Fighting for respect, promoting rights and boosting autonomy are some of the principles that guide the work of the Madre Maria Villac Benevolent Association (Associação Beneficente Madre Maria Villac: ABEMAVI), an organization that has worked to promote Human Rights in Juazeiro do Norte and the Cariri region, in the south of Ceará, since 2009. In order to combat chauvinism and LGBTphobia in the municipality, in September, last year ABEMAVI organized the Diversity Entrepreneurship Fair and the Juazeiro do Norte’s 7th Diversity Week, events that mobilized the region of Cariri, providing visibility for the LGBTQIAP+ art and knowledge, and supporting their fight for inclusion.
During Diversity Week, a broad and diverse programme mobilized Juazeiro do Norte. The project, which was supported by CESE, attracted a crowd of participants, who broke up into workshops, training activities, a cultural festival and other events. “We wanted society to understand the importance of debating transverse issues and themes related to the flag of the LGBTQIAP+ struggle, strengthening the fight against prejudice and discrimination. In this way, we were able to establish social integration bonds and assert LGBTQIAP+ identities in order to promote citizenship and human rights,” said Daniela Goulart Schmitt, ABEMAVI’s voluntary Legal Advisor.
Daniela was also Coordinator of the Diversity Entrepreneurship Fair, one of the week’s main events. At the fair, ten micro-entrepreneurs from the LGBTQIAP+ population came together to sell products such as jewellery, handicrafts and snacks. “The aim is to create opportunities to display their products, to generate income and empowerment. Unfortunately, because the LGBTQIAP+ population suffers a great deal of stigma and prejudice, many are not in formal employment. So having autonomy and generating income is of primary importance,” she noted.
She celebrated the fair’s success and noted that they have been invited to hold another fair alongside other activities. “There was great acceptance. It was a form of free expression, of demonstrating empowerment. When we’re invited to other activities, it’s because the population liked it and saw how well it went,” she said.
Promoting health and social awareness
Other notable activities in Diversity Week were the “Forum on Citizenship, Health and HIV Prevention for the LGBTQIAP+ population” debating the importance of the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde: SUS) and the Unified Social Work System (Sistema Único de Assistência Social: SUAS) in creating public policies aimed at this population; a “LGBTQIAP+ your vote is powerful! Vote with Pride!” workshop to raise awareness about the importance of the LGBTQIAP+ vote, particularly in last year’s presidential election; and the award of the Jonathan Kiss Commendation, which paid homage to LGBTQIAP+ leaders from the Juazeiro do Norte municipality and the Cariri region. The 20th LGBTQIAP+ Pride Parade was held on the last day of the week – thousands of people gathered on the city’s streets to demonstrate the struggle, art and resistance of this population.
Daniela Schmitt provided a very positive evaluation of the whole event and was able to see the impact on participants’ lives. “It’s so good to realise that the activity transformed people’s lives. Very often people just need to be encouraged, to orient themselves,” she proclaimed. She also acknowledged the importance of CESE’s support, noting that these experiences are being shared with other bodies and the public authorities with a view to running permanent activities in the municipality.
“Through the proposal that CESE embraced, we were able to put an arena to debate violence, discrimination, homophobia, lesbophobia, transphobia, integrated health care and its impact on the community, onto the city’s agenda. When we take these projects forward, we can see the contribution they make, benefiting the population and extending public policies. Since we are on Juazeiro do Norte’s Council for LGBT Rights, we also need to take these experiences to other institutions and the public authorities, in order to support tolerance, respect, diversity and the construction of a fairer and more inclusive society,” she concluded.