Media Releases – Page 40

Workshop to develop strategy for domestic, innovative financing for HIV and Malaria in the Caribbean held in Georgetown, Guyana

Image: (L-R) Dennis Glasgow, participant, Dr Martin Odiit, UNAIDS Country Director, Guyana and Suriname and Mr Dereck Springer, Director of PANCAP

Joint press statement:

The Developing Country NGO Delegation to the Global Fund Board (DCNGO)
Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN)
Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC)
Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP)

Tuesday, January 30 2018: The Developing Country NGO Delegation to the Global Fund Board (DCNGO), Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN) and the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), collaborated with the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), the mechanism that provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic to convene a joint meeting of advocates for domestic financing for HIV. The meeting is being held in Georgetown Guyana from January 29 to 31, 2018.

The purpose of the intervention is to create a strategic approach to raising awareness and advocacy for increasing domestic financing for HIV, AIDS and Malaria programmes through advocacy training and strategic planning.

At the core of the workshop is the development of a regional (Caribbean) strategy, which will be coordinated by a working group tasked with addressing key resource mobilization and domestic financing issues related to The Global Fund in Jamaica, St Lucia (OECS), Haiti, Belize, and Guyana.

In his opening remarks, Mr Jomain McKenzie, Communications Focal Point for the DCNGO emphasised that “any health burden is also a financial burden and where governments don’t always see the need, it is up to us to make the case for funding our health.” Mr McKenzie highlighted that civil society’s efforts in domestic financing send a signal to donors that we do play a role in the big picture of health funding – a role that goes beyond that of being beneficiaries.

In welcoming participants, Director of PANCAP, Mr Dereck Springer, underscored the importance of the involvement of civil society in advocating for increased financing by Governments for HIV. He emphasized that civil society has held the baton for HIV awareness from the inception and that their involvement is critical for the next phase of the Region’s response to the disease. The Director referred to the PANCAP Regional Advocacy Strategy as a model that can be strategically utilized for the intervention. He posited that the strategy propagates that civil society has the ability to mobilize unprecedented financial resources and enable communities to participate in designing health services that meet their needs.

Dr Martin Odiit, UNAIDS Country Director, Guyana and Suriname commended the organisers and participants of the intervention, stating his appreciated that the Caribbean is taking a positive step and being fully involved in the Global Fund replenishment as evidenced by the enthusiasm at the workshop. He also noted UNAIDS ongoing support to countries in developing HIV investment cases for sustainability.

The participants include representatives from Government, National AIDS Commission, advocates, and leaders of civil society organisations, namely the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CariFLAGS), Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) and the Caribbean Sex Work Coalition (CSWC).

The initiative is financially and technically supported by International Civil Society Support (ICSS) Global Fund Advocacy Network (GFAN) through the New Venture Fund of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

– ENDS –

What is PANCAP?

PANCAP is a Caribbean regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organisations, regional institutions and organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and contributing donor partners which was established on 14 February 2001. PANCAP provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, coordinates the response through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS to maximise efficient use of resources and increase impact, mobilises resources and build capacity of partners.

What is the DCNGO?

The Developing Country NGO Delegation is a voting constituency on the Global Fund Board and represents NGOs, from the Developing World, serving those affected by HIV/AIDS, TB, & Malaria. The Delegation seeks to influence decisions and policies to ensure strategic, continuous and appropriate responsiveness to the needs of those affected by the three diseases and the NGOs providing services to them.

Contact:
Timothy Austin
Communications Specialist
PANCAP Coordinating Unit
CARICOM Secretariat
Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana
Email: taustin.consultant@caricom.org
Tel: (592) 222-0001-75, Ext. 3409 | Visit www.PANCAP.org

Paperwork begins for possibly introducing HIV prevention pill to male homosexuals- SASOD

Male homosexuals in Guyana might soon be able to drink a daily pill to reduce the chances of contracting the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by more than 90 percent if preparations go well, the country’s leading gay rights organisation said Wednesday.

Head of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), Joel Simpson told a news conference that permission would first be obtained from the Ministry of Public Health and decisions would have to be made about whether the preventative pill would be generic or brand name and whether users would be required to sign an agreement to participate in the trial.

Simpson said before the possible introduction of the pill in Guyana, SASOD would be conducting a survey to determine whether Guyanese homosexuals- men who have sex with men- would prefer to use that preventative medicine or rely on other forms of HIV prevention.

He said SASOD would be working with the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency and the regional office of the Pan American Health Organisation /World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) on introducing the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) pill whose brand name is Truvada.

“We want to explore if this is a viable method of HIV prevention for vulnerable groups in Guyana so we are going to start with one population, one that is very popular to us – men who have sex with men- and we are going to be doing a feasibility about that with the intention of determining whether we should later go on to do a demonstration project to determine whether it actually works,” he said.

The SASOD co-founder said if the study shows that the pill should be introduced in Guyana, persons would be administered the drug for nine months during which time they would be tracked to determine whether it has been successful.

SASOD has already sent Truvada’s manufacturing company, GILEAD Inc; a concept note to possibly acquire a quantity of that prophylaxis drug free of cost for the demonstration that could begin in 2019.

Estimates show that to supply 100 persons Truvada for nine months could cost US$75,000.

Simpson said a demonstration project is always required before introducing certain medicines. He noted that with dwindling donor resources for the fight against HIV and AIDS, Truvada is a viable option to prevent transmission of the virus.

With regards to seeking permission from the Ministry of Public Health, he said SASOD was currently preparing “all the documents” for an ethics review application following talks with the Health Sector Development Unit and the National AIDS Programme Secretariat. “People are asking for the research, people are asking for the information to be able to say that this is a viable option that should be pursued so we don’t see any impediments to work in this area,” he said.

The right to life for people living with HIV is the same as for anyone else – UNAIDS

Erika Castellanos is a transgender woman living with HIV from Belize engaged in advocacy at the local, regional and international levels. She is currently serving as the Vice-Chair of the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and is the Director of Programmes at GATE. Before joining GATE, Erika served as the Executive Director of the Collaborative Network of Persons Living with HIV, Belize. Since 2016, she has been a member of the Communities Delegation to the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and a member of the International Group of Trans Women and HIV. She served as a delegate from Latin America and the Caribbean to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board.

What does the right to health mean to you?

For me, the right to health is the full enjoyment of the highest possible standard of health. It means to be able to enjoy a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, which is not just the absence of disease. It is a fundamental right that all people are entitled to, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, economic situation, profession, education or the country they live in.

My right to health includes being able to access services without fear of discrimination — affordable and high-quality services that are client-centred and based on the needs of the individual. It means that I have access to gender-affirming care, antiretroviral therapy, diagnostic laboratory tests and mental health services, all within an environment free from discrimination and judgement.

What is preventing people living with HIV from being able to exercise their right to health?

People living with HIV are prevented from exercising our right to health owing to social, political and institutional discrimination. Key populations who are also living with HIV experience those barriers much more and with more impact.

In many parts of the world, we are criminalized and accessing health services can lead to outing ourselves. We are forced to live in an underground world by hate and stigma and fear of the unknown. Health services are designed and geared towards cisgender heterosexual people and are not welcoming to us.

What more can be done to make sure that all people living with HIV can access services?

Many things can be done to improve our access to services. Services should be designed and implemented by our communities and we need evidence-informed services that meet our needs. There needs to be decriminalization of key populations and decriminalization of HIV. Services should be client-driven and client-lead, instead of doctor-led.

In a nutshell, empowered people and communities must be able to demand and deliver services in partnership with nonjudgemental, discrimination-free health systems within a legal and policy environment that sees us as human beings irrespective of our HIV status, sexual orientation, gender identification, drug use or profession.

Do you think the situation has improved at all over the past 20–30 years?

The situation has certainly improved over the past 20–30 years, but in some countries, instead of moving forward, things are going backwards when it comes to the enjoyment of human rights by people living with HIV. This is not the time to celebrate and pat us on the back, it is the time to redouble efforts and make sure that every single person in the world can fully enjoy the right to health. As a transgender woman living with HIV for 22 years, I have seen the changes throughout the years and I am happy to say that today we live in a better world. In a world where I do not have to hide my status, in a world where being HIV-positive does not equal death. In a world where I can now plan for a future and in which I have allowed myself to love and be loved.

GNP+ is the global network for and by people living with HIV. GNP+ works to improve the quality of life of all people living with HIV by advocating for and supporting fair and equal access to treatment, care and support services for people living with HIV around the world.

GATE is an international organization working on gender identity, sex characteristics and, more broadly, on bodily diversity issues. GATE works on supporting transgender, gender diverse and intersex movements by producing and making available critical knowledge, promoting their access to organizational resources and advocating with them to make human rights a lived reality.

Read more in the UNAIDS’ report Right to Health.

Caribbean Activists Welcome Inter-American Court Opinion on LGBT Rights

Contributor: Dane Lewis, Regional Programme Manager, CariFLAGS

The Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CariFLAGS) celebrates the recent advisory opinion by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) which referred to its constant case law whereby sexual orientation and gender identity are protected categories against discrimination under the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights. It stated that any discriminatory rule, act or practice based on these characteristics of an individual are prohibited.

The release noted that the right to gender and sexual identity is tied to the concept of freedom and the capacity of human beings for self-determination and to freely choose the options and circumstances that make sense of their existence, according to each person’s choices and beliefs. It spoke boldly to the right to legal recognition of one’s gender identity and name change procedures and affirmed that “the recognition of gender identity by the state is key to guaranteeing the full enjoyment of human rights by trans people.” It also spoke to equal marriage noting that countries “must recognize and guarantee the rights that are derived from a family bond between people of the same sex.” The Court held that the way in which the Convention addresses discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation cannot be conditional upon religious or philosophical beliefs.

The court’s advisory is timely, particularly in light of the current concerted efforts of activists globally, in the Caribbean and at national levels to end stigma and discrimination that adversely impacts the enjoyment of basic human rights.

Although only binding in the jurisdictions that are parties to the Convention, the advisory’s importance and historic significance must not go unnoticed by the region. We urge our governments, all people of the Caribbean as well as our key partners in development, to continue to and scale up all efforts to ensure that our societies are constructed on the principles of social justice, equality, mutual respect, inclusion and participation.
CariFLAGS calls for leadership and cooperation at all levels to engender and promote the legislative, administrative, and judicial reforms needed to adapt our local legal systems, laws and policies towards the advancement of recognition and promotion of rights for all. CariFLAGS stands poised to play a key leadership role in this regard with activists who are at the forefront of their national movements.

CariFLAGS articulates an indigenous lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) voice and agenda for the Caribbean with governments, civil society, donors, international partners and the global LGBTI movement; works to expand leadership, infrastructure and environments at the community-level whereby Caribbean LGBTI people can enjoy safety and support, be linked to services, community, health, spirituality and empowerment, influence policy and legislation, utilize judicial and human rights institutions, and deepen political participation and alliance-building.

We work to ensure justice, social inclusion, access to the fruits of citizenship, and to build Caribbean nations and a regional movement. The CariFLAGS secretariat is based at the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) in Georgetown, Guyana.

CRN+ Chair participated in UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) Meeting

Image: CRN+ Chair, Mr Winfield Tannis-Abbot participating as a member of the Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG) to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board NGO Delegation

The CRN+ Chair, Mr Winfield Tannis-Abbot, participated as a member of the Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG) to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board NGO Delegation and present at the Thematic Segment of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) meeting held on 14 December 2017. The Chair also participated in the UNAIDS PCB side events from 11-14 December 2017 and utilised the opportunity to network on behalf of CRN+.

The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board agreed to:

Request UNAIDS’ continued support to member states, through collaboration with community-based organizations and civil society, for monitoring and reporting, including through the Global AIDS Monitoring system, on progress made toward the Fast-Track targets, using where feasible disaggregated data, as a means of leaving no one behind;

Requests UNAIDS and member states, in partnership with civil society organizations and all other relevant stakeholders to:
• Develop and apply country-level, community-participatory evidence gathering methodologies to identify barriers and measure the level and quality of access to services for all at-risk populations so as to leave no one behind;
• Develop methods for assessing community engagement in countries, in line with the core principles of the Joint Programme and the UNAIDS Strategy 2016-2021;
• Request the UNAIDS to facilitate partnerships between member states and community-based organizations to help ensure effective action to meet HIV prevention, early diagnosis and treatment needs so as to leave no one behind.

CRN+ convenes Dissemination Meeting of Guyana HIV Environmental Scan in Guyana

Contributor: Jason Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer, Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+)

The Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (CRN+), with funding from the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), held a dissemination meeting that focused on reviewing and discussing the HIV Environmental Scans conducted in 2016 for Guyana. These scans form part of the project titled, “CVC-COIN Challenging Stigma and Discrimination to Improve Access to and Quality of HIV Services in the Caribbean”. The meeting identified gaps and how such gaps can be addressed through advocacy.

The meeting was held with representatives from the National Networks of People Living with HIV, including the Guyanese Network of People Living with HIV (G+), key population networks such as Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) and the Guyana Trans United. Also in attendance were developmental partner, Advancing Partners and Communities (APC) Guyana, Health Care Providers, CSOs and representatives of the National AIDS Programme Secretariat.

The meeting also reviewed the progress toward achieving the 90-90-90 targets and discussed the CRN+ findings of the Desk Review of the existing laws and regulations that impact the HIV response in eight Caribbean countries, with specific reference to Guyana.

For more on the work of CRN+ click here.

SASOD fine-tuning proposed revision of Discrimination Act

Contributor: Joel Simpson, Managing Director, SASOD

The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) is seeking “technical consultations” geared at refining their proposed revision of the Prevention of Discrimination Act (1997).

The organisation last year engaged in consultations with stakeholders on the proposed legislative amendment, which provides legal protection from discrimination in relation to the right to work for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Guyana.

SASOD’s Managing-Director Joel Simpson, however, related, “Based on the feedback [the revision of the bill] isn’t ready as yet.”

The organisation is lobbying for an amendment to the 1997 act to protect vulnerable persons within the LGBT community; the inclusion of “sexual orientation” will legally protect persons identifying as lesbian, gay and bi-sexual, while “gender identity” will offer protection to transgender persons.

Currently, the bill prohibits only discrimination in the workplace based on “race, sex, religion, colour, ethnic origin, indigenous population, national extraction, social origin, economic status, political opinion, disability, family responsibilities, pregnancy, marital status or age…”

Simpson explained to the Guyana Chronicle that while stakeholders across the board have signalled their support for this cause, the feedback garnered was that the bill needs additional “technical work” geared toward fashioning the bill for presentation.

“Yes, we’re addressing discrimination based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE), but there are other kinds of things that are wrong with the bill,” he highlighted. “Now it’s not about whether you support non-discrimination for the right to work for LGBT people — we’ve gone past that– it’s about how should we fashion the bill.”

Part of these modifications needed would be the harassment provisions detailed in Section Eight of this legislation. Presently, the legislation allows for a narrow interpretation of harassment based on one’s sex and as such, only cisgenders (people whose gender identity matches the sex that they were assigned at birth) may be able to benefit from this provision.

“We have to look at the definition of harassment in the context of SOGIE, because as it is now it is very narrowly defined based on sex,” the director stated.

SASOD will be reaching out to “sexual rights lawyers”, such as lawyers who’ve worked in the area of sexual offences, human rights and sexuality to garner this prerequisite technical feedback.

In addition to the technical consultations, the organisation has planned to conduct a bipartisan parliamentary workshop, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that has been instrumental in this revision process and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Services.

The aim of this is to make parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle “champions” for the bill, according to Simpson, who is optimistic that the bill will enjoy widespread support if it reaches Parliament.

“This is a human rights issue,” he said and he posited that a “very very strong message” will be advanced, contributing to how social norms are shaped around discrimination in relation to employment if all parliamentarians act in unison to support this amendment.

Representatives of SASOD met with Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Basil Williams last June and it was reported that the minister requested that the organisation draft the proposed amendment and discussion paper for his and cabinet’s consideration.

While there have not been follow-up engagements with the minister, draftspersons representing him were part of the initial consultations and indicated the ministry’s general support for this bill.

SASOD had reached out to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Guyana office for support in the form of a legislative drafting consultant to draft the proposed amendment bill and discussion paper to engage key stakeholders.

While the amendment of the legislation is in the pipeline, SASOD has taken steps to provide some pro bono (or voluntary) support to the vulnerable groups. Under its ‘Community Paralegal Services Initiatives’, the organisation currently has a pool of five lawyers offering their support vis a vis rights’ awareness and legal redress to the LGBT community.

PANCAP hosts training to strengthen advocacy skills of Youth leaders

Thursday, January 18 2018 (PANCAP Coordinating Unit, CARICOM Secretariat): The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), the mechanism that provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, will host the PANCAP Training to Strengthen Advocacy Skills of Youth Leaders, 19-20 January 2018 in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

The intervention builds on the PANCAP Meeting of Youth Leaders held on April 21 – 22, 2017 in which youth leaders from 19 countries discussed and agreed on a Regional Youth Advocacy Framework for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.

The training intends to mobilize Caribbean youth leaders to advocate for substantive policy changes across the region in support of reducing their vulnerability to HIV infection by improving access to HIV combination prevention, care, treatment and support services, in recognition of their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The activities will encompass the development of the capacity of Caribbean youth leaders to act as agents of social change and to support youth participation in high-level advocacy and policy dialogues.

The overarching aim of the training is to strengthen Caribbean youth leaders’ advocacy skills. A 14-member PANCAP Youth Steering Committee comprised of CARICOM Youth Ambassadors and Key Population Youth was established in July 2017 to coordinate the implementation of the Youth Advocacy Framework. The Committee will also provide oversight for youth advocacy at the national and regional level.

CARICOM Youth Ambassadors and Key population youth will be drawn from the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, The Commonwealth of Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

According to PANCAP Youth Advisor, Dr Astell Collins (Hon.), the intervention fulfils a promise made by PANCAP to the participants of the Youth Meeting held in April 2017.

“We committed to building their capacity to advocate for access to HIV prevention, care and treatment services,” stated Dr Collins, “PANCAP also committed to enhance their ability to raise awareness of their rights regarding sexual and reproductive health”. He further explained that the activity forms part of PANCAP’s overall strategy for facilitating the empowerment and involvement of youth in the HIV response, particularly youth within key populations.

Youth leaders from each of the key populations will be represented at the meeting. These include sex workers, the transgender community and Men who have sex with men (MSM).

The initiative will be facilitated by an expert in human rights law and will include interactive activities designed to increase participants’ knowledge of human rights and vulnerability.

PANCAP’s overarching objective is to equip participants with skills to develop an advocacy strategy.

Image: Participants of the Meeting of Caribbean Youth Leaders – Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV AIDS with SENATOR THE HON. ROBERT T.L.V. BROWNE held on 2017-04-21 in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

What is PANCAP?

Remarks by Mishka Puran, Attorney-at-law

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the media, and to you my colleagues in civil society.

I am Mishka Puran, attorney-at-law. I am the Secretary on SASOD’s Board of Directors and I also serve as the Guyana focal point and steering committee member of CariBono: Caribbean Lawyering for Social Justice. CariBono was launched by the Faculty of Law University of the West Indies Rights Advocacy Project (U-RAP) in December 2016. CariBono is also being supported by the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) to host regional meetings of our membership.

CariBono is a network of human rights lawyers and advocates dedicated to facilitating access to justice and legal services for members of vulnerable communities, including persons who use drugs, marginalized youth, orphans and children, women and girls who face violence, prisoners and persons at risk of incarceration, persons living with HIV, sex workers, migrant populations and LGBTI persons.

The CariBono network works through the individual contributions of members and collective initiatives that include the provision of legal services, strategic advocacy, policy and legal reform, and public and legal education. In recognition of the need for systemic change, CariBono is committed to raising awareness of human rights throughout the Caribbean and to this end, seeks to promote an engaged and informed regional community beyond national borders. CariBono operates from a principled commitment to inclusion, non-discrimination and fairness for all individuals seeking legal redress or who are before the legal system.

Currently, we have 5 practicing attorneys in Guyana who are members of CariBono providing pro-bono services to SASOD’s Community Paralegal Services Initiative. If any Guyanese lawyer is interested in joining CariBono, they can contact me via email at mishkapuran.attorney.at.law@gmail.com.

Remarks by Devanand Milton, President of Guyana Trans United (GTU)

“As a transgender woman in Guyana, I face discrimination on a daily basis with seemingly no end in sight.

Last September I was returning from a training session for LGBT leaders on Thursday afternoon and was at the route 32 minibus park, downtown by Stabroek Market. The bus was collecting passengers at the time and I entered and sat in the back seat.

The bus driver then came and abusively pulled opened the bus door and said to me, “Not in here!!!!! Not in here if you know what is good for yourself, you will come out of this bus right now.” He proceeded to ask me how much I am paying and I responded saying “$200” that is the bus fare to Uitvlugt which is en-route to Parika. The driver once again said to me, “If you know what is good for yourself you will come out this bus.” Fearing for my safety, I quickly exited the bus. I then saw a traffic police officer and reported what had transpired to him. The traffic rank then asked me to identify the bus driver which I did.

The bus driver and I were both escorted to the Stabroek Market Police Outpost where I reported the matter and gave a statement to the police.
After that, there was no form of redress, even after following up with both the Stabroek Police Outpost and the Brickdam Police Station several times. It wasn’t until SASOD’s intervention when the Homophobia(s) Education Coordinator, Anil Persaud, accompanied me to the Brickdam Police on the 5th January where an officer finally listened to me and he admitted that they had misplaced the report and he collected it again. Only then a court date was set for yesterday, January 16. The perpetrator did not attend court yesterday when the case was called and Magistrate Melissa Mendonca issued a warrant for his arrest. SASOD’s Human Rights Coordinator Valini Leitch accompanied him to court yesterday. SASOD’s attorney Mishka Pooran is also now monitoring the case to see if I will get justice.

Through this Community Paralegal Services Initiative, I received the support I needed. Often times it is difficult for LGBT persons to get legal support and representation because we can’t afford it. With this Initiative in place, vulnerable persons more, like me, now have access to qualified and trained advocates who can navigate us through the legal system and we also have lawyers who are willing to represent us pro-bono when our rights are being violated”.