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| Logo Designed by Co-Chair Laura Garcia |
Founded February 14th 2010 by a group of lesbian and transgender individuals and straight allies with some thirty years experience combined to address the then invisibility of said groups in the general sphere of representation on community issues and TBL advocacy.
the aims included in its original outlook:
About Us
We are Aphrodite’s PRIDE. We operate as a Non-Profit Organization in Jamaica focusing on issues as they relate to the Jamaican Lesbian, Transgender (M→F & F→M) and Female Bisexual (LTB) Communities.
Our Mission
Our Mission is to create an environment conducive to positive intra and inter-community relations, encourage personal development (AGENCY) and improve self-esteem and create behavior change. We hope to achieve this by utilizing various methods of engagement and interventions.
Our Core Values
We are guided by our core values of Ethics & Integrity, Accountability, Mutual Respect, Compassion, Social Responsibility, Empowerment, Team Work and Balance
Our Priorities
Our priorities include but are not limited to issues as they relate to Outreach, Personal Development, Enterprise Training, limited Crisis Intervention & limited Healthcare within the Lesbian, Transgender & Female Bisexual Communities.
Our Core Competencies
We seek to address intra and inter-community relationship issues by trying to find creative realistic solutions while promoting the celebration of our diversities.
Our Impact
We acknowledge the importance of thinking ‘Outside the Box’ in terms of achieving our goals; so through programs and community education we hope to set important precedents which will help our efforts in creating an environment conducive to such. Also, by encouraging involvement in sporting & cultural activities we hope to promote healthier lifestyles and encourage more social responsibility. In creating a Safe Zone it is our hope that we will positively influence the lives of all in our community; particularly survivors of isolation, marginalization, discrimination, victimization or silenced by society’s restrictive gender norms and socialization.
ENDS
Since then I was approached by both Co-Chairs to be part of the movement as an ally with limited scope to include some MSM issues and cross cultural matters and have since taken up the Outreach Co-oordinator post since 2012.
Major Activities thus far
Mentorship program with fifteen same gender loving women to identify leaders for community development with some funding assistance from Maynov Productions/Selena Blake; producer of Taboo Yardies Documentary presently being screened in Jamaica. See MORE HERE and from other private donors.
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| Whitney Reid, transgender voice from the We are Jamaicans Campaign(JFLAG) as a participant in the Entrepreneurship Training in 2013 |
Entrepreneurship Training/Personal Development:
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| ongoing Entrepreneurship Training Sessions August 2013 to end in April 2014 with a wide cross section of experts as facilitators |
Issues covered include:
Coming Out
Self Esteem
Business Plan writing
Telling Our Stories
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| Sankofa Arts Facilitation's Fabian Thomas presenting on the captioned subject matter |
Project title:
Seismic. A social engagement programme for LGBT youth; Providing psycho social and enterprise development skills training services for vulnerable LGBT youth
Engaging forty Transgender, Bisexual and Lesbian Jamaicans with some MSM focus on personal development and micro and small business management.
Transgender Awareness Week 2013
~*~ Making a positive impact on our Community through Empowerment, Mutual Respect & Camaraderie~*~
Happy anniversary APJ, there is more to come. Thanks for your support and donations can be made to GLBTQJA on their behalf via Paypal (buttons situated on the top left side of this and other blogs in the family)
Peace and tolerance
H
On a sad note one of our participants passed away from a heart condition but we were happy to have had an impact in his life during his final days, rest in peace Jermaine James (24).
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