New fund aims to help Iranian LGBT community

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

IGLHRC's Persian-language website — IGLHRC’s Persian-language website

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has launched a fund aimed at supporting the emerging Iranian LGBT community and addressing LGBT human rights violations in Iran.

The goal is to support:

Advocacy, research or outreach projects to improve the lives of LGBT Iranians and other marginalised groups there.
Building new or strengthening existing capacities within the Iranian LGBT community.
Developing leadership skills among LGBT activists.Developing leadership skills among LGBT activists.
Creating resources for LGBT Iranians.
Devising new ways to mainstream LGBT rights issues within the Iranian society.

Applications for funding are invited from all interested individuals, regardless of their nationality, residency status, sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Applicants can each apply for up to U.S. $3,000 funding for their projects.

Proposals’ activities and objectives should directly benefit the Iranian LGBT community, especially members of marginalized groups within the Iranian LGBT community. IGLHRC strongly encourages marginalized members of the community, (lesbians, and transgender individuals, LGBT people with disabilities, and LGBT Iranians from ethnic or religious minority groups) to apply. IGLHRC is seeking proposals aimed at providing services and resources to LGBT Iranians, regardless of their geographical locations.

The new fund is part of IGLHRC’s recent focus on Iran, which has included a series of LGBT-related publications in Persian and a Persian-language website.