Now Reading
New focus on LGBTI rights journalism at St. Paul’s Foundation

New focus on LGBTI rights journalism at St. Paul’s Foundation

Clockwise from upper left: Erasing 76 Crimes at Amsterdam Pride Walk 2017, St. Paul's Foundation logo, grave of 76crimes.com writer Eric Ohena Lembembe in Cameroon, Colin Stewart and Khavor Demario Brown in 2017 at Intimate Conviction conference in Jamaica, map of countries with anti-LGBTI laws, logo of NoStringsNG.com. See links below for more information.
Clockwise from upper left: Erasing 76 Crimes at Amsterdam Pride Walk 2017, St. Paul’s Foundation logo, grave of 76crimes.com writer Eric Ohena Lembembe in Cameroon, Colin Stewart and Khavor Demario Brown in 2017 at Intimate Conviction conference in Jamaica, map of countries with anti-LGBTI laws, logo of NoStringsNG.com. See links below for more information.

Starting this month, the mission of the St. Paul’s Foundation is to promote LGBTI rights through advocacy journalism.

See also:

2018: New leadership, new focus at the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation

Colin Stewart, new president of the St. Paul's Foundation, meets with Ugandan LGBTI rights activist Clare Byarugaba during her visit to Los Angeles in 2014. Byarugaba was co-convenor of Uganda's Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law. After her work there ended, she became the convener of the Ugandan chapter of the LGBTI support organization PFLAG.
Colin Stewart, new president of the St. Paul’s Foundation, meets with Ugandan LGBTI rights activist Clare Byarugaba during her visit to Los Angeles in 2014.

It’s a time for new leadership and a new focus at the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation, the LGBTI rights advocacy group that inspired the creation of the Erasing 76 Crimes blog.

Starting this month, the foundation’s concentration is on the promotion of LGBTI rights through advocacy journalism. In the past, that has been just one of many approaches that the charitable U.S. tax-exempt foundation has used in its work seeking justice, fair treatment and recognition of the human rights of LGBTI people worldwide.

[paypal-donation]

The foundation, founded in 2010 by the Rev. Canon Albert Ogle, has worked for LGBTI rights in Uganda, Cameroon and Cuba; at the World Bank; and at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Erasing 76 Crimes blog (https://76crimes.com) was an outgrowth of the foundation’s work in assembling a team of 26 LGBTI activists to attend that AIDS conference to push for the repeal of anti-LGBTI laws in 76 nations.

Starting with that original 2012 network of 26 activists, the Erasing 76 Crimes blog has reported on the battle for LGBTI rights — both successes and failures — in dozens of countries, from Belize and Jamaica through Tunisia, the Gambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya and Egypt to Russia, Chechnya, the Middle East, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. Whenever possible, the reporting is written by or based on the work of local LGBTI rights activists.

The top of the Erasing 76 Crimes homepage on Jan. 25, 2018.
The top of the Erasing 76 Crimes homepage on Jan. 25, 2018.

The blog, along with a companion blog in French (http://76crimesFR.com), has attracted more than 2.2 million unique visitors, including 3,892 regular followers, who in total have read its articles more than 3.6 million times. The blogs’ readers have come from every country in the world except North Korea.

NoStringsNG logoSince 2015, the Erasing 76 Crimes blog has partnered with the LGBTI rights website NoStringsNG (http://nostringsNG.com), published by Nigerian activist Mike Daemon.

In light of those activities, the foundation’s board last month elected the blog’s editor/publisher, Colin Stewart, as its new president and shifted its concentration to advocacy journalism.

Foundation leader Ogle called the blog “one of the most reliable LGBTI self-reporting platforms in the world.”  He added, “I am delighted that … our board elected Colin Stewart to be our new president [to continue the] work to transform these places of extreme inhospitality and violence towards our fellow human beings.”

In recent months, Stewart and Daemon have been working on a plan for a locally led African human rights media network that would be overseen by a board representing African advocacy groups and activist websites that contribute articles and videos to the network. That proposal has not yet been widely discussed while Daemon works on setting up software for a few websites to demonstrate how such a network would function.

Lindy Miles of San Diego was a co-producer of
Lindy Miles of San Diego was a co-producer of “Love Heals Homophobia”, a documentary short that seeks to change attitudes of religious people who are anti-gay. She and her husband help with the resettlement of LGBT refugees.
For his security, photos of Nigerian activist Mike Daemon are not used. He joined the St. Paul's Foundation board this month.
For his security, photos of Nigerian activist Mike Daemon are not used. He joined the St. Paul’s Foundation board this month.

Daemon this month joined the board of the St. Paul’s Foundation as part of his work on the proposed network. Other board members are Lindy Miles of San Diego, California, who continues on the board after last month’s transition, and Susan Stewart of Laguna Niguel, California, the foundation’s new secretary-treasurer.

See Also

In addition to the proposed African media network, the foundation is interested in helping to set up a Caribbean human rights media network that would be overseen by a board representing Caribbean advocacy groups and activist websites that contribute articles and videos to the network.

Susan Stewart, new secretary-treasurer of the St. Paul's Foundation, is a strong supporter of LGBTI rights, a retired hospital finance consultant, and the wife of Colin Stewart. (Colin Stewart photo)
Susan Stewart, new secretary-treasurer of the St. Paul’s Foundation, is a strong supporter of LGBTI rights, a retired hospital finance consultant, and the wife of Colin Stewart. (Colin Stewart photo)

To receive updates about future developments, please send your name and email address to stpaulsfdr@gmail.com.

To volunteer to help as an editor, social media activist, or as a French-English translator for the existing blogs or, later, for an African or Caribbean human rights media network, please send your name, contact information and brief description of your background, talents and availability to stpaulsfdr@gmail.com.

To donate in support of the advocacy journalism of the foundation and affiliated blogs, click this button:

[paypal-donation]

Using that button is the equivalent of visiting PayPal.com and sending the money to the stpaulsfdr@gmail.com account there.

Alternatively, you can send a check to St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation, c/o 21 Marseille, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 USA. Donations to the foundation are U.S. tax-deductible.

For more information, write to Colin Stewart at stpaulsfdr@gmail.com.

View Comments (2)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

© 2022 ERASING 76CRIMES
Scroll To Top

Discover more from Erasing 76 Crimes

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading