iphone: 5月 2023

令和5年5月27日土曜日

We're being hunted like animals

Warning: This email has descriptions of sexual violence that may be upsetting

Dear Avaaz members,

I write from Uganda, where a vicious 'anti-gay' law is about to be signed -- and we're being hunted like animals.

Days ago, neighbours castrated a transgender person with a kitchen knife. We couldn't go to the police as we'd be arrested -- and had to search for a friendly doctor, as most wouldn't help us.

We're being fired from work, rejected by family, evicted, beaten, raped… and worse.

I'm appealing for your support. Please.

This could be our last call for help. When this law is signed, everything we do, including sending this email and raising funds, will become illegal. But right now, there's still a narrow window when LGBTQ+ groups can receive support -- and your donation could help save lives.

You'd fund safe houses where people can hide, along with emergency medical care, legal support, and trauma counselling. We urgently need more safe houses, as we constantly have to run when angry mobs arrive.

We're being flooded with frantic calls for help, but without more funds we can only help a tiny fraction of people. I'm heartbroken, and don't know where else to turn.

And it's all because of who and how we love. In the face of unimaginable cruelty and violence, please stand up for our right to Love. Donate what you can now:

I'LL DONATE R$15

I'LL DONATE R$25

I'LL DONATE R$35

I'LL DONATE R$55

I'LL DONATE R$90

OTHER AMOUNT

The new law will effectively make it impossible to exist as a LGBTQ+ person in Uganda.

I could get a life sentence for kissing my partner, and be executed for repeated homosexual 'offences'. Renting to gay people will become illegal -- and I could serve 20 years in jail just for sending this email.

They call us "ungodly" filth, but we aren't the ones inflicting unimaginable cruelty on already vulnerable people. I know girls who've been raped by family members to 'cure' their 'lesbian disease'.

That's why safe houses are so critically important-- providing a place of sanctuary in a country burning with hatred. With your help, we could:

Fund dozens of new safe houses and emergency shelters across the country;
Provide emergency health care and legal support for those who've been arrested -- and meals for people in jail;
Help fund the development of a new legal case to challenge the law in court; and
Power emergency response campaigns, like this one, to defend communities facing discrimination, assault, and war around the world.

Every penny raised will support LGBTQ+ people in Uganda, and power Avaaz's emergency response work around the world. By donating, you won't just be helping in Uganda -- you'll be ensuring this crucial capacity is maintained for others like me, facing unimaginable terror.

Gay, straight, lesbian, transgender -- we all just want to live and love in peace. I don't know when that day will come, but it is not today, and our fight for love must go on. Wherever you are in the world, please stand with us. Donate what you can now:

I'LL DONATE R$15

I'LL DONATE R$25

I'LL DONATE R$35

I'LL DONATE R$55

I'LL DONATE R$90

OTHER AMOUNT

I've been part of the Avaaz community for years. I've seen the difference it makes when we come together fast for those in need. Now it's my community being attacked -- me and my people need this movement's help.

With hope and the deepest of gratitude,

Frank and the whole team at Avaaz

Note: If and when the 'anti-gay' law passes, the consequences for an email like this could be deadly -- in many ways, they already are. For that reason, Frank's photo has been edited and we aren't using their name.

More information:

Uganda's parliament passes mostly unchanged anti-LGBTQ bill (The Guardian)
Gay Ugandan asks 'Where will I go?' as secret shelters under threat (BBC)
Uganda may impose some of the world's strictest anti-gay measures: 'You're fearing for your life' (Los Angeles Times)

Avaaz is a 70-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

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令和5年5月26日金曜日

Urgent - a personal request

This week, the Brazilian Congress began voting for a new law that will allow miners and tree cutters to attack the Amazon rainforest and sacred Indigenous lands! I am one of the only Indigenous members of Congress in Brazil and I'm asking urgently: Please will you help me stop this assault? The key vote is in days! Help me create a global backlash the President cannot ignore. Sign now and I will personally deliver your voices to the Brazilian Congress and President Lula himself.

SIGN NOW

Dear friends,

I am writing to you as one of the only Indigenous members of Congress in Brazil. This email could mean major political trouble for me, but our forests are being attacked in Congress right now…and this is worth the risk.

This week, the Brazilian Congress began voting for a new law that will allow miners and tree cutters back into our forests and sacred lands, and it will remove protections for Indigenous people like me.

The key vote is in days!!! This is an Amazon emergency and an Indigenous emergency. I need your help.

Our country is so divided that we need a truly global outcry from countries like yours that financially support Brazil to stop this law. The Brazilian Congress must feel the full weight of a global spotlight right now!

And this is about your life too.

Without the Amazon, and without the protection that Indigenous peoples' lands offer to our forests, rivers and precious species, there is no way we'll avoid global ecological apocalypse. This forest is the lungs for all of us.

Please sign this urgent call to stop the rainforest attack. I will deliver your voices inside the Brazilian congress and to President Lula myself. Will you stand with me and ensure my voice has even more power?

STOP THE RAINFOREST ATTACK

We, Indigenous peoples, protect 80% of the earth's biodiversity, despite being only 5% of the global population. Brazil holds the largest population of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon, and the largest area of the Amazon ecosystems. Indigenous territories across our country have kept the forests and biomes alive, despite constant attacks.

But if the mining, agribusiness and oil lobby is successful in this new legislative battle, all these protections could be gone. This could literally define the future of our planet.

Without the Amazon, and the Indigenous territories across Brazil, the world cannot keep global warming under control. So even if many of you don't live in Brazil, we will all be affected by what happens here in the coming days!

The key vote is just days away -- please help me gather enough voices from around the world to shield Indigenous communities from this onslaught. Indigenous people in Brazil are doing all they can to fight back -- but without a global pressure campaign it won't be enough.

Sign the petition now and share with everyone you know -- every voice counts now:

STOP THE RAINFOREST ATTACK

Avaaz has been fighting hand in hand with Indigenous peoples to protect the Amazon and all ecosystems in Brazil, and everywhere. But we're up against tremendous pressure -- and the most recent attack caught all of us by surprise. If we lose this battle now, so much of what we fought for together is at stake. Let's not let that happen!

With hope and determination,

Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá, on behalf of the Indigenous defense front in Congress, and together with the Avaaz team.