The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is extremely significant on the LGBTQIA+ community. That presented us with a dilemma. Will we look for new organizations to support? Or do we once again support the organizations of recent years?
At the beginning of this year, the board – as in previous years – started looking for organizations that we can support this year. The outbreak of the corona crisis quickly cast a different light on our usual approach, because we received the news from various quarters that the crisis is hitting LGBTI organizations hard:
- E.g. via the Outright Action International report that we shared with you last time, which shows that LGBTI people worldwide end up in inhumane situations. Think of (many more) evictions, violence, the reversal and/or deterioration of previously acquired rights, etc.
- We read concrete examples of this in emails from organizations previously supported by us. Out of compassion, we approached them to encourage them and to inform them how they are doing. Each and every one of them came up with poignant examples that touched us deeply.
It presented the board with a dilemma: How do you make a selection of 5 organizations when almost all LGBTI organizations worldwide are now at a loss? How fair is it in these times of crisis to give 5 organizations the hope of financial support, while we know that our choice will be (less than) half of them (because normally we support 2, at most 3 organizations)? The board has taken the time to examine these dilemmas and came up with the following exceptional solution: we support the organizations that we previously supported. The members unanimously approved this proposal. This way, the organizations have less to worry about their survival. They can continue to assist their communities in times of increased violence, social isolation and lack of food and shelter. And hope for better times.