LGBT+ community not only face discrimination from the outside, increased risk of abuse and fewer opportunities, but also more often suffer from stress, depression, lower self-esteem, self-destructive behaviours. However, often LGBT+ people suffer alone and do not seek for help, since it is not available or reliable (or is seen as such). In Lithuania there is a lack of open and safe social-cultural spaces, initiatives of community empowerment.
The project “Space for Community: LGBT+ Social-cultural Activism and Support” aims to empower LGBT+ community by developing social-cultural platform dedicated for the community and possibilities of emotional and informational support and psychological help. The main result: empowered vulnerable groups, specifically LGBT+ community, including not only non-heterosexual and transgender people, but also their families.
Building upon the existing platforms and bilateral cooperation, there will be a space for social-cultural LGBT+ activism developed, consisting of open and semi-open film screenings, discussions, queer readings and other events, started queer archive and social-cultural centre, informational campaign. There will be also some new services of emotional and informational support and psychological help created and already existing ones improved, encompassing individual and group counselling, developing of the support group for the families (mainly parents) of LGBT, updated portal isgirsti.lt, training activities for emotional support volunteers, meetings (activities) with youth at regional schools, other outreach activities. There will be additional attention paid to development and capacity building of the organisations implementing the project.