Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights (hereafter Envisioning) was led by an executive team composed of the principal investigator, a knowledge mobilisation coordinator, and the chairs and co-chairs of five research teams. These members were collectively responsible for the overall direction of the research and partner engagement; monitoring and reporting on local, regional and international conditions and developments; and evaluation and assessment of Envisioning’s goals and work.
We wish to acknowledge and extend our thanks to those executive team members for their commitment, insights, resourcefulness and contributions to this project:
Principal investigator: Nancy Nicol (School of Arts, Media and Performance, York University, Canada).
Knowledge mobilisation coordinator: Phyllis Waugh (then, Rainbow Health Ontario, hereafter RHO, Canada).
Africa research team chairs: Richard Lusimbo (Sexual Minorities Uganda, hereafter SMUG) and Monica Mbaru (then, Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, hereafter GALCK).
Canada research team chairs: Nick J. Mulé (School of Social Work, York University, Canada) and Erika Gates-Gasse (then, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, hereafter OCASI).
Caribbean research team chairs: Charmaine Williams (Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Canada) and Kenita Placide (United and Strong, Saint Lucia).
India research team chair: Nancy Nicol (details as above).
Law and human rights mechanisms research team chairs: Douglas Elliott (Cambridge LLP, Canada) and Susan Ursel (Ursel, Phillips, Fellows, Hopkinson LLP, Canada) and Kim Vance (ARC International).
Envisioning would not have been possible without the contributions of its partners, made up of non-governmental organisations, legal collectives and community-based organisations. Partners contributed research, expertise, resources, facilities and networking, as well as outreach and knowledge mobilisation of project outcomes. We thank them all:
Figure 1. Envisioning conference, Toronto, Canada, 24 June 2014. Photo credit: Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights.
Africa partners: Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LeGaBiBo), Botswana; GALCK, Kenya; SMUG, Uganda.
Canada partners: Africans in Partnership Against AIDS (APAA); Alliance For South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP); Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (BlackCAP); Centre for Feminist Research (CFR), York University; Egale Canada Human Rights Trust; International Human Rights Program (IHRP), Faculty of Law, University of Toronto; Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival; Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto; OCASI; Osgoode Hall Law School, York University; Pride Uganda Alliance International (PUAI); Pro Bono Students Canada; RHO; Sexuality Studies, York University; The 519 Church St. Community Centre (The 519); and York University.
Caribbean partners: Jamaican Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG), Jamaica; United and Strong, Saint Lucia; United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM), Belize; Society Against Sexual Discrimination (SASOD), Guyana.
India partners: Naz Foundation (India) Trust; Naz Foundation International (NFI) in conjunction with the Maan AIDS Foundation; Sangini India Trust.
International partners: ARC International; International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (renamed OutRight Action International); International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex Law Association; and Global Alliance for LGBT Education (GALE), Netherlands.
Thank you to the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) for technical support and web hosting the research team’s internal communications.
In addition to Envisioning partners, we wish to acknowledge and thank the following organisations which contributed the additional expertise and knowledge that informed this research: Alternative Law Forum (ALF), Bangalore, India; Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), Gaborone; Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL), Johannesburg, South Africa; Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CARIFLAGS), Saint Lucia; Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS), York University; Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CSCHRCL), Kampala, Uganda; Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), Kampala; Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF), Kampala; Icebreakers Uganda, Kampala; Lawyers Collective, Delhi, India; National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC), Nairobi, Kenya; Refugee Law Project (RLP), Kampala; and Women’s Health in Women’s Hands (WHIWH), Toronto, Canada.
We also wish to express our thanks to a large number of community-based and academic researchers, videographers and undergraduate and graduate students for their hard work, commitment and thoughtful contributions to research and videography. Our gratitude, as well, to the Research at York (RAY) programme, the Centre for Feminist Research (CFR), and York University’s School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies for additional support and funding for student research assistants. We also acknowledge and thank Pro-Bono Students Canada in conjunction with Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, and the University of Toronto’s law faculty for its support to law students working with Envisioning.
Envisioning was housed at CFR, York University, Canada. We extend our gratitude to CFR directors, Enakshi Dua (2011−15) and Alison Crosby (2016) for providing support and advice to Professor Nicol and the Envisioning team and partners. Much gratitude as well to the Office of Research, York University, for its guidance and assistance, to Envisioning and CFR staff for administrative support. Special thanks to Envisioning staff member, Kaija Siirala, for her contribution to the participatory documentary teams and video editing.
Many people participated in the Envisioning study through interviews and focus groups, including several who spoke about highly traumatic and difficult personal experiences. We wish to acknowledge their courage in sharing their stories and we extend special thanks to all those who took part for their invaluable insights. We hope that their contributions will reinforce efforts towards greater awareness, human rights and social change in the struggle to achieve equality and dignity for all.
We wish to acknowledge and support our funders. From 2011 to 2016 Envisioning received a Community University Research Grant (CURA) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), held by principal investigator, Nancy Nicol. Additional funding was contributed by the Law Foundation of Ontario in 2012 and 2015 in support of research reports and knowledge mobilisation outcomes on LGBT refugees in Canada. Although these bodies provided funding, the outcomes of Envisioning’s research do not necessarily reflect their views.
Research was conducted in accordance with Canada’s Tri-Council Statement on Research Ethics and in accordance with ethics guidelines at Canada’s York University and University of Toronto. In addition, the Envisioning executive team developed ‘Envisioning guiding principles’, which informed and steered the research team and partners’ methodology and their work together.
This anthology is dedicated to human rights defenders across the Commonwealth.