On Friday 23 April 2021, Brazil Fund announced the list of projects selected for the LGBTQIA+ Defending Rights Programme. The 20 initiatives that will receive support are located in 13 states, in all five regions of Brazil and will receive up to R$40 thousand each.
This resource is aimed at institutional support and/or carrying out activities. In other words, it is aimed at both the maintenance of the organisation itself and the activities that the group carries out or wants to put into action, in the area of human rights of LGBTQIA+ people.
Although the rights of LGBTQIA+ people is an ongoing element of Brazil Fund´s General Call for Papers, this is the foundation´s first specific programme for this community. Two hundred and twenty projects were submitted.
“This programme is very important. With it, we hope to consolidate the understanding that sexual rights are also human rights. It is a programme that broadens the human rights agenda.” Said Veriano Terto, vice president of the Interdisciplinary Brazilian AIDS Association (Abia), a member of Brazil Fund´s Consultative Board and on the programme´s Selection Committee.
See below for the list:
| Group/Collective/Organisation | State | Region |
| Association of Friends in Life | Distrito Federal | Centre-West |
| Venus Combat Boots Feminist Lesbian Association | Distrito Federal | Center-West |
| LGBT Institute for Culture, Art and Memory | Distrito Federal | Center-West |
| Fervo2k20 Plataform | Bahia | North-East |
| Trans Moving Forward Collective | Bahia | North-East |
| Safo Drums | Ceará | North-East |
| Lions of the North LGBT Movement | Pernambuco | North-East |
| Matizes Group | Piauí | North-East |
| Parintins Association for Gays, Lesbians and Transvestites | Amapá | North |
| Association of Gays, Lesbians and Transvestites at the Triple Border | Amapá | North |
| Black Shoe Collective – Black Amazonian Lesbians | Pará | North |
| Athena Cores Group | Roraima | North |
| Transvest | Minas Gerais | South-East |
| Betim LGBTI+ Community Association | Minas Gerais | South-East |
| Trans Equal Working Opportunitys | Minas Gerais | South-East |
| Connection G Group for LGBTQI Citizenship | Rio de Janeiro | South-East |
| Casa Nem | Rio de Janeiro | South-East |
| Girls´ Work | São Paulo | South-East |
| Bajubá LGBTQIA+ Collective | Paraná | South |
| LGBTI+ Art and Politics Happens | Santa Catarina | South |
The Selection Process
Brazil Fund, in existence for 15 years by the end of this year 2021, has created and perfected a methodology for project selection that prioritises an activist approach, with relevant activities in the different areas of human rights.
The first round of selection is to screen and verify the suitability of each proposal in terms of the focus of the programme. In the specific case of LGBTQIA+ Defending Rights, it was a priority to support groups, collectives and grassroots organisations that were focused on defending the rights of transsexual and intersex people, LGBTQIA+ youth, the reproductive rights of this sector of the population, among others. All the criteria of the call for applications can be verified in this link, particularly in the sections, ´Presentation´, ´About the organisations this programme aims to support´ and ´Important Aspects of Project Selection´.
Next, Brazil Fund calls in an independent Selection Committee. The members of the Committee for this call for applications were: Luiza Silva, Professor at the Universidade do Estado da Bahia (Bahia State University) and activist of feminist and LGBTQIA+ movements; Madalena Guilhon, Vice-President of the Advisory Board of Fundo Elas; Rafaelly Wiest, from Grupo Dignidade (Dignity Group); and Veriano Terto, Vice-President of the Associação Brasileira Interdisciplinar de Aids (Abia – Interdisciplinary Brazilian AIDS Association) and a member of Brazil Fund´s Consultative Board.
“This Selection Committee considered some aspects to be priorities in analysing the proposals, such as a diversity of topics within the broad field of the defence of the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, territorial diversity in order to cover regions and territories around Brazil, innovative proposals for activities and intersectionality between social markers of difference.” Said the professor and activist Luiza Silva.
The Selection Committee´s recommendations are then given to Brazil Fund´s Board of Directors for the final decision.
