We Are Annual Report 2013/2014

Annual Report 2013/2014

Table of Contents

List of Executive Members

Page 3

Introduction

Page 5

Message from Vice President

Page 7

Representation

Page 9

Media and Communications

Page 11

Community Events

Page 13

Awareness and Education

Page 15

Training and Development (Local)

Page 17

Training and Development (International)

Page 19

Financial Report

Page 20

Timeline

Page 22

The content of this report was compiled by the 2013/2014 We Are executive.

This year’s annual report was designed by David Debono.

More examples of his work, and information on how to contact him can be found at http://daviddebono.me

List of Executive Members

Mina Tolu

Rosa Huhtam채ki

Paul Caruana Turner

Gaby Gauci

Emma Portelli Bonnici

Marthese Formosa

Matt

Luisa Tolu

President

Vice Pesident

Secretary General (from November 2013)

Secretary General (till November 2013)

PRO

Community Officer

Awareness & Education Officer (from June 2014)

Awareness & Education Officer (till June 2014)

Kri Cassar Treasurer

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Introduction Mina Tolu

It’s been quite a year for LGBTI rights on the island of Malta, similarly it has been quite a year for this small organisation! I believe it has been our best year yet, this is because we built on the knowledge and experiences gained over three years to push forward and achieve our aims even further. Sometimes it is very easy to just focus on what we wanted to achieve, but for a number of reasons didn’t manage to. We focus on the negative stories, and this brings us down. At the end of the year we feel demotivated, and think we have achieved nothing at all. Putting together this annual report however makes us realise the complete opposite, and indeed this has been a long year for us, and we have achieved loads!

We have represented LGBTI Youth & Students on the Consultative Council to the Government, as well as during meetings with stakeholders, including Members of Parliament, Members of the European Parliament, the NCPE, and University authorities. We Are a recognised Voluntary Organisation, and a member of the Platform of Human Rights Organisations in Malta.

We have raised awareness through a number of events and campaigns, both online and offline, and by participating in a number of youth fairs. This was possible by working together with other organisations, from University organisations, to LGBT organisations, to other human rights organisations.

and at youth centres. We used methods we learned at conferences and study-sessions, as well as put together our own methods, to discuss themes of intersectionality, homophobia, transphobia, and gender.

We have hosted events for our members to get to know each other in a safe space to build a community of support. From film-nights, to comic book discussions, to meeting for coffee and a chat!

Finally we have taken part in capacity building exercises to ensure the continuity of our organisation, our members and volunteers are encouraged to attend training sessions, conferences and study sessions both abroad and in Malta, and we aimed to better some internal processes, including the introduction of our own merchandise. Within a similar theme we have also received over 2000 euro of funding and donations over the past year, which has truly helped us carry out our aims.

I hope that the organisation continues to grow next year, by analysing the past year the new board can understand what worked, and what didn’t. Although I leave the We Are executive board after four years of work, I know I leave it in very capable hands. I’ll always be here to help, good luck guys!

Queerly yours,

We have led a number of non-formal education sessions in 6th forms, with university students,

Mina

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Message from the Vice President Paul Caruana Turner

This year I served in the role as Vice-President and while we tried to define this role more definitively via amendments to our statute I definitely feel that the role remains a “no man’s land”. This of course doesn’t mean that one cannot define the role themselves and find ways to fill the role, but it would be beneficial to all concerned to continue to see what can be done to give the VP role a character of its own, so to speak.

In all honesty this year has been one of mixed feelings for me. The year started off with great optimism and an injection of new faces on to the board. At a point the optimism seemed to be short lived at times. I feel that certain decisions taken in favour of people rather than the organisation ended up hurting the organisation. Certain issues also left us, de facto, a couple of executive board members short. This being especially ironic since we had only just increased the size of the board to help spread the growing duties that were a direct result of the positive growth that We Are has continuously experienced. This extra workload coupled with things I had to deal with in my private life fatigued me greatly and I feel that I was unable give just service to the organisation in the latter part of the year.

contribute directly to the drafting of the Civil Union Act and the council is now working on the Gender Identity Bill, so exciting times lie ahead for whoever will continue to represent the organisation on this determining body. There were many other positives to draw on as can be seen from throughout this report and I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.

Finally, for all those who are toying with the idea of ever joining a student organisation, whichever one it may be, I highly recommend it. Not only is it a great way for one to make friends but the experience will help you to develop skills that you will not be taught in any classroom. I want to end my report with a huge thanks to the person who originally convinced me to contest for the board of We Are, David Debono without whom I would have never plucked up the courage to do so and whose words of encouragement set me on a journey which has served to make me a better person. I also want to thank the two Presidents I served under Luisa and Mina, I know I haven’t always been the easiest person to work with, but I have always enjoyed working with both of you and I’ll cherish our friendship for years to come.

In spite of all of the above this was yet another positive year for We Are. A particular highlight was the fact that Myself, Luisa and Emma represented the organisation on the LGBTQI Consultative Council which saw us

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Representation

Emma Portelli Bonnici

We Are’s role on the Consultative Council In 2014, the Civil Unions Bill was introduced into Malta’s legislation allowing same-sex couples the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts to marriage. This law was introduced after various discussions and consultations, such as those held as part of the LGBT Consultative Council to the Government, which We Are forms part of.

Our inclusion in this Council meant that Paul and Luisa, who were then representatives, took a leading role in the drafting and discussion of the legal bill, before and after its presentation to parliament. Over the summer, We Are’s representatives on the Council, Emma & Marthese, have been participating in discussions about the Gender Identity Bill, a bill that will allow further rights to intersex individuals, as well as streamlining the process for trans* children and adults alike insofar as government documentation is concerned.

We Are will continue to represent the LGBTQQI community in such matters and will continue to strive for positive change, both in the ambit of the law, and in our society.

Representing Trans* Students

register lists, and their student card. We Are drafted an email to the registrar, explaining the situation, and we were present at a meeting with representatives from that office to discuss the legal implications. By January a reasonable compromise had been reached.

The Gender Issues Committee Towards the end of the year We Are was invited to the Gender Issues Committee at the University of Malta. On this committee we discussed the institutional discrimination of trans* students, amongst other things.

It’s still early days on the committee, but we do hope our participation continues.

The Come Out Pledge and European Parliament Elections As part of a larger event for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) we got in touch with candidates for the European Parliament Elections to encourage them to sign ILGA-Europe’s Come Out pledge. This led to 3 more candidates signing the pledge, and short one-on-one discussion with 5 of the candidates.

Malta now has 4 MEPs who have signed the pledge, and committed themselves to a roadmap on LGBTI rights, amongst other things.

In November We Are was approached by a student who desired assistance with communicating with the University registrar to discuss ways his gender identity could be protected by amending class and tutorial

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Media and Communications Rosa Huhtamäki

This year, as PRO, my role was communicating to our members and friends online. This included updating Facebook, managing the blog and Twitter, and sending monthly newsletters.

Our online presence increases year-on-year, and as a board we’ve tried to be innovative in our use of social media. This year we updated the public on important parliamentary discussion and votes via a live Twitter feed, interacted with MEP candidates via Twitter and encouraged them to sign the ILGA-Europe Come Out pledge, and set up, for the first time, a Google+ hangout to discuss bisexuality and biphobia. It drew in a small audience and also aired on Youtube (https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NJVI0Xqp4w).

Currently our following on Facebook has almost reached 1,900 followers and our usual post reach is 1,500 a week. We have around 80 subscribers on our newsletter.

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Community Events Gaby Gauci

Freshers’ Week This year started off with a fun, interactive stand at Freshers Week, where we met numerous people and roped in some new members. As usual, cookies proved to be very beneficial in enticing people over to our stand and were a great way to start a conversation. The bright colours as well as enthusiastic volunteers and exec members were also a plus and our ‘spot the queer person’ game was definitely a hit. We closed of the week by inviting new members to join us at Campus Fest, where we played games and got to know each other.

Supporting the Rainbow Support Service We Are joined forces with MGRM to help coordinate a youth drop in that took place every Tuesday evening. This was a brilliant way to meet more young people and helped us broaden our reach as well as enabling us to hold information sessions and discussions with youths of all ages. Some of these happened this summer as part of an A4U funded projected entitled Enhancing Dialogue, including a discussion on Mina’s comic book ‘Sarah’s Story’.

more serious, the outcome was positive with many of our members attending each week.

Celebrating the introduction of civil unions In April our country took a very positive first step forward by introducing Civil Unions and all the exec as well as a good number of our members joined the LGBT+ community and all its allies in the celebrations in Valletta.

Pride, YouFest, and Enhancing Dialogue Our year concluded with Pride, a beach picnic supported by funds collected via a crowd funding site, and ‘Enhancing Dialogue’ which is a project supported by Agenzija Zghazagh through A4U Funds and is a series of discussions and talks based on contemporary popculture texts in relation to LGBTI+ issues.

This was a busy year for the organisation, with new challenges to overcome as well as new opportunities to expand our reach and fulfil our goals. With the help of a good team and several dedicated volunteers we managed to broaden a few more minds and are a step closer to a more inclusive society.

Many of our social events this year took place at the youth drop in, where our members gathered to watch movies, play some video games and relax in the company of like-minded people. The atmosphere was very welcoming and even when the topics of discussions turned

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Awareness & Educatoin Events Luisa Tolu

Awareness Raising Our awareness raising started off with an exhibition at Junior College in November, and ended with IDAHOT. The event at Junior College re-utilised last year’s posters from IDAHOT and was held over two days in their foyer. It gave us the opportunity to chat to students at Junior College and speak to their viceprincipal, some lecturers, and representatives from KSJC. This led to a workshop in May. IDAHOT is an annual event which occurs in May. Each year we try to take a different spin on it and improve. This year BetaPsi, the psychology students association, asked to collaborate with us. Their collaboration ensured the event could take place over the entire week rather than one day, as had previously occurred. We had a stand in the quad at University where we spoke to students and lecturers and distributed leaflets, put up rainbow flags on the flag poles in quad, and held a photo booth to expand our online poster selection on ‘Faces for IDAHOT’.

We also encouraged 5 candidates for the European Parliament elections to visit our stand and discuss with the students present.

Education One of our achievements this year was being invited to different schools and youth centres to give workshops about sexual orientation and gender. We were invited to a boys’ secondary school, and to the Mosta Youth Centre, as well as to an event organized by MMSA. The experience was overwhelmingly positive and it felt wonderful to know that all our hard work over the years was paying off and people were gaining something

from our sessions. Gaby, our Community Officer, led these workshops successfully and gave them a great non-formal spin.

We also collaborated with Junior College and GCHSS to hold a human library event in both schools, where a number of our exec members and volunteers posed as “books”. This type of event is a great way to generate discussions and help raise awareness as well as answering questions the younger generation might not have the opportunity to ask elsewhere.

A ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’ workshop was also held on campus for students as part of IDAHOT. In this event theatre is used as a means of promoting social and political change by letting ‘actors’ have a role in influencing outcomes.

As part of our focus on education we also helped a number of students with their projects or theses, by accepting to be interviewed, and discussing issues which crop up in their studies. We were also invited to a presentation given by social work students.

Pushing Boundaries We pushed boundaries by focusing on intersectionality. This started with attendance at an Ability Fair in Valletta, which inspired our own event on campus. The event, Pushing Boundaries, was a treasure hunt where the 4 participants had different abilities, which meant they all experienced the route differently. It involved a large number of volunteers, and lots of collaboration with departments and services on campus, and ended with a discussion on intersectionality and privilege led by Maria Pisani (lecturer in youth and community studies).

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Training & Development (Local) Marthese Formosa

Mediterranean Network Meeting in Malta- September 2013 This was an opportunity to discuss common challenges and differences with activists from around the Mediterranean. It included training on trans* and intersex issues, and discussion with Minister Helana Dalli on how her ministry can push forward a promising agenda for LGBT communities in the region. Mina Tolu, Luisa Tolu, and Cynthia Chircop attended.

FZL/YES seminar in Malta- December 2013 This was an event hosted by Forum Zaghzagh Laburisti and the Young European Socialists to which we were invited as participants, as LGBT issues were also being discussed.

Rosa participated in the event.

NCPE Women’s Day conference- March 2014 We Are received an invitations by NCPE to attend and speak at this event. Our president Mina Tolu attended on behalf of the organization and spoke on the panel.

IDAHO Forum in Malta- May 2014 Our secretary general Emma Portelli Bonnici and our president Romina Tolu attended this very important forum with international speakers, and attended by a number of international activists at the Mediterranean Conference Centre. It was organised by the Government of Malta and the Government of Sweden. Romina and Emma participated in two different workshops.

One on Education where Romina was the rapporteur and the other on Trans*.

Protecting SOGI asylum-seekers & refugees IDAHO NGO side event- May 2014 This conference was organised by Aditus foundation and our members Mel and Marthese attended this on We Are’s behalf.

There were a number of panel presentations and round-table discussions on the intersectional aspect of asylum seekers and LGBTI identities.

This event provided information that would enable us to provide more support towards people that were questioning their sexual orientation and/or gender identity (SOGI) and are also asylum seekers who would usually have a different experience in life then other Maltese residents

Sexual and Gender Non-Conformity: What Refugee Professionals Need to Know and Do- May 2014 Our Member Marthese attended this public lecture presented by Mr. Neil Grungras, head of ORAM the leading international organisation for advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) refugees.

Perspectives of Rainbow Families in Malta- July 2014 This conference included workshops on youth, children, parents, and trans* and intersex issues.

Marthese attended the workshop on children were a discussion was held between teachers, psychologists, social workers and representatives of the church.

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Training & Development (International) Marthese Formosa

Equality in Action: Mobilising LGBTQ youth around the Council of Europe Recommendation on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in Strasbourg European Youth Centre, France-September 2013 Our member Marthese Formosa represented We Are in this study session organised by IGLYO and TGEU. The aim of the study session was to give a good overview of all the CoE (Council of Europe) recommendations with regards to LGBTI people focusing on youth (CM/ Rec(2010)5) and how these recommendations could be used by our organization.

IGLYO GA in CopenhagenOctober 2013

and discuss matters of importance to the member organisations.

It was also beneficial to network with other youth and student organisations.

a lot from older activists. There were also representatives from countries which we do not often encounter such as Lithuania and Poland.

European Parliament visit in BrusselsNovember 2013

Our new awareness and education officer Marthese Formosa represented us in this conference organised by IGLYO and Arcigay Cassero. This conference was about gaining a better understanding of intersectionality to use in activism. Intersectionality is about the various identities found in a person which shape their social understanding and position. Mainly, apart from LGBTQI+ identities we discussed about socio-economic statuses, genders, (dis)abilities, and racial and ethnic identities. We were made to reflect on our own and our organisation’s positions in such matters and encouraged to develop future activity plans on intersectionality.

We Are’s president, Romina Tolu, was invited to visit the European Parliament in Brussels, along with another 11 representatives from a total of 11 student organisations. It was really great to visit the European Parliament, and learn more about the processes involved.

A session on social media was also held.

QUPID: Queering Pathways into Diversity in PolandFebruary 2014

MGRM sponsored Our Vice-President Paul our president Romina Caruana Turner attended Tolu’s travel’s through IGLYO’s General their Grudtvig grant.

Assembly on behalf of Unlike the usual events our organisation. At the attended by We Are, General Assembly they it was not a youth vote for new executive event and therefore members for IGLYO we got to learn

Crossing Paths: Exploring Intersections within the Diversity of LGBTQ Communities in Bologna- July 2014

UNAIDS & IGLYO conference in Geneva- July 2014 This conference was organised by UNAIDS, ILGA Europe and IGLYO. Our member Mark Josef Rapa attended this event on our behalf.

The main aim behind the event was to; through talks, presentations and discussion, illustrate and find ways to tackle the reason why HIV is short from being a priority on the LGBTQQI organisations’ agenda. Every year on 1st December, We Are celebrates World Aids Day on campus. This conference has led to a boost in the interest not just from other members of the organisation but also from outsiders who are now interested and more willing to come on board and help in creating more awareness and also participate in World Aids Day.

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Financial Report

Receipts

Financial Report WE ARE Income and Expenditure Report for the Year ending 10th Septmber 2014 2015 Budget Notes Eur

Grants Donations

1 2 Total Receipts

2014 Actual Eur

2013 Actual Eur

450 250

1,170 383

2,960 14

700

1,552

2,974

(-50) (-40) (-150) (-100) 0 (-25)

(-18) (-40) (-107) (-199) (-171) (-558)

(-300) (-80)

(-365)

(-1,093)

(-514)

335

459

2,460

Expenditure Grants Iglyo Membership Merchandise Printing/ Stationery Domain Registration Miscellaneous/Events

3 Total Expenditure

Surplus/(overexpenditure) for the year

WE ARE Statement of Financial Position as at 10th September 2014 2015 Budget Eur Current Assets Bank Cash

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2014 Actual Eur

(-90) (-20) (-24)

2013 Actual Eur

3,750 177

3,415 177

3,117 19

3,927

3,592

3,136

1

Grants projected for in 2015 are 450€ remaining of A4U funds. We encourage the next board to apply for more project funding to achieve their aims. Grants received were made up of €450 A4U and €719.5 Youfest crowdfunding. Grants paid out were conference attendance fees

2 3

Donations received this year were increased due to membership fees

Event expenditure is high due to Beach Picnic expenses, however items bought for the Beach Picnic are being used for other events. It is suggested that better planning be carried out for these kind of events. It was the first time an event at such a scale was organised, so it can serve as an example to the next board.

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September 2013 - EGM, new board is elected - Participation on LGBTI Consultative Council - Participation in KPS meetings - We Are labels subcommittee meeting - Marthese attends Equality in Action Study Session, Strasbourg

December 2013 - Rosa participates in a conference on LGBTI campaigns organised

by YES in Malta - Mina gives a presentation on one of our projects at KNZ conference

May 2014

October 2013 - Freshers Week - Matthew & Mina attend KE/KPS seminar - Paul attends IGLYO General Assembly, Copenhagen - We Are attends Youth Drop in centre

by Rainbow Support Services - Spirit Week online campaign - Luisa represents We Are on .Net - Paul represents We Are on TVPM - Gaby leads training session for medical students on homophobia - We Are hosts a movie night

February 2014 - We Are organises ‘Let’s Talk about Sex’ week with other student organisations - We Are leads session with young people at Mosta Youth Empowerement Centre - Mina invited to attend study session on Intersex, Trans issues in Poland

July 2014

- Emma and Mina represent We Are at IDAHO Forum in Malta - Organise IDAHO campaign on campus with BetaPsi - Attend aditus conference - Organise ‘It’s OKAY to be GAY’ at Junior College - Nominated for Kokka Filantropika

November 2013

March 2014

April 2014

- Pushing Boundaries treasure hunt for Diversity Days on campus - Mina sits on a panel at NCPE women’s day conference - We Are attends Ability Fair in Valletta - 5 volunteers take part in GCHSS Human Library

August 2014

- Help set up Pride March - Some of our posters feature in a Commonwealth exhibition in Glasgow - We attend Agenzija Zghazagh fair in Bugibba - Marthese attends Intersectionality conference in Bologna - Mark attends UNAIDS conference on HIV in Switzerland

Representation

- Mina attends European - Parliament visit, Brussels - Sunday Funday, meet up and chat event - Paul and Lu represent We Are on Kurrenti - We Are joins session at a Secondary Boys School - We Are becomes an official Voluntary Organisation

Community

September 2014

- Enhancing Dialogue session on LGBT comic at Rainbow Support Services - Beach Picnic

Capacity Building

- We Are celebrate introduction of Civil Unions bill in Malta

- Enhancing Dialogue session on HIV & AIDS discourse at University - Enhancing Dialogue film night at Rainbow Support Services - Enhancing Dialogue session on Trans at University - Enhancing Dialogue session on coming out at Rainbow Support Services - We Are becomes a member of PHROM

Awareness

Education