Sappho for Equality
Founded2003
FocusLGBT
Location
Area served
Eastern India
Methodsupport services, arts, advocacy
Websitewww.sapphokolkata.in

Sappho for Equality is an organization based in Kolkata, India, working for the rights of lesbians, bisexual women, and trans men in Eastern India.[1]

It focuses on community empowerment and support, engagement with civil society and other organizations, and advocacy and lobbying.[1]

History

Sappho for Equality was founded out of Sappho, an organization established in June 1999 by three middle-class Bengali lesbian couples,[1][2][3] inspired by the 1996 film Fire.[3] The organization was named after the 6th century Greek poet.[1]

According to Sappho for Equality's website, Sappho worked to "provide safe space and emotional support for sexually marginalized women and female to male transpersons," but moved on to "rights/justice based framework to fight homophobia, discrimination and violence against LBT persons."[1]

Core members of Sappho founded Sappho for Equality in 2003, focusing on activism and public outreach.[2]

According to Sappho for Equality's website, "Sappho today exists parallel to Sappho for Equality as the LBT community based informal support group.")[1] According to Srila Roy in OUPblog, "Members of Sappho are automatically members of SFE, but not the other way round. Sappho embodies, in this way, two common strands of the queer movement in India—one that links sexuality to identity (the support group) and one that attempts to break this very association (the activist platform)."[2]

Work

Sappho for Equality's community support work includes offering peer counseling, running a helpline[4] and counseling service, and conducting workshops.[1][5] As of 2013, its helpline received seven calls a day.[6]

It runs an annual "Sexuality Academy", works with students,[7] participates in the Kolkata Book Fair,[2][3] documents issues like lesbian suicides,[3] and does advocacy work on issues like Section 377, in addition to working with police, medical students, and medical practitioners.[1][5]

Sappho for Equality organizes Dialogues, an annual LGBT film and video festival established in 2007.[8][9][10][11]

It publishes Swakanthey, a magazine described by Scroll.in as "a biannual, bilingual six-page newsletter of academic articles, non-fiction stories and poetry," established in 2004.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Sappho for Equality". Sappho for Equality. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Lesbian existence and marginalization in India | OUPblog". OUPblog. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bag, Shamik (8 February 2014). "Love struck Juliet". Mint. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  4. ↑ Trivedi, Divya (18 June 2013). "New helpline for lesbians in Delhi". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Activities". Sappho for Equality. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  6. ↑ Biswas, Ranjita (June 2013). "Indian Women Talk About Sex – in Cyberspace". Inter Press Service. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "Out of the campus closet". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  8. ↑ "Three-day LGBT film fest starts". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "LGBT film fest in Kolkata this weekend - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  10. ↑ "LGBT film fest to focus on sexuality in South Asia". IndiaTV. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  11. ↑ Ratnam, Dhamini (6 June 2015). "The Sex Talk: A queer film at a theatre next to you". Mint. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  12. ↑ Dore, Bhavya. "For LGBT community, the internet can't quite replace magazine culture". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  13. ↑ "When will India get its first lesbian comic character?". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
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