Building a Better World for LGBTQI+ Communities
Globally, LGBTQI+ people face enormous obstacles to realizing their rights to live in freedom and dignity. Although there has been remarkable progress in many parts of the world, it is still illegal in over 70 countries to be in a loving, consenting relationship with someone of your own sex or gender.
AJWS is deeply committed to the global fight for equality, and we’re invested in understanding the root causes of homophobia and transphobia in order to create long-term, systemic change. We support local activists to make change in their own communities—because it’s the people on the ground who know best what their communities actually need.
What is Norm Change?
Norm change is the work of addressing individual and institutional attitudes and actions towards LGBTQI+ people to create more equitable societies and erase stigmas. Enforcing legal protections and structural change are simply not possible without simultaneously working to change individual hearts and minds on a mass scale. Advancing the chances that key laws get changed — and that LGBTQI+ people are able to exercise their full rights and be embraced by the broader society — hinges on the idea of norm change.
AJWS in Kenya: See Norm Change in Action
AJWS Spotlight: Kenya
AJWS proudly supports a network of LGBTQI+ organizations throughout Kenya working to reverse discriminatory laws, stop violence and change cultural stigma. With steady funding and support, these Kenyan grassroots activists will be able to coordinate their strategies, broaden their coalition of partners and allies, and effectively broadcast their messages to the public. A powerful movement is emerging to finally secure LGBTQI+ rights in Kenya — with a potential cascade effect across Africa and around the world.
With sufficient support for this initiative, AJWS will replicate our model for investment in norm change in other countries, such as Uganda and beyond. We’ll work hand in hand with LGBTQI+ communities worldwide to create a world where all people can live free and dignified lives, no matter who they are or whom they love.
What We’ve Accomplished and
Where We’re Going
Our Founding Investors
Bill Resnick and Michael Stubbs are the power couple behind AJWS’s new roadmap to justice for LGBTQI+ people in Kenya. Bill, a psychiatrist who devotes his time to activism and philanthropy, served on the AJWS Board of Trustees from 2012 until 2022. Michael, a veteran of the motion picture business, now devotes his efforts to philanthropic ventures and advocacy full time.