The Suki Sandhu LGBTQI Asia Fund with GiveOut has been established to support LGBTQI human rights activism in Asia.
Managed by the award-winning charity GiveOut, the Fund is generously sponsored by Suki Sandhu, a globally recognised expert in talent, diversity and inclusion. Suki is the CEO and founder of both Involve and Audeliss, two firms working to champion diversity and inclusion in business. He is a Stonewall Ambassador, a Patron for The Albert Kennedy Trust and has been appointed to the Board of Directors of OutRight Action International. In 2019, Suki was awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours for Services to Diversity in Business.
Across Asia, LGBTQI people face human rights abuses based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, from discrimination to violence. In several countries, including Myanmar, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka, same sex relations are criminalised. And in other countries, being LGBTQI is punishable by death. But LGBTQI activists are campaigning for change and having impact, with recent, uneven victories in the region for the rights of trans people, marriage equality and same-sex partnership rights.
We know that the challenges facing LGBTQI people in Asia are only being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as LGBTQI people are forced to quarantine in abusive family situations, and LGBTQI organisations struggle to secure the resources needed to support their communities and build for the future. Under the Suki Sandhu LGBTQI Asia Fund, we will continue to support activists and their organisations working across Asia to protect LGBTQI people and as they face this crisis.
Individuals and businesses can support the Fund by donating to GiveOut, which then makes grants to LGBTQI organisations working across Asia. Through a rigorous process of consultation, due diligence, and vetting with Suki’s input, GiveOut identifies grant partners under the Fund, which form part of GiveOut’s overall portfolio of grants to support LGBTQI human rights activism worldwide.
