Public campaigning through engagement with traditional, online, and social media has proved to be a powerful tool to increase awareness and visibility of lived experiences of LGBTI people, to shift the narratives around SOGIESC rights issues in both public and political realms, and to amplify LGBTI advocates’ call for action for social change.
Building on its experiences and realising the strong need for capacity strengthening on public campaigning and digital media engagement, the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN) is launching a series of four online workshops for trans and gender diverse advocates from Asia and the Pacific to enhance their skills for public campaigning for advocacy.
Workshop 1: Introduction To Public Campaigning For Advocacy & Social Change
Friday, 31 July 2020, 12:00 pm ICT (Thailand GMT +7)
Social change rarely happens overnight and is inextricably linked with changes in public opinion and societal attitudes. Public campaigns can play a critical role in reshaping narratives in the public and political realms. Our first workshop aims to introduce participants to the relevance and significance of public campaigning for goal-oriented advocacy and sustained social change. Through interactive exercises, participants will be equipped with strategies and tools to support their public campaign conceptualisation and implementation process.
Details of the resource persons are as follows.
Facilitator: JAC SM KEE
Jac sm Kee (she/her) is a feminist activist working at the intersection of internet technologies and human rights. Her activism includes sexuality and gender justice, feminist movement building in a digital age, internet governance, digital rights, open culture and epistemic justice. She is located within these movements at hyper-local, networked and global levels.
Moderator: SMITA
Smita (she/them) is currently working at Point of View, a non-profit based in Bombay, on gender, sexuality, and technology. Their areas of interest include gender, queer studies, internet, technology, popular culture, films and TV shows, fandoms etc. She can be generally found wandering the cyberspace, or hunting for good coffee.
Workshop 2: Crafting Call-For-Action For Public Campaigning
Friday, 7 August 2020, 12:00 pm ICT (Thailand GMT +7)
Public campaigns for goal-oriented advocacy require clear and concise messaging and call for action. Our second workshop aims to introduce participants to the Authentic Voice Framework as a tool to develop messaging for their campaigns. Participants will engage in hands-on training to craft calls for action using their lived experiences.
Details of the resource persons are as follows.
Speaker: PHYLESHA BROWN-ACTON
Phylesha (she/her) is a champion for the rights of sexual minority groups across Asia and the Pacific regions and identified as Fakafifine of Niuean decent, and is a community practitioner with experience in the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights sectors in regional, national and international roles, which is still an extension of her current activism and work. In 2019, Phylesha was invested as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Pacific and LGBTQI+ communities (NZ Government House, 2019).
Speaker: ALOK VAID-MENON
Alok Vaid-Menon (they/them) is an internationally acclaimed gender non-conforming writer and performance artist based in the United States. They are the author of the books Femme in Public and Beyond the Gender Binary. Learn more at www.alokvmenon.com
Facilitator: RAFIUL ALOM RAHMAN
Rafiul Alom Rahman (he/him) is the founder of The Queer Muslim Project. He represents India on the Beijing+25 Global Youth Task Force set up by UN Women. Nominated as a “Young Changemaker” by The Hindu Business Line in 2018, Rafiul brings with him a decade of experience in gender and sexuality rights organising.
Moderator: SMITA
Smita (she/them) is currently working at Point of View, a non-profit based in Bombay, on gender, sexuality, and technology. Their areas of interest include gender, queer studies, internet, technology, popular culture, films and TV shows, fandoms etc. She can be generally found wandering the cyberspace, or hunting for good coffee.
Workshop 3: Using Art & Digital Media To Deliver Your Call-For-Action
Friday, 14 August 2020, 12:00 pm ICT (Thailand GMT +7)
How can advocates engage with various forms of art and media to deliver their call-for-action and to spur momentum? In this workshop, our resource persons and guest speakers will share their experiences, and tools and tactics they have employed to communicate their campaign messages to mobilise various stakeholders in the public and political realms and to recruit public support through art and digital media.
Details of the resource persons are as follows.
Speaker: VINCY CHAN
Vincy Chan (they/them) is a non-binary trans singer-songwriter, artist and SOGIESC advocate from Hong Kong. Learn more at chanwanvincy.com
Speakers: SHH…DIAM!
Shh…Diam! is a Malaysian queer band formed in Kuala Lumpur in 2009. The band is the first openly queer band in the country and actively promotes acceptance and understanding of the LGBTIQ+ community in the country through music and hugs. They’ve completed two European tours and have also played in Thailand and Singapore.
Facilitator: INDU HARIKUMAR
Indu (she/her) is an artist and storyteller. She tells stories of body, desire, love, and belonging. She has authored and illustrated children’s books, and has written for major media houses across the world. Her art has been exhibited globally at Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany, The Biennial of Illustrations, Bratislava 2013-14, and the Kochi Muziris Biennial 2015.
Indu has the internet to thank for the space she has found and created for conversations. She will be sharing her journey about spending 24 years on the internet, and the huge role it has played in giving her a voice, a platform, and allowing her to create art that engages and challenges ideas around sex, dating and relationships.
Moderator: SMITA
Smita (she/them) is currently working at Point of View, a non-profit based in Bombay, on gender, sexuality, and technology. Their areas of interest include gender, queer studies, internet, technology, popular culture, films and TV shows, fandoms etc. She can be generally found wandering the cyberspace, or hunting for good coffee.
Workshop 4: Safety & Security Tips For Public Campaigning
Friday, 21 August 2020, 12:00 pm ICT (Thailand GMT +7)
Public campaigns are confrontational by nature and can stir backlash. In the final workshop of the series, participants will learn the strategies to counter backlash, hate speech, and trolling in digital media and public spaces during the implementation of public campaigns. Participants will be equipped with the necessary safety and security tips, strategies, and tools for successful implementation of public campaigns.
Details of the resource persons are as follows:
Facilitator: POINT OF VIEW
Point of View is a Mumbai-based non-profit that builds and amplifies women’s and other marginalised genders’ voices and removes barriers to voice, speech and expression. Tools are media, education, technology and art. Strategies include creating digital resources, publications and campaigns; building skills, capacities and understanding; producing information and knowledge; and advocating with civil society and policy makers. Learn more at their website, pointofview.in
Moderator: SMITA
Smita (she/them) is currently working at Point of View, a non-profit based in Bombay, on gender, sexuality, and technology. Their areas of interest include gender, queer studies, internet, technology, popular culture, films and TV shows, fandoms etc. She can be generally found wandering the cyberspace, or hunting for good coffee.
Workshops will be hosted on Zoom and in English language. For each workshop, seats are limited to 20 participants. In case of any queries about the workshop series, please reach out to samreen.s@weareaptn.org.
We look forward to your participation!