What’s Keeping Us Hopeful This Winter

This past Thursday, we celebrated Valentine’s Day in the US — a simple if somewhat commercial opportunity to share our love for our partners. It’s easy to take for granted that we can express this love openly and without fear.

But for same-sex couples living in one-third of the world’s countries, this is simply impossible. In 10 of these countries, homosexuality can be punishable by death. Our courageous grantees have taken some big steps recently, including playing a key role in the Indian Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Section 377 of the constitution, which made consensual sex between same-sex adults illegal. 1.3 billion men and women in India have now won their rights to love whomever they want.

Last Spring, when I traveled with 21 AJWS supporters on a Study Tour to India, we visited Samvada Youth Resource Center, a grantee working with LGBTQI youth in rural Karnataka. We met inspiring young women and men developing tools they can use to make a difference. One who stood out for his poise and eloquence was Lohith, a young, self-identified queer man. When asked what his goals are in life, he recited a poem he wrote:

“I want to fly in the higher sky.
I want to sing the Happy Song.
I want everyone to sing with me.
The Happy Song in the higher sky.”

I was so impressed by his courage through his difficult journey — and by the clear love and support he received from the young people around him as they applauded him and later danced and sang together. Investing in grantee organizations like Samvada in rural towns and villages is an investment in the future, a future that will allow young women and men like Lohith to have the same freedom to express their love as we do.

Finally, if you are attending the Jewish Funders Network conference in March, please check out a panel discussion with AJWS President & CEO, Robert Bank; Stanford professor emeritus and AI-pioneer Terry Winograd; and venture capitalist Jocelyn Goldfein. Both Jocelyn and Terry are generous donors to AJWS. They will discuss how the strategies behind investments in tech start-ups can be applied to investment in human rights. The conversation will be based on their article published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, “The Four Principles of Venture Funding.” I know it will be a fascinating, engaging conversation.

Thank you for your support of AJWS and our work with transformative organizations like Samvada. It would not be possible without you. Please check out more stories of hope below from our grantees around the world.

With gratitude,
Alon Shalev
Executive Director, San Francisco and the Western Region

Photo by Jonathan Torgovnik

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Photo by Christine Han

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Photo by Jonathan Torgovnik

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What We're Reading

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Style Weekly

Sri Lankan Women Fish for Their Families

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Global Press Journal

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The Hill

Rohingya Children Have the Right to Education

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Al Jazeera