First ideas for Collaboration Between the LGBT Education Network and ILGA (World)

Results of the Needs-Assessment

The 60 respondents were of a diversity of backgrounds. Many respondents were activists from LGBT organizations, but there were many as well from universities, AIDS/sex education NGO’s and from municipalities. From the needs-assessment, I draw some conclusions, which are relevant to the collaboration with ILGA.

1. It was found out that homosexualities and gender identities vary widely and educating only and specifically about ‘gays/lesbians’, ‘LGBT’, ‘sexual minorities’, ‘queer’ or ‘sexual diversity’ will deny global realities.
2. The global trend to neo-liberal policies and conservative sexual politics are perceived as serious threats to education about LGBT issues.
3. When I started the needs assessment, I started with a focus on schools. The need assessment however, made clear that on a global level, we should make a list of four priorities: media, police, health, and last, schools.

Proposed aim and structure of the network

I propose as a mission statement for the network: We raise the quality of education about LGBT issues by comparing, testing and inspiring. Based on the needs I identified, I propose the following 3 goals:

1. Identifying and developing interventions for access to general organizations, training and transfer of learning effects within the organizations
2. Testing and monitoring effects of these interventions
3. Sharing experiences and guiding each other towards effective work

The network will (only) not exclusively focus on ‘LGBT-education’ but have a wider focus, to allow for experiments with more effect and for better access to mainstream organizations.

The exchange aim of the network will take the shape of an association with individual members, who exchange experiences through an interactive website.
The aim to work together on practical projects will take the shape of a foundation working on pilot projects, which are focussed on developing effective training and implementation formats. The network will incorporate some capacity building were it is directly related to successfully operating these pilot projects by activist organizations.

Opportunities for Collaboration with ILGA

The LGBT Education Network (both the interrelated association and foundation) will become members of ILGA. Members of ILGA member-organizations will be invited to join the association when they are actively involved in education and training.

1. Collaboration on capacity building

When working with LGBT activist organizations, the LGBT Education Network will be confronted with problems concerning continuity and professional expertise. To try to solve these would to a task too encompassing for the network itself. This would be a major area of collaboration with ILGA world, which seems to be the first international NGO LGBT organizations would look too for such.
A major collaboration effort could be that the efforts of the LGBT Education Network to find experts and funding for the website and pilot projects will be combined with those of ILGA to create a capacity building programme. To make this a reality, more discussion is needed to define what such a programme should be about. This is especially important, because from the need assessment it was clear the word “capacity building” was used for a range of meanings and local LGBT organizations have many, and often unclear or even irrational expectations of what support on capacity building should be.

It could be considered that meeting of the LGBT Education Network will be organized in conjunction with ILGA conferences. This may save travel costs and it may be easier to acquire funding for scholarships for attendants.

2. Collaboration on the international human rights lobby

The LGBT Education Network Association will certainly be confronted with local, national and international pressure to keep LGBT issues out of human rights or sex education training. There is a great need to work together against these conservative and neo-liberal forces.
The network could develop lobbying strategies in this and link with ILGA to combat resistance against democratic education which provides full information without prejudice to the public and to professionals. The educational expertise from the network could add to the mainstreaming attempts of ILGA, because a lot of ‘mainstreaming’ is in practice dependent on positive personal views of delegates and civil servants – which can be taught and trained.

The network intends to strengthen the ties between the international labour organizations (Education International and PSI), scientific world and the LGBT movement. In these contacts the position of ILGA can be taken along and improved.

The LGBT Education Network will probably try to become a “specialized UNESCO network” in a few years. If this succeeds, this may give the international LGBT movement an extra foothold in UN circles.