As part of my personal newsletter subscriptions, I received a whole bunch of different notifications that I often think ‘I should really share that to amplify that message more’. Well, this recent email is one that I feel is worthwhile sharing a bit wider out there in the world.
This email that I received is one that’s asking for donations of LGBTIQ+ books to be sent from around the world to Brazil. The current leader of Brazil, Jair Bosonaro, is no fan of the LGBTIQ+ community, having commented on the countries decision to criminalise homophobia as being ‘completely wrong‘, and under his leadership, there has been grand vilification of LGBTIQ+ authors and artists.
I’ll let the email do the rest of the talking:
I’m one of the coordinators of an LGBT+ community centre called Instituto LGBT+, located in Brasília, the capital city of Brazil.
We’re trying to launch a public library filled entirely with LGBT+ books: either written by or about LGBT+ people.
But it’s been an arduous task. You see, during the military dictatorship in Brazil, many LGBT+ authors and artists were persecuted and their works damaged, hidden, or destroyed. It can be really hard to find copies of important LGBT+ books.
And it’s difficult to remember lives, voices, and works which have been erased. So we want to make sure our memory is never, ever erased like that again. We cannot live in the shadows and be silenced any longer. That’s why All Out is helping us run an international book drive to make this library come to life!
This is our mailing address:
Instituto LGBT
SCS Quadra 4, Bloco A – Lote 170
Ed. Anápolis – Salas 301 e 302
Brasília – DF, Brazil
70304-910And if you already own a book which you’d like to donate instead of purchasing one online, you can mail it directly to us, to the same address listed above! Just make sure to specify that you’re sending a book – books are tax-exempt in Brazil customs.
Following the election of our vocally anti-LGBT+ president last year, violence against LGBT+ people has sky-rocketed. But one of the most powerful things we can do during these scary times is to elevate our voices so that more LGBT+ folks have a chance to see that we are a beautiful, strong, and resilient community, and we’re not alone.
Our goal is to have the biggest and most diverse collection of LGBT+ books in the whole country.
Can you help us get there and donate a book from our wish list today?
Thanks for going All Out,
Felipe Areda
Instituto LGBT+
The email came through from the All Out organisation, a global group that exists to help fight the persecution of LGBTIQ+ communities around the world. Even if you can’t send a book to Brazil, you might be able to help out with other campaigns around the world, or help at least help amplify them by signing up to their newsletter and sharing the campaigns on social media.
