The Initiatives and Movement for Gender Liberation Against Discrimination (IM GLAD), as an independent LGBTQIA+ movement, was founded in 2009. It was first organized in Cotabato City by young Bangsamoro Gays and Lesbians who were members of Young Advocates for Peace and Solidarity (YAPS). In the succeeding months, the LGBT students from Mindanao State University, Marawi City that were also members of DUYOG Tri-People Youth Organizations followed suit.

​

YAPS and DUYOG are youth advocacy organizations that housed various committees for youth empowerment, climate justice, students rights and welfare, and gender justice (with sub-committees for young women and LGBT). Due to the determined yearning of the LGBT members for self-organization and safe space within these organizations, they organized an independent and autonomous group (IM GLAD) that was separate but remained a strong partner and ally of these organizations. The decision for autonomy and independence was driven by the desire the shared interest to address crucial issues (i.e. bullying, surveillance, compulsory heterosexuality, religious prejudice, etc.) that heavily affect the members of the organization, to develop a more sharpened consciousness of the advocacy, and connect these issues to the alternatives forged by other LGBTQIA+ movements.

​

At present, IM GLAD has more than 60 members advocating for SOGIE Rights and working to further bolster the technical capacity of the organization.

Building on the gains and drawbacks from the previous project and the IMGLAD Intersectional Agenda, this initiative is proposed to contribute to the goal of reducing the vulnerability of the LGBTQIA+ community in Mindanao through increasing advocacy skills and deepening the commitment of our members and community’s allies, particularly in the IMGLAD Chapters in Cotabato City, Iligan City, Lanao Del Norte, and Maguindanao.

Two-pronged strategies – Living the Pride and Marching the Pride – will be applied to hit the aforesaid objective. The Living the Pride Strategy, centering on increasing the capacity of LGBTQIA+ advocates, will include a series of advocacy skills capacitation for trainers who can transfer the skills they gained from such training. A Training of Trainers and Monitors on Intersectional SOGIESC and Human Rights Advocacy will be conducted to deepen the knowledge of advocates about the concepts of SOGIESC, intersectionality, and human rights as well as skills in human rights monitoring, human rights documentation, digital security, and advocacy planning. This builds up from the recent awareness-raising activities on LGBT Rights, Issues, and Challenges. To counter the violent and misinformed messages targeted against our community, a Trainers Training on Countering Fake News and Hate Speech will be conducted. This activity concretely responds to the issues of negative stereotypes and bullying experienced by LGBTQIA+ persons in their respective communities. During this training, the participants will undergo capacitation on transforming hate into messages of hope. Lastly, under this strategy, an LBT Women Power and Visibility Space will be organized to address the failure and deficiency of LBT inclusion in the recent implementation and avoid the tendency of amassing a male-dominated LGBTQIA+ movement. In this women-only space, the participants will undergo training on intersectional, feminist, and queer approaches to further amplify the voices and enhance the visibility of women within the movement. The participants will also build a manifesto and identify agenda points that will be included in the newly created IMGLAD Intersectional Agenda.

Within this proposed initiative, the Marching the Pride strategy will take a different spin from the recent project. Where previously conceived as centering on linking and networking to LGBTQIA+ groups and allies, this project will go inward and scan the allies in the locality and deepen their awareness and commitment to LGBTQIA+ actions. This strategy will also house two activities. First, four #DuyogSerye Sessions will be a series of sensitivity sessions to retool allies about LGBTQIA+ advocacy, provide updates on the salient issues confronted by the advocates, formulate guidelines for allies and alliance building, and identify concrete points of collaboration. Second, #Duyog Boot Camp will be organized as a reflective and engaging space where allies and advocates lean to their vulnerability to resolve possible harbored biases and stereotypes, break barriers, and identify prospects for friendship and solidarity. These two activities are designed to provide a deeper meaning and value of being an ally and tap into the possible energies they can share for LGBTQIA+ advocacy. In sum, this project is a decisive step from consolidation to advocacy. The previous project aims to internally consolidate the issue and strengthen chapter formations of the movement. This time, armed with the necessary advocacy skills, allies and advocates can now proactively voice out issues and narratives of IMGLAD to and beyond the channels and networks gained from the previous project.