Cultural Affairs Department Grant: Rainbow Dialogues for Gender Minority Inclusion

The project titled “Rainbow Dialogues: All in This Together” will create specific engagements in six key second tier cities across the consular district to create spaces where gender minority community members are “seen, accepted. and supported” by developing new allies and partners. The project will connect the community with a broader audience of youth leaders, educators, law enforcement officers, medical workers, multinational companies, and other related professional sectors to address attitudes and behaviors. A key outcome of the sustained discussions and workshops will be reducing discrimination, promoting understanding and acceptance, and advocating for employment opportunities for gender and sexual minority communities, that will be measured through pre-and post-surveys with a select audience sample, and follow up commitments from partner institutions and organizations.

This funding opportunity seeks to take lessons learned from a successful model from within the American Center to six key cities across the consular district – three across the northeastern states, and three in the Hindi belt of Bihar and Jharkhand – to engage with new allies and partners who are key to providing acceptance and economic opportunities to gender and sexual minorities. Programming will highlight the historical and cultural roots of gender diversity in South Asia, as well as the achievements, challenges, and journeys of individuals and their family members in order to connect with a new audience of university leaders, medical professionals, and the government and private sectors. This can be implemented through several platforms and tools, including storytelling workshops, campus conversations, social media campaigns, networking events, training workshops, and awareness campaigns that enlist the support of print and electronic media. We recommend using non-threatening environments of art, culture, and personal anecdotes to host interfaces in public spaces including educational institutions and corporate environments to create awareness, share information, enlist support.

(Please refer to the full announcement available under ‘related documents’ tab)

The project titled “Rainbow Dialogues: All in This Together” will create specific engagements in six key second tier cities across the consular district to create spaces where gender minority community members are “seen, accepted. and supported” by developing new allies and partners. The project will connect the community with a broader audience of youth leaders, educators, law enforcement officers, medical workers, multinational companies, and other related professional sectors to address attitudes and behaviors. A key outcome of the sustained discussions and workshops will be reducing discrimination, promoting understanding and acceptance, and advocating for employment opportunities for gender and sexual minority communities, that will be measured through pre-and post-surveys with a select audience sample, and follow up commitments from partner institutions and organizations.

This funding opportunity seeks to take lessons learned from a successful model from within the American Center to six key cities across the consular district – three across the northeastern states, and three in the Hindi belt of Bihar and Jharkhand – to engage with new allies and partners who are key to providing acceptance and economic opportunities to gender and sexual minorities. Programming will highlight the historical and cultural roots of gender diversity in South Asia, as well as the achievements, challenges, and journeys of individuals and their family members in order to connect with a new audience of university leaders, medical professionals, and the government and private sectors. This can be implemented through several platforms and tools, including storytelling workshops, campus conversations, social media campaigns, networking events, training workshops, and awareness campaigns that enlist the support of print and electronic media. We recommend using non-threatening environments of art, culture, and personal anecdotes to host interfaces in public spaces including educational institutions and corporate environments to create awareness, share information, enlist support.

(Please refer to the full announcement available under ‘related documents’ tab)