Sappho for Equality wins 5th Martha Farrell Award on 20th Nov 2021

Started in 1999, Sappho began as an emotional support group and a collective for Lesbian women. It is the oldest organization in Eastern India that works with and for the gender-sexually marginalized population who identify as Lesbian, Bisexual women, and transmasculine persons (LBT).

Towards ensuring gender equality and supporting persons in the LBT community, Sappho for Equality provides peer counselling, runs a helpline for crisis interventions, provides mental health counselling services to LBT individuals and their families. Sappho for Equality also saw a need to start a ‘Crisis Intervention Centre’ (a short stay shelter home) during the COVID-19 lockdown when trans persons and lesbians living with their natal families were experiencing a lot of domestic violence. In addition to this, Sappho has also started a livelihood generation project for LBT persons, training and capacitating persons to be members of the workforce. The organization’s work also includes knowledge and literature generation on issues facing the LBT community - issues which are often side-lined from mainstream knowledge discourses.

With a strong queer feminist lens, Sappho for Equality epitomizes how organizational learnings should be mainstreamed in personal lives as well. Their work reflects Dr. Farrell’s commitment to re-iterating that the ‘Personal is the Political’. Click here for the news source