Advancing scientific research regarding the severe challenges facing great ape populations, both in natural surroundings and in captivity, is the aim of several grants in the Arcus Foundation’s summer 2015 Great Apes Program portfolio. Two zoological societies have conducted essential research into the threats to great ape habitat that are posed by the timber and extractive industries.
Transforming official policies and cultural attitudes toward LGBT people within the world’s religions, refugee systems, and school communities is the focus of a number of grants in the Arcus Foundation’s summer 2015 Social Justice Program portfolio. The Chicago-based Reconciling Ministries Network, a highly effective pro-LGBTQ organization that seeks inclusion of gay clergy and congregants within Protestantism and Christianity overall, plans to mobilize faith leaders who are accepting of LGBT individuals to increase the numbers of active reconciling congregations in the United States.
Several organizations whose work has led to growing support at the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) for the rights of those marginalized by their sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) are among those receiving funding in the spring 2015 round of Arcus Foundation grants.
Growing recognition of the need for safe and appropriate care for great apes living in sanctuaries, both in the United States and in range states such as Indonesia, underpins several grants in the Arcus Foundation’s spring 2015 grantmaking portfolio, which aim to advance the capacity of several organizations to provide the high-quality care that rescued chimpanzees will require well into the future. A grant to the Lincoln Park Zoological Society, a long-term Arcus partner, will help it to develop a model ape sanctuary program through its work with the U.S.
Developing a “counter-narrative” to the conservative ideology of global Christian movements that embraces LGBT community members is the focus of several organizations receiving funding in the winter 2014 portfolio of Arcus Foundation Social Justice Program grants. The European Forum of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Christian Groups (EF) has been credited with changing attitudes and opening doors for dialogue on sexuality and faith, particularly within the World Council of Churches, whose member congregations represent 500 million Christians, more than half of them in the developing world.
Conserving the endangered bonobo in equatorial Africa’s Congo Basin is the focus of two of the multiple-year grants issued in the winter 2014 portfolio of Arcus Foundation Great Apes Program funding. Among the recipients, the Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation intends to complete its ambitious work in establishing the new, 8,000-square-kilometer Parc National de la Lomami in the Tshuapa-Lomani-Lualaba landscape, an international locus of biodiversity and an area considered critical for the conservation of the bonobo.
A muxe woman, Peregrina Vera is a member of the Indigenous Zapotec community from the town of Juchitán in the southeast of Oaxaca state in Mexico. A skilled artisan of traditional woven clothing, Peregrina also prepares decorations for local festivals. But in addition to her artistic endeavors, she is one of the leaders of the Transformándome (“Transforming Myself”) project housed at Mexfam, a nationwide civil society organization promoting access to health, education, and advocacy of sexual and reproductive rights. The project helps educate the muxe about their rights and how they can live authentically as themselves, including acquiring identification documents that accurately portray their names and genders.
Peregrina’s activism includes documenting incidents of hate crimes against the muxe throughout the region. This is a subject she unfortunately knows all too well after she experienced a recent violent attack and robbery in which all of her work tools were stolen.
These incidents have increased as new people have moved into the region.
“Before they did nothing to us,” Peregrina explains. “Now if you’re at a party, just by seeing you, they want to attack you, they insult you, and on many occasions, the aggression changes from words to physical attacks.”
By documenting these incidents, Peregrina is helping to bring the issue of hate violence to the attention of authorities and the public. She is also working to connect members of her community through online meetings using computers acquired by the Transformándome project. All of her activism is aimed at increasing the acceptance and inclusion of her muxe community.
Mujer Muxe, Peregrina Vera es miembro de la comunidad indígena Zapoteca del pueblo de Juchitán, en el sureste del estado de Oaxaca. Hábil artesana de la ropa tejida tradicional, Peregrina también prepara adornos para las fiestas locales. Pero además de sus esfuerzos artísticos, es una de las líderes de Transformándome en Mexfam, la organización nacional de planificación familiar de México. El proyecto ayuda a educar a la comunidad Muxe sobre sus derechos y sobre cómo pueden vivir auténticamente sin esconderse, incluyendo cómo obtener documentos de identidad que reflejen con exactitud sus nombres y géneros.
El activismo de Peregrina incluye la documentación de incidentes de crímenes de odio contra la comunidad Muxe en toda la región. Se trata de un tema que, por desgracia, conoce demasiado bien tras haber sufrido recientemente un ataque violento y un robo en el que le sustrajeron todas sus herramientas de trabajo.
Estos incidentes han aumentado a medida que nuevas personas se han trasladado a la región.
“Antes no nos hacían nada”, explica. “Ahora, si estás en una fiesta, solo con verte quieren agredirte, te insultan y, en muchas ocasiones, la agresión pasa de las palabras a los ataques físicos”.
Con la documentación de estos incidentes, Peregrina está ayudando a llamar la atención de las autoridades y del público sobre el problema de la violencia motivada por el odio. También está trabajando para conectar a los miembros de su comunidad a través de reuniones en línea utilizando computadoras adquiridas gracias al proyecto Transformándome. Todo su activismo busca aumentar la aceptación y la inclusión de su comunidad Muxe.
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A woman wearing a white dress, long wavy dark brown hair, teal lipstick, plum fingernails, rectangular metal glasses sits in a chair and talks. A text overlay identifies her as Úmi Vera, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, United States, and quotes her saying: “There’s incredible power in the trans queer migrant community. To be dehumanized so much and not lose your hope, your sense of joy—it’s just astonishing.”
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A woman with short black and gray hair wearing a black dress shirt talks. A text overlay identifies her as Indyra Mendoza, Red Lésbica Cattrachas, Honduras, and quotes her saying: “For so many years, we missed being free and open with our partners—now is the time to make it happen!.”
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A man with a beard and buzzed hair wearing a tan polo shirt with the African Wildlife Foundation logo talks. A text overlay identifies him as Raoul Mulumba Tafua, African Wildlife Foundation, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and quotes him saying, “Protecting Congo’s forest biodiversity benefits the community from the perspective of climate change, food production, and tourism.”
A woman with tightly braided dark brown hair and wearing a t-shirt with pink sleeves, a pink bow, and the faces of two people against a light blue background, talks. A text overlay identifies her as Merveille Boale Batuli, supported by Village Enterprise and African Wildlife Foundation, and quotes her saying “I’m a mother, a widow, and I have to feed my family.”
A man in a gray dress shirt and wearing a shoulder bag sits behind a table and reaches toward prescription medicine boxes and opens one to take out a smaller box and hand it to someone on the other end of the table. A text overlay quotes Jon Stryker and Annette Lanjouw of Arcus Foundation saying “Conservation without social justice is neither ethical nor possible. To achieve conservation and respect for the world’s apes, we work with the people who live alongside them.”
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