SPEAKING OUT ADVOCACY TOOLKIT

MSMGF

A Toolkit for MSM-Led HIV and AIDS Advocacy

Speaking Out is an advocacy toolkit created to address the urgent need for men who have sex with men (MSM) everywhere to engage in advocacy locally, nationally, and globally to end the HIV epidemic and promote their human rights. The toolkit equips individuals and organizations with tools and techniques that enable them to become advocates right now, whoever and wherever they happen to be.

Now, more than ever, it is important for our communities to identify our own strengths, weaknesses, and needs, advocating as individuals and collectives for our rights in ways that work for us. MSM communities live and breathe in diverse and complex ways, and we must raise our voices on our own terms, from our respective contexts. That is what this toolkit is all about: ensuring we have the tools we need to become more involved in advocating for our rights, in our homes and schools as well as in governments and international forums.

This toolkit builds on advances made in past toolkits from around the world, with some key differences: (1) it is specifically MSM-focused with exercises and ideas that serve as conduits for the energy and contributions of MSM communities; (2) it is built on the belief that organizations can start where they are, and assumes that the skill sets of individual advocates and organizational maturity of MSM groups are wide-ranging and take time to develop; and (3) it approaches HIV and AIDS from a broad human rights framework, balancing public health and human rights approaches toward addressing MSM community susceptibility to HIV.

We hope you find this toolkit useful!  Please do not hesitate to write to us with any questions or concerns at speakingout@msmgf.org.