Donate to the South Asian Gay Movement

Ive always wanted to figure out what I can do to help the South Asian Gay movement but ive never been able to figure out where my cash would have the most impact. So I've recently been doing some research with regards to this.

There seem to be two primary kinds of organisations. The first is a grass roots level organisation. They have help lines, safe houses, education classes for hiv prevention etc. They cater primarily to the lowest of the low in society who have been destituted due to their sexuality. They normally also work with sex workers and HIV prevention programs.

The other kind is social groups. These bring gay people together and form friends circles and support groups. I think the raison d'etre of these organizations is to help folks lead a fun filled social lives, for those who are already capable of standing on their own feet.

The one thing that they might have in common is Advocacy. Nepals Blue diamond sciety seems to have won inroads into the legal recognistion of same sex couples. Section 377 in India seems like the the next most demonstrated law. There are heated debates being spawned both to keep it and to reject. The fact that The lawmakers in the recent past have chosen not to remove it, make sure to help us realise that this is no longer a vestige of the victorian era but a very indian law. The grass roots level organisations have been much more vocal in the advocacy side of the debate. The Social groups typically have not been able to commit much funds to the advocacy side due to fear of retribution in India. The US Based social groups are too involved in their own coutry's fight against Prop 8, and have not been contributing anything at all to the fights back in South Asia.

The NAZ foundation based in Lodon has come out being the single leader in all this. They seem like they have a very stable predictable approach to this fight. They set up grass roots level organisation in almost every major city or town in India, Pakistan, Srilanka. They set up umbrella organisations under the set up organisation. They send their own staff to work with the locally set up organisation to teach how to run such an organisation for a preiod of time. All these organisations get funding from various sources with significant resources. They are very active in the fight against Section 377 and file various suits and cases every year.

I think that the Naz foundation is the best organisation to donate money to if you want to biggest bang for the buck in terms of removing 377. I do believe that removal of Section 377 will remove the need to actually move out of the country for those who have done so in the past and create a vibrant queer community within the country and really help people come out in big numbers.

Today we stand at a turning point in history where more and more folks are coming Out and proving a good direction for all these people who are ready to give back to the community is more important now and than ever before no matter where you live. in the US, or the UK or elsewhere.

Naz Donation Page:
http://www.nfi.net/donations.htm