisation, through our limited resources and financial help we are supporting and helping homophobic victims, but to make this project to be more effective and continue our services, Chennai Dost needs manpower and financial help.



MAGZHILAGAM Project

Objective

Chennai Dost is planning to open up a physical and also an online library for LGBTQ related books and also to encourage LGBTQ Indian Literature to flourish. Thus our Magzhilagam project consists of four core activities. So far in India there have not been sufficient facilities for LGBTQ related books neither any support system to encourage LGBTQ literature. And also there has been very few LGBTQ related books and literature in India.

Magzhilagam Library

Chennai Dost is planning to open up a physical library located in Chennai, the capital of Tamilnadu which consists of more than 700000 LGBTQ people. Travelers from abroad, researchers, students, health professionals and the LGBTQ community will have access to LGBTQ related books. A free library for its members to access LGBTQ related books which includes sexuality, fiction, non-fiction, biography, literature, drama etc in English, Hindi and all other Indian regional languages. Thus this will help people to understand more about alternate sexuality and sexualities.

Magzhilagam Online Library

We would like to have an online library for people who access internet. This will enable people to have access to LGBTQ related books and literature who may not be able to reach the physical library.

Magzhil Publishers

Through Magzhil Publishers Chennai Dost will help new authors and writers to publish their books which help them financially for publications related to LGBTQ themes. Also it will identify and encourage such writers and authors for LGBTQ literature. Every month there will be atleast one publication from Magzhil Publishers.

Magzhil Awards

To Support and encourage authors and writers on LGBTQ literature, Magzhil Awards will presented for the best writings, books, poems and artists. Artists who have continuously performed arts such as music, dance, crafts, paintings etc based on LGBTQ themes will be given award every year for their Best Services.

Need for the Project

To begin this great project Chennai Dost needs financial help. The operations needs majorly financial help to buy books, fund for publishing, Cash awards for Magzhil Awards and employees to run these operations


ENNIYUR THOZHA PROJECT

Objective

The Enniyur Thozha Project operates three core program areas in order to provide life-saving and life-affirming resources for LGBQ youth and to create safe, accepting and inclusive environments for all young people, regardless of sexual orientation. 'Enniyur Thozha' is a regional tamil word which means 'My dear friend'.

WE SAVE LIVES of Millions of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Queer youth

Enniyur Thozha Lifeline

The Enniyur Thozha Lifeline will become the only statewide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention lifeline for LGBQ youth. The Enniyur Thozha Lifeline is a free and confidential service that offers hope and someone to talk to, 24/7. Volunteer Lifeline counselors staff our call center, Each year, tens of thousands of calls will be fielded from young people across the state of Tamilnadu.

ASK Enniyur Thozha

"Ask Enniyur Thozha" an online, non-time sensitive question and answer resource for young people with questions surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity. And also outreach program to reach out to the non-educated, non-internet users to provide sex education and awareness to those who need it.

Enniyur Thozha CHAT

Enniyur Thozha Chat is a free, confidential, secure online messaging service that provides live help through our website. Enniyur ThozhaChat is only intended to assist those who are not at risk for suicide. It will be available 24/7. Connect with a volunteer who can support you with your concerns and questions. And a Support Center for the people who would like to meet the counselors for assistance.


YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL

Currently Chennai Dost's Chemistry Club operates as its Youth wing having representations in various colleges and universities operating as a unofficial group. The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) serves as a liaison between youth statewide and The Enniyur Thozha Project, as it relates to young people and the issues surrounding suicide, sexuality and gender identity. The YAC submits recommendations to The Enniyur Thozha Project in an effort to increase Enniyur Thozha visibility and best serve the LGBQ youth population..

PUBLIC POLICY

The Enniyur Thozha Project actively participates in advocacy initiatives at the state and national levels, aiming to influence public policy to meet the needs of LGBQ youth, especially in the areas of mental health and suicide prevention. The Enniyur Thozha Project continues to work toward its goal to mandate suicide prevention programs in every colleges and universities for students who are above 18 years of age.

RESEARCH

The Enniyur Thozha Project will commit to ensure more suicide prevention reseach studies are conducted that focus on critical issues faced by LGBQ youth. Additionally, we are conducting our own research using data from our ET Project and other programs.

THE LIFEGUARD WORKSHOP PROGRAM

The Enniyur Thozha Lifeguard Workshop Program will use a structured, age-appropriate curriculum with trained facilitators to address topics including sexual orientation and gender identity, the impacts of language and behavior on LGBQ youth and suicide prevention skills in colleges and universities.

Need for the project

For the above services Chennai Dost needs funding for counselors, legal advisors, outreach workers, helpline attender. And also it needs funding for renting an emergency safe home, helpline centre and monthly helpline phone bill. Currently Chennai Dost has been a self-funded organisation, through our limited resources and financial help we are supporting and helping our fellow men and women, but to make this project to be more effective and continue our services, Chennai Dost needs manpower and financial help.

Cheers
Treasurer
Chennai Dost

2 comments:

  1. Have you guys tried getting in touch with Manhunt or Planetromeo Foundation on this?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Friends, i must say, you are really doing a great job. All the best to you.

    Regards
    Yug
    imyag.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete